Part of Royal Museums Greenwich, the National Maritime Museum explores our relationship with the sea. The refurbishment of its central atrium offered an opportunity to reconsider how visitors encounter that story, starting with the floor beneath their feet.
An existing world map had become a popular feature of the space. Its replacement would build on that appeal while introducing a different perspective, placing water at the heart of the design.
The new Ocean Map uses the Spilhaus projection, which presents the world’s oceans as one connected body of water. Visitors can explore ocean depths and discover features such as the Mariana Trench and the Great Barrier Reef.
As the starting point for many museum visits, the atrium needed to communicate this ocean focus immediately. The map introduces the sea as the thread connecting the museum’s galleries, objects and stories.
The museum team describes the idea with a playful comparison:
“It's a map of the world but for fish.”
This different viewpoint invites visitors to reconsider familiar geography. The detailed depiction of the ocean floor reveals an underwater landscape that conventional world maps often leave unexplored.
The map also serves as a large playground for children, making durability an essential part of the brief. The floor needed to withstand running feet, scuffed shoes, snacks and spilled drinks while preserving the clarity of its intricate design.
As the museum team explains:
“We knew we needed something that could capture that level of detail whilst also being super durable.”
Forbo’s Eternal digitally printed heterogeneous vinyl brought these requirements together, allowing the bespoke artwork to become a floor suitable for a busy public space.
Alongside the visual and practical demands, the museum needed a solution compatible with its underfloor heating and cooling system. Technical advice and material samples informed the final selection.
Producing an image at this scale demanded careful coordination between the museum, designers, manufacturing team and flooring installers. Every stage needed to preserve the detail and continuity of the map.
Harvey Maria worked with the museum to understand its ambitions, then coordinated with the designers to divide the artwork into 29 sections suitable for production. Close contact with the factory helped ensure that the printed pieces would fit together accurately across the full 450 m².
Producing an image at this scale demanded careful coordination between the museum, designers, manufacturing team and flooring installers. Every stage needed to preserve the detail and continuity of the map.
Harvey Maria worked with the museum to understand its ambitions, then coordinated with the designers to divide the artwork into 29 sections suitable for production. Close contact with the factory helped ensure that the printed pieces would fit together accurately across the full 450 m².
On site, iFlor first dry laid the flooring to check positioning and orientation.
Each section was then precisely cut and permanently adhered, with careful attention to the alignment of the map across every join.
The installation took approximately seven days, including a weekend. Reflecting on the completed project, the installation team explains:
“I think the finished look is excellent, it's a proud project to be involved in and it's the largest digitally printed vinyl floor we've installed.”
The result brings the individual sections together into a continuous image, allowing visitors to follow the ocean’s features across the space.
The completed Ocean Map gives the museum’s central space a distinctive identity and makes the floor an active part of its storytelling. Children can play, visitors can trace underwater landscapes, and the museum’s ocean focus is clear from the moment people arrive.
For architects and designers, the project demonstrates how bespoke flooring can combine detailed imagery with practical performance, creating a surface that contributes directly to the experience of a place.
Client: Royal Museums Greenwich
Location: Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
Floor design and artwork coordination: Harvey Maria
Flooring contractor: iFlor Flooring Contractors
