The Parisian Collection

It all starts in the farmlands of Europe, where years of sun and rain, night and day, have aged the surface of the wood, shaped the grain and created a natural patina. This is outside wood, aged circa 50 years, and oak that has genuinely aged carries a subtle character only time can give. Supply partners across Europe give us access to this rare source of reclaimed oak, and we expect that supply to stay consistent for years to come. Each piece settles into its own warm tone beside the next, so the character in the first room matches the last.

The first job is to split each board, revealing the weathered outer face and the oak within. We are not looking for perfect precision, because reclaimed floors are deliberate and not perfect by design, so we set an acceptable tolerance and calibrate every board with our thicknesser. Each piece is cut to its angle and fitted against the drawing on the bench. The surface stays roughly 70 per cent flat and 30 per cent skip-sawn, so light moves across the floor once it is installed. Then we keep the patina. Gentle hand sanding, never aggressive, polishes the surface without removing many years of weathering. Fine, irregular shadow gaps and the slightest variation in block height give the floor its soft, broken play of light.