In 2020, the showroom of Valladolid, Spain-based Gallery by Suelos de Madera flooded, destroying the floors. Tasked with installing new floors, owner Emilio Manzano took the opportunity to show off his “passion and love” for wood floors.
Together with his wife and son, Manzano designed a pattern that highlighted his family and their roots. Over a year, the three spent all their free time and days off designing tiles and crafting the pattern.
Walking into the showroom now, a parquet
of family emblems spread across the floor.
Wooden tiles with the initials of Manzano,
his wife, their children and the company
name decorate the showroom, and silhouettes
of the family’s mastiff, French bulldog
and cat prance across the floor. Historical
symbols of the Camino de Santiago and the
autonomous community of Castile y León,
where Manzano’s family lives, also embellish
the floor. 
Emilio Manzano, his wife and their son designed a pattern that highlighted his family and their roots.Courtesy of Emilio Manzano.
Manzano wanted to create the new floor using fully recycled materials, so the wood was sourced from scraps from previous flooring projects, and the blades used to cut the designs were made of metal from old band saws. “When we finish our work, the material that is leftover is always kept,” Manzano says. “It can be given a new life.” Some of the scraps were over 35 years old and included maple, walnut, merbau, wenge, badi, cherry and Douglas fir. The showroom features 18 personalized tiles representing Manzano’s family and business and 18 fleur-de-lis emblems. The parquet was all hand-cut by Manzano and his son and glued down over OSB. The most challenging part was trying to rummage up enough scraps to complete the design, Manzano says.
The customized parquet floor not only
demonstrates the company’s expertise but
also pays tribute to the Manzano family and
their heritage. By incorporating wood scraps
from previous projects into each floor section,
the company creates a link to its past and
invites the customer into the family’s story.
Courtesy of Emilio Manzano.
Courtesy of Emilio Manzano.
SUPPLIERS: Adhesive: Pallmann P6 | Buffer: Bona FlexiSand 1.9 | Dust containment: Festool CT 48 E AC | Finish: Pallmann Magic Oil 2K Original | Moisture barrier: Pallmann P104 | Moisture meter: Gann Hydromette RTU 600 | Multi-disc sander: Pallmann Spider
Courtesy of Emilio Manzano.
