When clothing brand Ulla Johnson planned to open its flagship West Coast store, owners wanted something special for the floors. The task fell to West Hollywood, Calif.-based Fame Hardwood, which worked with designer Kelly Wearstler to create a parquet that fit the luxury brand’s image.
“The brand wanted something really unique and special,” Fame Hardwood Founder Page Nazarian says. “And the designer loves randomness and wanted a pattern that didn’t look like the same design over and over.” From these specifications, Fame Hardwood and Wearstler developed a fingerblock parquet that included a piece of pink Rosa Perlino marble randomly placed within each square. But construction of the boutique was on a tight deadline before its grand opening, so the Fame Hardwood team had to develop a non-repeating pattern that could be installed quickly throughout the 3,300-square-foot store. The final design included seven pieces of engineered French white oak and one marble piece in each block. To achieve the “random” look, Nazarian says his team connected four wood pieces and flipped them 180 degrees as each block in the pattern was placed. The remaining three wood pieces were installed individually, with the marble piece placed randomly within one of the four remaining spaces of the block. “Doing it that way, instead of individually installing those pieces one by one, made our installation a lot quicker,” Nazarian says.
Courtesy of Fame Hardwood
Because the team was working with marble, which is a soft stone, Nazarian says they had to carefully acclimate and install the stone to avoid movement and gaps in the pattern. Even so, the softness of the stone resulted in a few cracks that had to be replaced once the floor was completed.
Incorporating the marble and producing a seemingly random pattern increased the installation time for the crew who were already on a tight deadline. Still, Nazarian says it created a fun challenge out of a traditional pattern. “It took a lot of brain power and organization,” Nazarian says. Despite any hassle with the pattern, Nazarian loved the appearance of the marble and wood on the finished floor and recommends other installers mix materials to create compelling patterns.
Courtesy of Fame Hardwood
Courtesy of Fame Hardwood
SUPPLIERS: Adhesive: Bostik | Finish: Bona US | Moisture meter: Tramex
