The 2016 Wood Floor of the Year award winners were crowned during the General Session at the NWFA 2016 Wood Flooring Expo today, and the coveted Members’ Choice award went to perennial favorite Archetypal Imagery Corp. (Bronx, N.Y.) for a stunning mosaic floor in Springfield, Mo.
This is Archetypal’s second time winning the Members’ Choice award, having won it in 2012 for a residential floor in Middle Asia. The company now has nine Wood Floor of the Year awards to its name.
Here are photos and brief descriptions for the eight floor projects that received Wood Floor of the Year honors. See the upcoming June/July 2016 issue for full coverage.
Members’ Choice/Best Residential: Archetypal Imagery Corp.
This 17-foot-long crocodile mosaic (pictured above) features more than 20,000 end-grain blocks, varying in width and height to create a three-dimensional floor piece. The crocodile features reclaimed walnut and white oak sapwood. The black wood featured in the crocodile’s eye, nails and throughout its scaled body is ebony reclaimed from the black keys of an antique piano.
Best Restoration: Yantarnaya Pryad-Parquet (Khimki, Russia)
This room inside the Winter Palace, part of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, was built for Catherine the Great. The restoration returned the floor to its original look, which had changed over the years as maintenance crews used different species of wood to make repairs. The floor features jatoba, wenge, maple, teak and oak, all sourced, dried and manufactured by the company.
Best CNC/Laser Cut: Yantarnaya Pryad-Parquet
This floor in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, is 28,900 square feet and features patterns inspired by the interiors of the region’s many mosques. It took a team of 13 people and 17 large CNC machines to create the intricate accents. The hall is used for events, and the design was developed in order to facilitate different table arrangements while still remaining breathtaking.
Best Reclaimed: Archetypal Imagery Corp.
This floor inside an eccentric, Africa-themed home in Springfield, Mo., features more than 500,000 pieces of end-grain blocks reclaimed from white oak and walnut. The blocks range from ⅛-inch-square to 1-inch-square to give the floor texture. Despite first appearances, the homeowner says the floor feels smooth underfoot.
Best Extreme Makeover: Czar Floors (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.)
Czar Floors hand-cut these koi inlays into an existing floor in a sunroom overlooking a real koi pond outside the home. The colors of the koi were achieved using different species of wood, including maple, wenge, white oak, bloodwood and walnut. The inlays have a thickness of 5/16 and were glued to a plywood backer board to match the ¾-inch-thick walnut floor.
Best Manufacturer Factory Finished: SVB Wood Floors (Grandview, Mo.)
SVB owner Steve Brattin envisioned an artistic floor and, with an old world design in hand, enlisted the help of Distinctive Hardwood Floors’ Dan Antes to manufacture a hand-beveled, wire-brushed solid and parquet walnut wood floor. When the material was ready, Antes sent the material to WD Flooring in Wisconsin for prefinishing with hardwax oil. The project encompassed 3,000 square feet of flooring, including this winning foyer with a Bordeaux pattern.
Best Limited Species: Artistic Floors by Design Inc. (Parker, Colo.)
This floor inside Artistic Floors by Design’s owners’ home in Parker, Colo., features a modified chevron pattern built with white oak. The contrasting colors were created with gray and white penetrating oils. The floor was built by Joe Rocco for his wife Joni, who handles the the company’s sales and marketing, as a Mother’s Day present. Needless to say, she loved it.
Best Commercial: Natural Wood Floors & Design (Miami)
This is a massive floor: Each board is 15 inches wide, 1 inch thick and in lengths from 12 to 20 feet. The boards were so large that, in order to get them inside the job site, Natural Wood Floors & Design had to employ a crane. The project also features a custom-fabricated staircase that appears to hover above the floor.
