For nearly a century, the Waldorf Astoria in midtown Manhattan has served as the unofficial palace of New York City, as the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra and many more have graced its floors. So when the opportunity to manufacture and finish 8,500 square feet of flooring, parquet and complex patterns for the 1930s-era Art Deco hotel came up, Los Angeles-based BoardHouse jumped on it. “BoardHouse was eager to take on the project because it exemplified the type of work we are most passionate about—creating custom wood flooring solutions for iconic spaces where quality and longevity matter,” Justin Dutko, BoardHouse’s head of sales and operations, says.
Being on the opposite side of the country, BoardHouse worked with the highest level of precision to ensure every single piece of flooring arrived in New York ready for Elite Floors LLC to install. “Working within an active, historic landmark meant every detail had to be carefully executed to meet the highest standards of craftsmanship while seamlessly integrating with the surrounding architecture,” Dutko says. That meant all the tiny pieces of solid French oak, domestic black walnut and cherry had to be individually hand-finished and assembled into patterns in Los Angeles before traveling east.
BoardHouse was responsible for the flooring in the hotel’s Presidential, Royal and Governor’s suites, as well as for the library lounge and common areas. In these areas, the floors had to be not only extravagant but also resilient to high levels of foot traffic. For the prefinished pieces, Dutko says his team used Ciranova and Rubio Monocoat, with the goal of delivering “a floor that would perform under extraordinary daily foot traffic while maintaining the warmth and character that only real wood can provide.” –E.K.
SUPPLIERS: Filler: Woodwise | Finish: Ciranova, Rubio Monocoat | Sander: Festool | Wood flooring: BoardHouse
