Shoulder pads, mullet hairstyles and the colour beige: fashions come and go, but the popularity of timber floors seems unmoved. While styles, colours and finishes may have changed in the past five years, the prevalence of wood flooring in residential and commercial markets remains as widespread as ever.

A quick glance through recent projects at some of the country's most prestigious galleries, museums, theatres and private homes shows that, when it comes to style and performance, architects and specifiers are hard pressed to beat a wood floor.

“The market for wood flooring has not diminished in any shape or form,” said Steve Maltby, technical and marketing manager at Junckers. “The demand from the client and the architect is still high. In the commercial market, especially, there's a very definite demand for solid wood, as there has been for the last two to three years.” Junckers solid hardwood flooring, for example, was specified for the large multi-purpose hall in the recently opened Studio at The Lowry in Salford. Not only did the floor have to cater for many different users, it also had to incorporate a 110m2 hydraulic platform in a pit which, when closed, had to appear continuous with the upper floor surface. The final specification for the floor was 470m2 of Junckers lacquered 22mm Ash Classic. Meanwhile, 400m2 of Junckers Black Oak was recently installed in the Museum of London's new Medieval London Gallery.

Suppliers and retailers agree that general market conditions for wood flooring continue to be good. “Our sales have grown consistently at a rate above 20% year-on-year and this shows no sign of falling away,” said Tony Miles, commercial director at International Timber. “Driving demand is the fact that solid wood flooring appeals on all levels: quality, natural beauty and durability. A solid wood floor gives any project a high perceived value, sense of quality and unrivalled aesthetic appeal. It also performs well in domestic and commercial environments, with the ability for re-sanding and re-finishing.”

Global supply

One thing that has changed is that there are now far more active players in the market. A large quantity of material is coming into the UK from Asia and from eastern European countries; this is being sold via traditional floor covering distributors and multiple retailers, with the resultant competition against some of the market's more established suppliers.

“These products compete on price,” said Eelke Bles, of Solid Floor, although he believes that such tactics will be á

Ü shortlived. “If you base everything on price and bulk, it's a risky strategy.” The bespoke market is where companies can achieve higher margins. “Timber floors are such a complicated product that you need to be able to offer high levels of service: you can only provide this if you're achieving higher margins on your products.”

New product development continues to be the key. At this year's 100% Design show, Solid Floor introduced a wood flooring range incorporating liquid metal technology, which provides a metalised effect of bronze or steel to the timber.

There's no doubt that timber's versatility continues to be its key selling point. “As wood flooring continues to develop into a fashion/decorating product, demand for new looks increases,” said David Hillier, Kährs (UK) Ltd's managing director.

Texture trends

Neil Smith, national flooring sales manager at International Decorative Surfaces, agrees. “Texture is very in vogue and our new Tuscan solid wood flooring range has been developed to offer specifiers new variations of colours and textures in oak. Tuscan oak products are offered in a choice of plank widths, brushed and oiled and hand-distressed finishes. Without any points of differentiation, oak is oak is oak.”

Brushed and bevelled boards are also very popular and the demand for stained, fumed and heat-treated floors is growing. Kährs has also seen an increasing focus towards darker wood species: American black walnut, in particular, is incredibly popular. “Interest in other exotic species is also growing and these include rosewood, jatoba and teak,” said Hillier.

Leading kitchen design brand, bulthaup recently chose Kährs Walnut wood flooring for installation at a series of high profile exhibitions. Wood floors from Kährs' new Vancouver and Calgary ranges were chosen for each of the exhibitions. The one-strip timber flooring provided an eye-catching contrast to bulthaup's b3 kitchen concept – a wood-edged alpine white laminate and stainless steel design which proves that timber can complement a wide range of finishes.

This trend for darker timbers is also reflected in the finishes market. While Jack Weavers, manager at lacquers and stains supplier BonaKemi Ltd, said the trend for finishes is towards a matt look, fashions seem to have changed when it comes to the colour of the surface. “Two or three years ago our technical team often had to advise contractors and designers how to achieve a lighter surface or a 'limewashed' or 'whitewashed' effect,” he said. “Now our biggest selling low-solvent Parquet Décor stain is wenge and many of the designers we advise want to achieve a 'Jacobean' look with wide dark boards.”

Species variety

Clive Lyons, at Weldon, agrees the market has seen the introduction of more unusual species recently. “The most common timber types for us are English and French oak,” he said, “with walnut, mahogany, maple, sycamore, teak, rosewood and wenge all being used either for detailing in our elaborate marquetry work or, in some cases, entire floors.”

He said the business operates at the “very top end of the market”, which seems to be less affected by movements in the market place elsewhere. “The majority of our work is residential, although commercial work has increased recently,” he said. “Due to this residential slant we do find that we feel seasonal changes a little.”

The company has provided wood flooring solutions to some high-profile projects, most notably 1,000m2 of oak flooring sourced from the Crown Estate's Windsor Forest for the Savill Building at Windsor Great Park (pp20-23). Other recent projects include repair, restoration and finishing of the parquet floors at Lancaster House, St James's, London and supplying 400m2 of French oak boards for the National Gallery's rolling restoration work.

Another growth area is in reclaimed timber flooring. According to Hamish Urquhart of reclaimed specialist LASSCO Flooring, both pine and oak boards are a firm favourite in the reclamation market. “The patina of old age is inimitable,” he said. “Furthermore, our huge stocks of reclaimed pine boards are perfect for those looking to buy a small quantity to patch in and replace the odd damaged board from their existing floor.”

Clive Lyons agrees it's a growing market. “Where once the majority of our oak flooring was new, with a lesser proportion being reclaimed, we are currently seeing this trend reversing and estimate that the split is currently 50/50 of our boarded floors and could become biased toward old floors if this trend continues.” 

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