THE ENDURING APPEAL OF
HERRINGBONE FLOORS
Herringbone wood flooring has a distinctive zig-zag pattern. Created from wooden pieces cut in perfect rectangles, the blocks are staggered so the end of one board meets the side of another producing a repeated, tessellated pattern
While the herringbone pattern itself dates back to the Roman Empire, where it was primarily used for road paving( opus spicatum) due to its stability, the first known reference to herringbone being used specifically for flooring appears much later, in the 16th century. Specifically, one of the earliest documented examples of a wooden herringbone parquet floor can be found at the Château de Fontainebleau in France, installed in 1539. Following this, herringbone and other intricate parquet flooring patterns gained significant popularity among the French nobility throughout the 1600s, becoming a symbol of luxury and elegance in interior design. Parquet flooring became popular among the British aristocracy from the 1700s onward. It was in the 1930s that it started finding its way into middle-class homes and more modest abodes.
It’ s popularity is understandable at a glance. The distinct zigzagging pattern introduces a strong sense of visual movement and energy to a space, which linear planking is simply unable to replicate. In certain configurations, a herringbone pattern can lengthen and widen the appearance of a room. It’ s also an excellent‘ zoning tool’; by changing the direction of the pattern, introducing another style of herringbone or introducing another laying pattern entirely, you can subtly define and demarcate different areas of an open-plan space.
But the advantages of herringbone aren’ t limited to the aesthetic. The interlocking pattern of the
blocks laid at opposing angles inherently creates a more stable floor structure compared to straight planks. This interlock distributes stress and minimises movement. The way the ends of the blocks meet the sides of adjacent blocks creates a stronger mechanical interlock at the joints, contributing to the floor’ s overall robustness. The busy pattern can be more forgiving at concealing minor subfloor irregularities or slight variations between individual blocks compared to the continuous lines of plank flooring.
While a herringbone floor is inherently traditional, tipping its hat to a heritage going back more than two thousand years, a contemporary aesthetic can be achieved by using a prime grade floor( minimal knots, sap and colour variation) and a square shoulder edge detail,( for a seamless join), such as the floors to be found in Ted Todd’ s Residence ® collection. www. tedtodd. co. uk
50- REFURB & RESTORE