Aged French Oak: Three Sectors, Three Floors.
The natural and distinctive character of aged French oak is highly desirable in projects looking to bring the shape, movement, and tone of the outdoors indoors, whilst simultaneously creating a sense of time and experience. But those projects can be as different from one another as each board is from its neighbours. What could be more different than a residential ‘home within a garden’ in Singapore, a contemporary office renovation in Saint James’, in an historic district of London, and one of the UK’s most beloved restaurant franchises in Swindon?
About Aged French Oak
Sourced from protected forests in Southern France, seasoned then slowly kilned, our rustic grade aged French oak floors emulate the beauty of wood floors that have been walked on, lived with and loved for centuries, acquiring a resonant patina of rich experience. Their undulating textures and hand-rolled edges create a beautifully old-fashioned and organic appearance. Scrubbed knots and dramatic colour variations that might be considered imperfections to those with a different aesthetic are celebrated in each plank and piece of our aged French oak.
Our aged French oak floors are as varied as the patterns and textures to be found in each individual board. From the midnight tones of Assier to the lightning-like splits of Charente, from the skip-sawn rawness of Baslow to the manor-house-stylings of Arley, no two floors are the same and, within each floor, no two planks.
Residential: EDEN, Singapore
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, EDEN Singapore is an ultra-luxury garden residence located in the bustling and metropolitan Orchard Road neighbourhood, the project blends the abundance and richness of nature with city living, drawing inspiration from Singapore’s vision of itself as a ‘city in a garden’. Lush descending foliage, comprising over twenty varieties of handpicked flora, spill from organic, scallop-like balconies. The building itself looks as if it has sprouted from the earth, a miracle of the equatorial climate and the bountiful South-East Asian loam.
The interior design scheme of the apartments strongly echoes the philosophy of the project, with a keen commitment not just to natural materials but to materials which display their natural qualities unequivocally. Materials like Jura limestone, known for its wealth of fossils, particularly ammonites, textured slate and, of course, wood.
Which is where Ted Todd enters the picture. Ted Todd and our aged French oak selection. In the case of EDEN, it was Quissac that caught the attention of the project’s interior design experts.
Intensely dark and decadent, Quissac is not just an aged European oak, it is a deeply aged European oak, with scrubbed, raised knots and a grain pattern that flows like the Kallang River. Laid in an organic herringbone pattern, a design older than the Roman Empire, EDEN’s floor not only contributed to and enhanced its nature-driven schema but also provided a highly durable walking surface: 20mm thick, with a 6mm wear layer, bolstered by our Burnished Hardwax Oil that penetrated deep into the very pores of the wood, providing maximum protection whilst contributing a deep lustre to further accentuate the natural elegance of the grain.
Workspace: Saint James’, London
Converting an historic building into a contemporary office space is quite a challenge, calling for a deft touch from the interior designer, in this case Bluebottle Interiors, specialists in workplace architecture and interior design.
In the seventeenth century, swathes of the British aristocracy flocked to Saint James’ Park and its environs. However, following the structural devastations of the Second World War, the area lost much of its residential population and began the gradual shift toward a distinct commercial focus. Now, home to many fine-dining establishments and entertainment spots, it has become a go-to address for enterprises seeking out characterful and distinguished workspaces.
Such spaces are often stately but can appear a little tired, the weight of history beginning to take its toll. A vibrant refresh is in order, but carefully executed to retain the grandeur, and not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
When it came to the floor, Bluebottle’s designers decided Ted Todd’s Lauzes fit the bill to perfection. An aged French oak replete with saw marks, burrs, and knots, Lauzes has the historic angle well-and-truly covered, and yet its light, neutral tonality characterises it as a thoroughly modern floor. It is not too much of a stretch to suggest Lauzes not only ties the interior design together but also firmly anchors the past to the present.
Hospitality: Nando’s, Swindon
Nando’s, with—at last count—473 restaurants in the United Kingdon, is not just a restaurant, it is a cultural phenomenon with a colossal online fanbase. Sat at the apex of that towering fanbase are Mark Joss and James Colom, who have visited hundreds of branches worldwide and created the Rate Your Nando’s website. There have even been academic papers written about the brand, with prolix titles like Digital geographies of everyday multiculturalism: ‘Let’s go Nando’s!’.
Whilst the food served at these popular restaurants is clearly the primary draw, the interior design cannot be far behind.
The design scheme of each Nando’s restaurant must walk a tightrope between uniqueness and keeping the brand front and centre. Vibrant colours and earthy tones are non-negotiable, as is a respectful nod to the company’s South African origins, but beyond those demands, the designer has, if not ‘free range’ then enviable scope to unleash their creative impulses.
This carte-blanche-adjacent approach applies equally to the choice of floor. Ted Todd have collaborated on scores of Nando’s restaurants and the choice of floor is remarkably diverse. For Nando’s in Nottingham, the dark, warm tones of Velentre. For Nando’s, Soho, the urban stylings of Gaslamp’s rough-sawn, copper-leafed surfaces. For the Trafford Centre’s Nando’s restaurant, the double-fumed smokiness of Monroe. For the Edinburgh establishment, one of Ted Todd’s most popular floors, Husk, with its striking interplay of light and dark grain details, a floor that is a near-perfect abstract expression of the concept of motion.
For Nando’s, Swindon, STAC Architecture selected Champagney from our Aged collection. An aged French oak, Champagney is a classic, rustic-grade dark-brown floor with an expressive, undulating texture, featuring scrubbed, raised knots and a burnished hardwax oil finish for the additional durability demanded by any popular, high-traffic eatery.
Nando’s, Swindon, went on to secure an accolade at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards.
Three Sectors, Three Floors, One Wood.
An innovative Singaporean residential project, a modern office in historic London, and one of the UK’s most popular restaurant chains, all have one thing in common: aged French oak floors as a seamless, unifying presence, bridging the gap between disparate design visions.