Hakwood herringbone flooring

adds a timeless touch to Victorian family home

When a family relocated from Italy to Castelnau in Barnes, London, they asked Claire McDonald and Graham Massey of creativemass architects to turn a run-down Victorian building into an exquisite family home. creativemass specified Hakwood Drift in herringbone pattern to complement the eccentric details of the Victorian home.

Respect to original features

“The house is quite a large building, that had been converted into a series of tiny studios”, explains McDonald. “My clients basically asked me to free up the building and make it a whole again. The interior was very tired, but there were some fantastic original features, like the staircase and the ceilings. We wanted those features to sing within the new design.”    

creativemass is a design-led architectural practice, founded by Massey and McDonald. Having collectively designed many award-winning buildings over the last 20 years, creativemass is well versed in designing spaces that are uplifting, practical and special, and with a timeless elegance.

Secretive spaces

McDonald details the flooring choice for this project:

“Victorian houses often have surprising floor plans and secretive spaces. To reflect that, we wanted none of the rooms to have a linear feel; that’s why we chose a herringbone floor in the study, instead of straight planks. Apart from its design purpose it also provides that smoky gentlemen’s club atmosphere we were looking for.”

While the study is accented with dark wood paneling with built-in bookshelves amongst exotic carpets and timeless leather furniture, the same Hakwood flooring has been used in the family room which makes for a contrastingly bright space, smattered tastefully with the bright yellow and lilac tones of the soft furnishings. McDonald comments:

“There’s a beautiful contrast between the more traditional study and hallway on the one hand, and the light, contemporary family room on the other.”

Feeling right at home

McDonald says her biggest design challenge was to never let the family feel they are in a cavernous space:

“Apart from the layout, the choice of natural materials like wood really helped to soften the appearance of the home. The owners’ first reaction was telling: they said they felt right at home. I think it’s a wonderful thing: a very formal Victorian home that doesn’t feel formal at all.”

Hakwood flooring specified:

Flooring:                Drift, Colour Collection      

Grade:                    Premier 1-bis

Finish:                    DuoVarnish

Thickness:             15 mm

Width:                    180 mm