Project Spotlights

Reclaimed Style Meets Modern Performance at Hawksmoor, St Pancras

Hawksmoor St Pancras occupies one of London’s most architecturally impressive dining rooms inside the spectacular Grade I-listed former Midland Grand Hotel. Striking a careful balance between conserving the building’s heritage and creating an exceptional dining experience for modern guests was crucial to the success of its design.

Bespoke Broadleaf parquet flooring at Hawksmoor St Pancras.

THE PROJECT

An ambitious refurbishment of the iconic St Pancras London Hotel dining room and bar – a Grade I listed building and World Heritage site originally designed by Victorian Gothic Revival architect Sir George Gilbert Scott whose interior is defined by soaring ceilings, ornate plasterwork, and spectacular marble columns.

Designers Macaulay Sinclair’s were tasked with transforming this historic space into Hawksmoor’s latest destination restaurant in just ten weeks, preserving the existing heritage with the refined elegance and exceptional dining experience for which Hawksmoor are known.

Plank and parquet floors are both beautiful, but if you like both and don’t know which to choose, the following might help you.

Plank floors are quicker and easier to install than parquet, which means that they will be less expensive to install. They are also a simpler DIY option. That said, parquet floors have an undeniable wow factor, and create a feature all on their own. This is one of the reasons that they are such a popular choice for hallways, which can often be difficult to furnish due to their size and the need to be able to move through them freely.

Herringbone parquet is also a great solution for unusually shaped rooms such as L shapes or those entered from more than one direction, as the pattern works both ways, whereas plank floors tend to look better in one direction or another.

Plank and parquet floors are both beautiful, but if you like both and don’t know which to choose, the following might help you.

Plank floors are quicker and easier to install than parquet, which means that they will be less expensive to install. They are also a simpler DIY option. That said, parquet floors have an undeniable wow factor, and create a feature all on their own. This is one of the reasons that they are such a popular choice for hallways, which can often be difficult to furnish due to their size and the need to be able to move through them freely.

Herringbone parquet is also a great solution for unusually shaped rooms such as L shapes or those entered from more than one direction, as the pattern works both ways, whereas plank floors tend to look better in one direction or another.

THE Brief

The flooring was crucial to the design. It needed to feel authentic to the building’s Victorian heritage and as though it had always been part of the architecture. It also needed to reflect the luxury and elegance of the space, and help it feel more intimate, whilst meeting the practical demands of short installation window and a high-traffic hospitality setting.

The aesthetic ambition was an exotic wood parquet floor with the character, variation and patina created by decades of wear.

Plank and parquet floors are both beautiful, but if you like both and don’t know which to choose, the following might help you.

Plank floors are quicker and easier to install than parquet, which means that they will be less expensive to install. They are also a simpler DIY option. That said, parquet floors have an undeniable wow factor, and create a feature all on their own. This is one of the reasons that they are such a popular choice for hallways, which can often be difficult to furnish due to their size and the need to be able to move through them freely.

Herringbone parquet is also a great solution for unusually shaped rooms such as L shapes or those entered from more than one direction, as the pattern works both ways, whereas plank floors tend to look better in one direction or another.

Plank and parquet floors are both beautiful, but if you like both and don’t know which to choose, the following might help you.

Plank floors are quicker and easier to install than parquet, which means that they will be less expensive to install. They are also a simpler DIY option. That said, parquet floors have an undeniable wow factor, and create a feature all on their own. This is one of the reasons that they are such a popular choice for hallways, which can often be difficult to furnish due to their size and the need to be able to move through them freely.

Herringbone parquet is also a great solution for unusually shaped rooms such as L shapes or those entered from more than one direction, as the pattern works both ways, whereas plank floors tend to look better in one direction or another.

THE SOLUTION

Working closely with the project team, Broadleaf developed a bespoke vintage parquet floor to meet the brief, inspired by timber floors reclaimed from similar historic buildings.

New parquet was authentically aged here in Wales to create gently worn edges, a subtle time-worn character and surface patina. It was then carefully coloured by our team in a curated blend of tones to add the warmth, variation and richness found in genuine reclaimed flooring.

The blocks were tongue and grooved all round and delivered fully sealed with a durable, high performance hardwax oil. Not only did this add depth and a luxurious feel to the parquet flooring that the designers were looking for, it also facilitated the short installation window as no further finishing was needed on site, and the requirement for a hard wearing floor that could be easily maintained.

The different tones of flooring were also pre-mixed, making them as quick and easy to install as flooring in a single tone, and ensuring a natural looking, random combination across the floor.

THE RESULT

The result is a floor that feels authentic and familiar, as though it has formed part of the building for generations, but on a practical level benefits from the precision, consistency and reliability of modern manufacturing.

Laid in a beautiful double herringbone design the richly toned parquet brings warmth and intimacy to the vast dining room, grounding the dramatic architecture and creating an elegant, inviting atmosphere. It is the perfect foundation for the deep greens, peacock blues and gold accents chosen to elevate the space alongside the bespoke furniture and fittings.

As Mai-yee Ng, Design Director at Hawksmoor, explains:

“The project at St Pancras demanded a floor that felt fitting to exceptional architecture of the listed building. The bespoke to Hawksmoor, aged parquet blocks from Broadleaf were the perfect choice for the space, exuding a warm and lived in feel that suited it perfectly.”

GET THE LOOK

If you love the look of this beautiful bespoke flooring, you might like our Original Vintage Merbau flooring, not bespoke, but similar in style and the perfect way to add warmth, luxury and a touch of art deco elegance to any room.

 

Client: Hawksmoor 

Interior Architects: Macauley Sinclair

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