Striking circular floor for landmark pleasure dome
This really isn’t something you see every day – a wooden floor installed in a circular pattern, a concentric dodecagon (yes, we had to look it up too!) to be precise. The famous Spanish City in Whitley Bay has undergone major refurbishment works, which includes new solid wood flooring from yours truly. Architects, ADP, brought the seaside pleasure building back to its former glory by carefully restoring the original decorative features in the Grade II listed building.
The works included revealing the magnificent dome in the rotunda by removing a mezzanine floor, restoring the triple height ceiling to create a large, circular space. The grand room required a complimentary floor and the choice fell on our Black Oak, fitted in the aforementioned pattern. Installed by Junckers’ Approved Contractor Stenhouse Flooring, the project features mitred joints which require a high level of skill and experience.
This is an extraordinary project with a very complicated flooring installation. The lines of the concentric dodecagon pattern on the balcony continues in the floor in the circle below (see images). On the balcony, the mitred boards run from column to column and downstairs from columns on the outer circle, where there is a step down, towards a centre point in the middle fitted with a small section of paler oak (just visible underneath the grand piano in the main image). There are 12 identical sections that form the circle, each segment overhung, angles adjusted to fit perfectly with the previous piece, mirrored in all sections. Every mitre was hand cut and hand routered, grooved with false tongue so the whole floor is connected. Over 2000 cuts in total.
The work to approximately nine weeks and required two highly skilled floor layers. The floor is finished with Junckers Oil to allow for spot repairs without much downtime and minimal disruption.
Junckers’ solid wood flooring was also installed in several other areas in the building, which now includes bars, shops, restaurants and a suite of rooms for events, conferences and weddings.
Our thanks to our Approved Contractor Stenhouse Flooring for the detailed information, and a for job well done!
