European oak floors at Wings House, Christchurch
Wings House is a modernist family home in Halswell, Christchurch, designed by Borrmeister Architects. Its open-plan living runs on European oak from our Foundation Collection: wide, long, fixed-length boards in a warm natural tone with an air-dried matt lacquer. Here is why the architects specified oak, and how it reads in the space.
A modernist home that needed a warm floor
Borrmeister Architects completed Wings House in 2017: two horizontal timber wings framing a sheltered courtyard, with clean geometric lines, wide glazing and open-plan living. The brief for the floor was simple. Ground the modernist forms in warmth and natural texture without competing with them. One material had to carry the whole ground level, kitchen through to living, in a single continuous run.
European oak, Foundation Collection
The specified floor is European oak from our Foundation Collection, made in Europe and held in stock. It is a wide, long board: 200mm wide and 2200mm long, cut to a fixed length so no short pieces break up the run. The 14mm engineered board carries a 3mm European oak wear layer over a birch core, finished in an air-dried, natural-feel matt lacquer that keeps the grain soft and matt rather than plasticky.
| Detail | Foundation Collection |
|---|---|
| Species | European oak |
| Origin | Made in Europe |
| Board | 14mm engineered · 3mm oak wear layer · birch core |
| Width | 200mm |
| Length | 2200mm, fixed length (no shorts) |
| Finish | Air-dried, natural-feel matt lacquer |
| Stock | Held in stock, not made to order |
Warmth and texture, without the noise
European oak was the right call for a home this pared back. The natural grain and gentle colour movement give the floor warmth and texture, so the timber does the work the plaster and glass deliberately do not. Wide windows pull daylight across the boards, and the warm tone stops the open plan reading cold. Oak is a long-standing choice for busy family homes, and the Foundation Collection air-dried lacquer is designed for everyday domestic use.
The long-board detail
The specifier detail here is length. Fixed 2200mm boards with a micro-bevel and square-head joints run long and clean across an open floor, so the eye reads one continuous surface, not a patchwork of short lengths. For an architect chasing a seamless open plan, that matters. It is why Foundation sits in our engineered timber flooring range as the wide, long-plank option, and why it is held in stock rather than made to order, so a specified project is not waiting months on a container.
Design: Borrmeister Architects. Photography: Sarah Rowlands.
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Feel the oak, the width and the matt lacquer in your own light before you commit.
See the Foundation Collection
European oak, made in Europe, held in stock. Wide, long, fixed-length boards.
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See how Foundation Collection European oak reads in your own space. Order a free sample, or tell us about your project and we will quote it.
