design et al are delighted to announce that Artwood Floors have been shortlisted for Flooring – Hard Floor Award in The International Design & Architecture Awards 2019.
Located on Salzburg’s Mönchsberg, Hotel Schloss Mönchstein is set within a spectacular 16th century castle, originally built as early as the 14th century. The project involved the refurbishment of the hotels award-winning restaurant Schloss Mönchstein, with the supply of 3,000 ft2 of hardwood engineered flooring.
The overall scheme presented a combination of rich textures and design elements, whilst retaining an elegant neutral tone within the space. The brief was to create an opulent yet understated complement to the scheme, whilst incorporating a floor layout that made best use of the floor shape. A custom sized geometric panel format was selected, creating a multi-dimensional pattern that would create a more dynamic look than traditional parquet formats. To incorporate the varying finishes planned, each part of the panel would need to be individually created and finished prior to the final construction. This represented over 8,000 individual pieces of timber; hand machined and hand finished prior to assembly, to yield 750 panels. Key to all geometric pattern work is the accuracy of the panel dimensions and lines within; precise cutting and construction is critical.
Having selected the base panel format, attention turned to the selection of finishes. The positioning of the restaurant and floor to ceiling glazing providing a very bright backdrop. Selecting finishes that utilised this natural light was key to the selection process. With this in mind, a number of elements were incorporated into the panel. Using dual colour tones and both matt and gloss sheens, brought a level of depth to the panel, further highlighting the geometric shape and its 3D appearance. Gold grain detailing was also introduced, complementing existing furniture and fixtures. Given the true metallic content of the grain inlay, interaction of the gold with light creates an additional layer of interest, as the light reflects against the metal.
A final consideration was the surface finish, which utilised a specialist hand finishing technique to create a silk like effect on the surface. A stark contrast to standard stain finishing. Taken as a whole, the result is a panel that incorporates a complex series of joinery and specialist finishing techniques. In effect, multiple Artwood Floors specifications combined in one panel.
The flooring provides both a bold yet muted design statement. Tones are integrated into the overall environment and maintain a level of neutrality that picks up on the magnificent natural landscape that surrounds the hotel. At the same time, the reflections and visuals created by the interaction of the specialist finishes and natural light give it that little bit of sparkle.