The original herringbone parquet floor to the ground floor of Cockpit's 1960s building has been sanded back and sealed, and the result has surprised everyone — including the client.

The floor had been covered and protected throughout construction, but its condition was uncertain. When Quinn's flooring contractor lifted the protection and assessed what was there, the decision to retain and restore it was straightforward: beneath decades of surface wear, the original timber was sound. Across over 300 square metres of the refurbished ground floor, the parquet has been sanded back and refinished to a warm honey tone that no new floor could replicate.

Cockpit came close to omitting it from the contract. We are glad they did not. The herringbone gives the ground floor spaces a material depth and warmth that connects the refurbished building to its own history.