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Case Studies

Inspirational floors to enhance every project. From homes to hotels, museums to restaurants, Atkinson & Kirby flooring is selected for projects all over the world.

Great Tapestry of Scotland

The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels, which opened in 2021, exhibits 410 million years of Scotland's history, heritage, innovations and culture amongst a backdrop of sleek and modernist design. In order to pay homage to the breadth of the country's history, from prehistoric periods to contemporary society, the brand-new visitor centre in Galashiels, Scotland was designed to be the perfect display for this impressive piece of art. Inspired by modern architecture, the building features minimalistic interiors, streamlined form and sharp, clean edges.  Inside its main gallery sits the 160 panels of tapestry created by artist Andrew Crummy, historian Alistair Moffat and author Alexander McCall Smith. To complement the centre's innovative design, Atkinsons & Kirby's Ness Smoked Oak flooring was used throughout to add to the minimal feel of the space.  The hardwood oak's durability was the ideal choice for the Great Tapestry of Scotland to withstand heavy footfall for years to come, whilst its characterful rustic grade adds a sense of warmth to the simple interior of the galley. Ness Smoked Oak, with its filled knots and splits, has bundles of character and provides a beautifully aged look beside the tapestry.  Fitted alongside tonal colours, ceramic tiling and curtain walling windows, the flooring sits perfectly amongst the unique natural light provided by the centre's modern roof design.

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Mowgli Restaurants

From a small, thriving restaurant on Bold Street in Liverpool to an award-winning UK food chain, Mowgli Street Food’s captivating venues are now located in prime city hotspots nationwide and widely known for their unique commercial design. Created by chef and food writer, Nisha Katona, MBE, Mowgli Street Food is renowned for its Indian home-cooked dishes and street food. Set amongst a stunning backdrop of twinkling fairy lights, wooden tables, rope swings and incredible feature botanicals such as hanging moss and bespoke tree centrepieces, Mowgli is nothing but authentic. With inspiration taken from traditional Indian food markets, each venue creates a distinct experience that pays homage to nature and bygone eras with hints of deep green, golden accents and raw oak furnishings. To complement the enchanting décor of each restaurant, Atkinson & Kirby’s Chiswick Oak was selected to be installed throughout Mowgli’s Liverpool, Oxford, Manchester, Sheffield, Cheltenham, Bristol, and Birmingham locations. This versatile white oak flooring offers a contemporary feel against its wooden and earthy interiors, as well as a light, spacious look to add perspective to each venue. Additionally, our Sahara Oak flooring helped to transform Mowgli’s main offices in Liverpool and its recently opened London restaurant on Charlotte Street. This natural oak celebrates the art of imperfections with its natural cracks and visible sapwood that add a stunning focal point to the spaces that ties in with Mowgli’s authentic and natural design concept.  

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Beckett Locke

Situated in the heart of Dublin’s Docklands, the city’s vibrant business district, Beckett Locke aparthotel by Locke Living prides itself as the perfect home from home. Equipped with bright communal spaces for living and relaxing, it encourages visitors to ‘work, rest and create’. Inspired by its industrial surroundings, each communal space features exposed concrete and black steel. Boasting an inviting co-working space, artisan coffee shop, cocktail bar, all-day bar and a lobby designed to echo the busy atmosphere of a market hall, the aparthotel is the ideal setting for socialising and productivity. The pastel hues, shades of blue and rust-coloured furnishings of each studio apartment provide a cool and relaxing environment. Set amongst bold interiors and zonal patterns, each beautifully designed apartment pays homage to Art Deco style with fully fitted kitchens as well as living and dining spaces. Wyndham Oak from Atkinson & Kirby’s Contemporary collection was the perfect choice of flooring to complement the aparthotels North Dock’s backdrop. Fitted throughout the 241 studio apartments, the hardwood floorings rustic charm and originality complements the aparthotels vintage industrial style through its subtle imperfections of knots, splits and saw marks. A bespoke UV Oiled finish was used to provide a strong surface finish that will ensure the character of the wood is maintained over time.

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Polzeath Beach Cottages

Located in Polzeath, an idyllic surf haven on the North coast of Cornwall, the beach cottages offer a breathtaking coastal retreat.  The award-winning self-catering accommodation provider offers a stunning portfolio of North Cornish holiday homes. Atkinson & Kirby oak flooring was used in Elsante Estates Group Ltd’s new development comprising three cottages: Chyanna, Gwel Trelsa, and Polsted. Designed and spearheaded by Elsante, the four-storey cottages boast an unrivalled beachside location. Newly constructed, the development was architecturally designed to maximise the blissful views across Polzeath beach. Fully-glazed end gables with floor to ceiling windows give panoramic views of the sea and sky, while the contemporary open plan living rooms, complete with wood-burning stoves, are washed in natural light. The upper floor incorporates an ingenious cushioned sky hammock suspended over the galleried void, providing the perfect place to relax and gaze at the uninterrupted view across the Atlantic Ocean. As the picturesque coastal surroundings and abundance of natural light were central to the architectural design, it was important that the interior took advantage of these aspects of the development. Along with the floor to ceiling windows and neutral colour palette, the flooring was integral to achieving the light and spacious interior. Leading hardwood flooring brand, Atkinson & Kirby, was selected to supply this project. Fitted by Orchard Construction, Manoa Oak from Atkinson & Kirby’s Contemporary collection was used throughout the three cottages. The flooring complements the chic interior decor and golden sandy views, creating a warm, inviting atmosphere. Manoa Oak is a popular choice for open plan residential properties as the delicate grain seeps through the chalky finish, creating a bright and airy aesthetic. Guy Taylor, Managing Director at Elsante, comments on the project: “We wanted to create a perfect space in a perfect place. With UK staycations on the rise, these houses offer an unrivalled coastal retreat, thanks to innovative architectural and interior design choices. Atkinson & Kirby's Manoa Oak was the ideal choice for the development, enhancing the light and bright space.” The houses are available to rent through Latitude 50. For more information about Polzeath beach cottages, visit their website. You can order a sample of Manoa Oak on our website, order yours here.  Manoa Oak can be purchased through our stockists. Find your local stockist here.  

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95 Peckham Road

Located in the bustling London borough of Southwark, the award-winning 95 Peckham Road is a striking new residential building comprising of 33 luxury flats. The development takes the form of a mansion block style apartment building with a communal tree-lined courtyard for residents to enjoy. The masterminds behind this award-winning development, Peter Barber Architects, carefully analysed the site and local community to ensure that the property enhances and compliments the character of the area. The architecture has a picturesque quality, with the impressive facades defined by courtyards, roof terraces, balconies and large feature picture windows. The intricate and locally sympathetic design of 95 Peckham Road has not gone unnoticed by architectural circles. The property won the Housing prize at the New London Awards 2020 and has been shortlisted for the 2021 RIBA London Awards. Marrying the building’s interiors with the breath-taking postmodernist exterior was a top priority for Kuropatwa, the property developers of 95 Peckham Road. Toby Thorpe, Operations Director for Kuropatwa said: “For the interiors we wanted a flooring that would match the stunning external aesthetic.” To achieve this goal, the team used Rasselas Oak flooring from our contemporary collection throughout the property. The light-toned wood gives the illusion of space, while the rustic grade reflects the charming character of the building. View the Contemporary collection here. View Rasselas Oak here.

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Bermonds Locke

Within minutes walking distance from Bermondsey Street, Tower Bridge and the Shard, the Bermonds Locke aparthotel complex is an urban eco-oasis for professionals and travellers to unwind from the hustle and bustle of city life.   Designed to be a ‘home away from home’ for guests, the aparthotel boasts a variety of communal spaces, including a leafy co-working area, meeting room, central courtyard and workout studio. Each of the stunning studio apartments are fitted with a kitchen and laundry area, allowing urban travellers and long-term guests to cater for themselves.  Alex Holloway, the mastermind behind Bermonds Locke’s interior, designed the hotel using reclaimed materials that would have otherwise gone to landfill. The 143 studio apartments were painted in a variety of desert gradients for a tranquil yet contemporary appearance, with the top floor rooms painted sky blue and grey and the lower ones in pink clay. When selecting the flooring, both beauty and practicality were considered. Ness Smoked Oak from Atkinson & Kirby’s Classic collection made the perfect choice of flooring for all 143 apartments, as the natural tones of the oak seamlessly blend with the varying desert gradients across all floors. The characterful wood offers a forgiving style that will age beautifully over time and create a charming rustic aesthetic as the years pass by.  View the beautiful Ness Smoked Oak here. View our full Classic collection here.          

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Liberton Barns

Manoa Oak from our Contemporary collection was used to enhance the minimalist look and feel of this idyllic, award-winning property. Liberton Tower Mains is a bold new development of townhouses in Liberton Brae, an exclusive and sought after area of Edinburgh overlooking the Royal Observatory and Liberton Tower. Their outstanding design and finish earned developer Glencairn Properties a prestigious Innovation in Design award at the Scottish Home Awards, and we’re proud to have played our part by supplying our Manoa Oak Plank flooring for use in the project.  Part of the Atkinson & Kirby Contemporary Collection, Manoa Oak Plank was picked to complement the minimalist look and feel of the interior design and has been used throughout the hallway, living and dining areas. Along with vaulted ceilings, floor to ceiling glazing and natural stone surfaces, the choice of flooring by architects LBA enhances the light, spacious interiors and adds to their contemporary feel, while remaining faithful to the heritage of the original site.  Viewed from the outside, the properties are a striking reinterpretation of an existing agricultural barn within a collection of converted farm buildings next to a B-listed 19th century farmhouse. A representative from Glencairn Properties said "at Glencairn we put Design at the forefront of everything we do and it is great to be recognised for this with the Innovation in Design Award."  At Atkinson & Kirby, we’ve loved being involved in this fabulous project too, and we look forward to working with LBA Architects and Glencairn Properties again. View the beautiful Manoa Oak here.        

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Whitworth Locke

Located between Manchester’s Oxford Road and Canal Street, guests at Locke Living’s third aparthotel, Whitworth Locke, can explore the colourful streets, industrial canals and thriving culture of Manchester. Known as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, Manchester’s history is reflected in the grand 19th century buildings of Civic Quarter. Whitworth Locke, a cotton mill conversion aparthotel and co-working space, has been intricately designed to reflect the city’s history, whilst offering a glimpse into the future of city-centre hotels.  Paying homage to Manchester’s industrial past, each of Whitworth Locke’s 160 apartments have been individually designed to be sympathetic to the building’s original features. Particularly notable are the original factory windows, which create a contemporary warehouse-style aesthetic in each room. While each apartment is unique, they are all united by a signature Locke style; a rich and soothing earthy colour palette, as well as furniture that’s as comfortable as it is beautiful, to make guests instantly feel at home.  To complement the grounded and earthy colour palette, Atkinson & Kirby’s rustic grade Ness Smoked Oak flooring was selected by the design team to run throughout all 160 apartments. With its filled knots and splits, the durable hardwood flooring provides a beautifully aged look which perfectly complements the earthy tones of the décor. As a nod to the building’s historic past, the aged oak flooring was laid in a laddered pattern, offering a traditional parquet finish.  View the full Atkinson & Kirby collection here          

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Be Inspired

Let your imagination run wild with a host of options and ideas for your floor designs.

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