Special Who produces industrial parquet ?

STATEMENT FOR DESIGN LOVERS

DURABLE, STURDY, AND A UNIQUE LOOK MAKE VERY STRONG ASSETS

Arthur Hoetelmans (INPA Parket - NL)

‘Clear growth in turnover of our exotic wood sorts for industrial parquet’

INPA Parket specialises in Latin American wood. The company is based near the Belgian border in Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands and is a concept in the world of parquet. Led by Arthur Hoetelmans and Ella Roosenboom, this Dutch enterprise gathers its wood from its own forests in Bolivia and Paraguay and also processes it there. Over the last two years in particular, INPA has witnessed a considerable increase in its turnover of industrial parquet. Arthur Hoetelmans explains:

‘Industrial parquet is important to us. That’s why we only sell wood from our own forests in Bolivia, and that wood is also processed in our own factory there. We’re seeing clear growth in demand for industrial parquet. The processing of our Latin American exotics, which are 100% FSC approved, might be labour intensive and the transport is quite expensive due to the distance, but nevertheless we’ve seen a growing demand, partly because more and more manufacturers in Europe are stopping with oak. If I have to put it in absolute figures, you can say that there’s been an increase in turnover of 30 to 35% as compared to 2019.’

Mainly in the commercial sphere

‘What’s noticeable is that it’s still a floor mainly in demand in the commercial sphere, where demand starts from around 200 metres. This high demand with projects is largely because it’s a solid floor with a lifespan longer than a human life. Obviously, as retailers, we don’t always know exactly where our products end up, but we do know that some of them have been used for attractive projects. They include, for instance, the floor for the passport control at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam or various projects in Switzerland for a fitness centre chain. We’ve also had lots of sales in Morocco where they dare to dismantle floors to turn them into herringbone floors.’

When we ask about the long-term future of this so called industrial parquet, Mr Hoetelmans answers cautiously: ‘It’s hard to predict, certainly now that the covid pandemic has stopped so many projects. I wouldn’t dare to say too much about it, but we have seen exotics emerge from the inactivity and there is a growing demand for them. Moreover, one benefit for us is that we record less exorbitant price increases for transport as compared to China and the rest of Asia in general. Whilst prices there have risen sevenfold, our prices have not quite doubled, and this means that Latin American exotics are doing better on the market. Another benefit of INPA is also that we consistently maintain a large stock, with about 25,000m² of industrial parquet in stock.’

The further south, the greater the demand

When we ask which markets apart from the Benelux are the main consumers, Mr Hoetelmans gives us a clear answer: ‘The further south you go, the greater the demand. We’re seeing clearly rising demand in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Switzerland. If you ask me, one reason for that is the fact that all those countries had colonies in Africa and Latin America, so they’re familiar with exotic wood sorts. At all events, there’s a big difference with Northern Europe where oak is clearly king. This might change in the future perhaps, but more people in the northern countries would have to realise that how stable this industrial parquet is and how much longer the wood’s lifespan is. Structurally and economically, it’s simply one of the best and most solid wooden floors you can get. It’s just that the cost of fitting and processing is higher than with normal parquet or wooden floors.'

Photo - Inpa Parket

For a few years now, we’ve discerned a clear rise in demand for industrial parquet, which is also sometimes called end grain blocks. This demand seems to be constant, and that is also illustrated in the testimony of the Dutch company INPA Parket. In this article we consider why this sort of floor is in such demand, especially in the commercial world. Sign of the times

First of all, you can say that this product is simply an illustration of the times in which we live. More than ever before, a home has to provide a unique individual experience and this type of floor fits in perfectly with that philosophy. Design lovers are confronted with a floor with a unique and rigid look, something that is much less the case with traditional

Custom-made

Quality parquet

made for en by professionals

LOFT PRO

HAUSSMANN PARQUET, Chevron

Oak : rustic/campagne Size : 16 x 90 x 500 mm Top layer : 4,5 mm Brushed, satin varnish Tongue & groove - 4 bevels Engineered Loft Pro oak (Birch plywood base) www.designparquet.fr

“All products for the perfect floor”. Exclusive distributor Vermeister.

T +32 11 63 64 00 M info@parketkerkhofs.be Ambachtslaan 1013, 3990 Peer www.parketkerkhofs.be

straight planks. Moreover, this sort of floor adapts ideally to just about any environment, from modern to rural and rustic.

Another strong point is simply that this floor is unrivalled in terms of strength and durability. Strong almost inevitably means highly durable, and let that be one of the key order words of this decade. In its day, industrial parquet was something which you fitted in exceptionally busy places, so you often saw it in offices, museums, and even in factories. It’s no surprise that you often saw it in such places. Actually, this form of parquet came into being through the rejoining of surplus pieces of wood or small strips to make a new whole. This yielded an extra benefit: Industrial parquet also provides sound insulation because the wood fibres absorb sound vibrations better than ordinary wooden floors. And so, this gave (and still gives) bigger rooms better acoustics.

Mosaic on its side

The strength of this product comes through the 90 degrees rotation of solid wood strips to create a ‘design’ of clearly thin strips on the floor. Actually, this form of parquet strongly resembles mosaic parquet which is fitted parallel with the mosaic strip on its side. We should also mention that the floor elements are available in a wide range of different thicknesses (often from 10 to 22mm), widths (between roughly 7 to 20mm), lengths, and wood sorts (there are even versions available with bamboo, and you can hardly be more ecological than that). You can finish with oil or varnish as you wish. With industrial parquet, the sandpapering and finishing are done almost always on site.

Another clear observation recently is that industrial parquet has also made its way into private homes. Indeed, purchasers, such as architects, have realised in droves how this product has both aesthetic and practical assets. One of the main ones is that due to the use of small elements, it is perfectly possible to fit these floors above floor heating (at least if you use the thin version).

The fitting

As for the practicalities, how do you fit industrial parquet? You need to remember that this sort of parquet is always fitted glued onto a fixed and sturdy base. After the fitting and due regard for the stability period, you sandpaper the wood flat and fine, fit any joints between elements, sandpaper once again after that with a fine grain, and polish until finally you have a perfectly flat whole.

After the fitting, you apply the finish with a finish product of your choice where the floor is fitted. There is a vast array of options and you can work with an almost infinite range of colours. That makes it possible to give any environment, either residential or commercial, a completely personal look.

Another specialist has his say

Design Parquet

Industrial wood flooring is a solid wood flooring in industrial strips for 99%. This wood flooring is laid only in glued laying. After laying you need to sandpaper the floor to avoid any differences of levels and after you can apply your finishing : oil or varnish. Design Parquet offers a wide range of industrial wood flooring in differents wood species : Oak, Ash, Acacia, Beech, Merbau, Komea, Wengé in thickness 10/14/20/22 or 24 mm . For this kind of parquet, it’s not possible to present a special surface aspect like offered from Design Parquet on all solid or birch plywood base : distressed, heavy brushed or band saw marks. The greatest advantage of this type of wood floor is its resistance. Industrial wood flooring has a very large resistance to pushing. It is therefore resistant to differents impacts. Due to a reclaimed product, his price is quite interesting. This Industrial wood is not so expensive but requires it a long time to lay this type of floor due to its size.

Pelizzari Parquet, airport Orio al Serio Bergamo