Bespoke patterns are taking shape at the South Grafton Parquetry Mill in the hope they will floor city developers and architects. Source: The Clarence Valley Daily Examiner
The Australian Timber Company’s business partner Tony Di Milia said a number of new patterns and reinventions of long forgotten configurations were being developed by hand at the factory using Australian timbers, in an effort to claim the budding niche market in Australia and China.
As the only all-Australian parquetry company, and with showrooms in Sydney, Shanghai and soon to be in Melbourne, they are in with a good chance.
“We’ve got one pattern that hasn’t been made in 50 years and we are currently developing something with the end grain of the timber, which is five times harder than the top side,” Mr Di Milia said.
“We’re trying to develop something that isn’t in the broader market, which is good from an architect’s point of view. They’re always looking for something different.”
The company’s business development manager Luke Jessop-Smith, who visited the mill for the first time last week, said he was impressed by what he saw.
“This sort of flooring is coming back into vogue, particularly at the top end of the market,” he said. “People want something stylish and unusual.”
Mr Di Milia said the factory was still running on a skeleton staff of four employees, but they were hoping to double that number in the next six months, pending orders.
At present, they have the capacity to make 30 square metres of flooring every hour.
“We’re a little bit like the blonde on the dance floor,” he said. “We look nice and have all the right gear; we just need a bit of work.”
The South Grafton Parquetry Mill was re-opened in October, after being closed for six years.
