Parliament House Foyer Gets a Restoration

A fire in December 2021 left the floor of the front foyer of Old Parliament House irretrievably damaged. The original floor was a bespoke pattern of Jarrah parquet with Mountain Ash borders.

The floor restoration required recreating the floor back to its original state and maintaining as much of the patina and character of the original floor as possible. This meant using recycled boards, no nail holes and dimensions that matched the original installation.

Traditionally a trowel fill would of been used to provide greater stability and a mirror surface; however it was decided to forgo trowel filling the parquet in order to help retain the patina of the floor, as the original installation hadn’t been trowelled either. The floor was sealed with Bona Traffic HD Anti-Slip as it is directly accessed by an outside door and needed to meet AS 4586:2013 requirements.

The results speak for themselves and the historic foyer has now been given a new lease of life. This project shows what talented and dedicated craftsmen can achieve, and demonstrates the care and respect that our national monuments deserve.

Contractors:
Refined Flooring http://www.refinedflooring.com.au
Old2New Timber Flooring https://old2newflooring.com.au