A little history on our newly discovered Heritage floors dating back to circa 1880

The tile pattern of black, white and one olive green tile and the burgundy red surface is very typical of late Victorian and early Edwardian encaustic and geometric tiled floors, most commonly dating from the 1880s to the early 1900s. This tile pattern is inset into pigmented cement or concrete flooring, often referred to historically as granolithic or cementitious floor with oxide pigment. This deep red colour was extremely popular in hotels, shops, institutions and grand houses. The colour came from iron oxide, which was durable, practical and visually rich.

Rather than tiling every inch of a space, it was very common to use coloured cement as the main field with an inset decorative tile panels or motifs at key points such as entrances, beneath stairs, at thresholds or at changes in direction. The dotted or panelled tile sections were deliberate moments of decoration. They guided the eye, marked importance and elevated the space. In hotels especially, this was seen as both elegant and sensible. So the combination is completely authentic to the period and very typical of late Victorian and early Edwardian hospitality buildings. The fact that the cement has worn unevenly, showing scars, tone changes and patches, is also historically correct. These floors were worked hard for decades. What feels beautiful now is exactly what time was meant to do to them.

What makes the discovery particularly special and Breda’s knowledge of them being in the corridors, front lobby and kitchens of The Lansdowne is that this is not a single decorative panel, but part of a much larger continuous floor, suggesting the Lansdowne was finished to a very high standard from the outset.

In replicating the design, we are hoping to be respectful in our approach and one that many custodians of heritage buildings take, allowing the story of the original floor to continue while protecting what remains.