Natural Wood Floors Bring Natural Beauty to Life: A LIFECORE Installation Story

When Cornerstone Architects teamed up with Wheelhouse Design to create a home in Central Austin, they sought to exhibit a balance between clean, modern design and tactile, organic materials all the while situated in Austin, Texas’s, unique natural environment. The intention for the home was to layer texture through the use of natural materials, so of course LIFECORE engineered hardwood floors fit right in.

The home features abundant natural light thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows and transom windows throughout, and LIFECORE Anew Gentling oak hardwood floors add natural wood to the space for a truly unique aesthetic.

“We wanted light wood with some visual texture and open grain, matte finished, random length wide planks,” said Cecile Gottlich, interior designer with Wheelhouse. “Since there are such wide open spaces in this house, the scale and variation per piece were key features in our selection.”

The light brown reclaim-inspired engineered wood flooring is wire brushed for a distressed look. As with all LIFECORE hardwood floors, it features a matte finish that allows for a much more natural look than high-gloss floors.

Thanks to our organic reactive process, each plank features natural darkening and highlighting of the grain pattern. This reactive look is achieved by briefly exposing the wood to an environment in which organic substances are introduced directly to the wood to bring tannins and natural sugars to the surface.

The 1.5” by 7.5” planks come in random lengths and feature a nine-coat UV hardened finish for added durability. Plus, all LIFECORE engineered hardwood floors feature our proprietary ZERO-ADD technology, for flooring that has among the lowest levels of formaldehyde on the market.

Interior Designer: Wheelhouse Design

Builder: LECASA Homes & Renovations

Architect: Cornerstone Architects

Photographer: Molly Culver