Parquet for architects and interior designers

For an architect or an interior designer, the floor is rarely just the floor. It is the largest horizontal surface in the scheme, it sets the character of the interior, it carries the light — and it usually takes the biggest single share of the materials budget. Choosing a supplier is therefore not a purchasing decision but a risk-management one. This article sets out what a specifier actually gets when ordering parquet for projects through us, and why a supply chain without intermediaries matters in your particular line of work.

Who our trade terms are for

Our partnership model is built for three groups of professionals for whom ordinary retail buying does not work:

• Architects — when you need a specifiable product with complete technical data, certificates and a warranty you can write into the materials schedule.
• Interior designers — when the client has to see and feel the real surface, colour and texture rather than a screenshot, and the scheme has to complete without colour surprises.
• Contractors and construction companies — when the programme leaves no slack: the full quantity has to arrive on time, fit the cost plan and produce no claims about shade differences between packs.

In each of these cases the critical thing is not the individual board but consistency at scale. That is precisely where wholesale parquet straight from the factory differs from what a local builders' merchant can put on a pallet.

Direct from the factory: why it matters on a project

Terris Timber has been supplying flooring since 2014, sourcing directly from factories in Germany, Austria and Italy. Between your project and the mill there is no chain of wholesalers, each adding a margin and its own forecasting error. In practice that gives you three things a specified project feels immediately.

First, price. A shorter chain means we can quote a trade price on project quantities rather than a retail rate. Second, batch consistency. Ordering a larger volume from a single factory batch means boards from the same timber and the same finishing run, so a 200 m² floor does not end up looking like two different oaks. Third, traceability. Every Terris Timber board carries origin data and FSC and PEFC certificates that can go straight into the project documentation.

If oak is the natural choice for your client, our complete guide to oak parquet is the place to start — it explains the grading, finishing and laying patterns you will usually have to present to the client yourself.

What trade partners get

Below is what genuinely separates a project account from an ordinary shopping basket. It is not a loyalty scheme but a set of working tools that architects and designers asked us for.

Specification data you can rely on

For an architect a specification is a commitment, not a suggestion. Every collection therefore comes with the technical data a specification clause needs: wood species and grade, finish type (oiled or lacquered), usage class, suitability for underfloor heating, and certificates.

Our SPC vinyl flooring, for example, has a 0.5 mm wear layer and usage class 33/42 — a commercial rating, so it can be specified without hesitation for high-traffic zones, offices and hospitality interiors. Engineered oak parquet is suitable for underfloor heating; how the layers are cut and why that matters on a heated floor is covered in our article on parquet types and construction.

If you are weighing up materials zone by zone — parquet in the representative spaces, vinyl or stone-effect tiles in the wet areas — a shared price benchmark helps. We put one together in a separate parquet price guide for 2026, which also explains how to calculate quantities from the floor area with a waste allowance.

Samples and collections worth showing your client

The best way to close a choice with a client is not an image on a screen but a board in the hand, in their own light. Parquet for designers therefore always begins with samples here. Every one of your clients can order up to 3 free samples delivered to their home and see how a real oak surface behaves in the light from their own windows.

For representative projects we usually suggest a calm, evenly graded oak — Oak Vienna for classic spaces, or the darker, richer Oak Oxford for bolder interiors. The full range sits in the parquet category, and a wider look at choosing timber character for living areas is in our article on parquet in the living room.

Logistics that fit the programme

Material that arrives late costs more than the material itself: it stops the fitting crew, pushes back the handover and damages the relationship with the client. We ship on pallets across the EU, with the cost and the delivery time shown at checkout or quoted on request, and parquet for contract projects goes straight to site on a schedule agreed with you. Because we buy directly from the factories, we can plan the batch in advance and reserve the quantity while your scheme is still being signed off with the client.

If the project needs fitting as well as material, we are happy to talk that part through. Installation is arranged locally, and rates per m² differ considerably from one European market to another, so any published figure is an indicative local benchmark rather than our price — the real cost depends on the floor area, the laying pattern and the condition of the subfloor. Tell us what the project involves through the contact page and we will help you frame a realistic allowance.

How to start working with us

In practice the first step is simple. Send an enquiry through the contact page — give us the floor area, the material you have in mind and the programme dates. Within the next working day we prepare an individual quote at project pricing and, where it helps, send samples and specification sheets for your client presentation. Questions about a specific project reach us directly: architects and designers get a personal answer, not a template reply.

Frequently asked questions