Parquet isn't the flooring most club and bar owners reach for first — laminate and engineered wood tend to win on cost, ease of maintenance, and faster installation. But with hundreds of new venues opening across London every year, standing out matters, and a proper parquet floor is a genuine point of difference few competitors bother with.

Parquetry is a mosaic-style installation: small wooden blocks, cut from solid timber or engineered wood, fitted together in patterns like herringbone or basket weave. Getting the dimensions of the room right at the outset matters, since every block has a specific place and needs the correct proportions to fit — closer to assembling a large puzzle than laying standard planks.

Sound insulation matters more in a venue than a home

If your venue shares a building with neighbours above, below, or next door — common for clubs and bars in mixed-use London buildings — sound transmission is worth planning for before the floor goes down, not after a noise complaint.

UK Building Regulations Part E sets requirements for sound insulation between separate spaces in a building, covering both impact noise (footfall, bass through dancing) and airborne noise (music, voices). An acoustic underlay fitted beneath the parquet reduces both: a good-quality underlay for wood flooring typically cuts sound transmission by around 25dB, compared to roughly 19dB for a standard underlay. Gluing the blocks directly to the subfloor — the standard method for parquet — also helps here, since it transfers less impact energy through than a floating floor with an air gap beneath it.

None of this is guesswork on our end; we'll talk through the right underlay and fitting method for your specific building during the site visit.

Preparing the subfloor

Wooden blocks, especially hardwood, are sensitive to moisture and can come loose if the subfloor isn't properly prepared. Concrete subfloors need to be dry, level, and completely clean before fitting — dust and dirt can interfere with the adhesive bond and cause movement later. Some seasonal expansion and contraction in solid wood blocks is normal, so a small structural gap is left around the room's edges during installation to allow for it and prevent cracking or loosening down the line.

Ready to talk through your project? Call 020 7036 0624 or request a free quote to arrange a site visit. You can also see examples of completed parquet installations. We also fit parquet for other commercial spaces across London, including office floors, restaurant venues, retail and showroom spaces, and school buildings.

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