Timber Selections
Normandy oak with wire-brushed finish features in most Rouen concepts for tabletops and banquette carcasses. We specify 40mm solid tops with oiled rather than lacquered finishes that age gracefully under daily use.
Alternative concepts use reclaimed maritime pine with visible bolt holes, sourced conceptually from Dieppe harbour salvage narratives rather than specific suppliers.
Stone and Tile
Floor concepts alternate between honed limestone pavers at 400mm square and terracotta hex tiles with 3mm grout joints. Limestone suits formal front-of-house zones; terracotta transitions into service peripheries in open-plan concepts.
Material boards include actual stone chips glued to A3 cards with annotated edge profiles: bullnose, chamfer, or raw split.
Metal Accents
Brushed brass appears sparingly in concept hardware—table bases, shelf brackets, and pendant stems. We avoid polished chrome entirely, favouring metals that develop patina consistent with Rouen's humid river climate.
Blackened steel concepts suit industrial-shell conversions, with waxed finishes specified to resist fingerprint marking on door pulls.
Textile Palette
Upholstery concepts use heavy linen at 400 gsm minimum for banquette seats and oil-treated canvas for window seat cushions. Colour selections cross-reference our dedicated palette page but appear as physical swatches on boards.
We never specify leather in food-adjacent seating concepts due to maintenance concerns raised during client workshops.
Board Production
Each commission includes one primary material board measuring 600 by 900 mm with eight to twelve samples mounted in logical zones: floor, wall, furniture, accent. Boards are photographed under 5000K studio lighting for digital archives.
Supplementary boards for alternative directions cost €680 each and ship via Colissimo within metropolitan Rouen.
Sustainability Notes
Concept specifications prioritise FSC-certified timber and locally quarried stone within 200 km of Rouen. We annotate sample boards with origin notes and estimated embodied carbon categories: low, medium, or elevated.
These annotations inform client values without constituting formal environmental certification.