The 150-year-old Houses of Parliament (the Palace of Westminster) are falling apart faster than they can be fixed, with the cost of maintenance and ongoing works doubling to £127 million a year during the three years to 2018/19. That helped convince a review of the proposed...

Olive trees (Olea europaea in Latin) are very long-lived trees, which produce a hard and compact wood, with intricate veins. They are mostly known for their fruits, from which we extract oil, whose uses are limitless. Olive trees are as old as Mediterranean Sea and its culture....

A highly refined covering with centuries of history. Created to decorate noble homes and for many years known in the European courts as grit or Venetian Terrazzo, today it is more simply referred to as “terrazzo”. Terrazzo-effect tiles are extremely fashionable, not only for...

Prime, Select, Superprime, Rustic, Nature, AB, BC, ABCD and much more. It’s an absolute chaos of different names out there, all used in different ways with different meanings. So, how do you navigate it all and how do you identify the right wood flooring for you? Grading...

Yes, generally speaking I would advise a more anti-slip finish for floor areas that are subject to spillages close to a wet room. A honed / matt finish seems more suitable as it offers enhanced slip resistance while maintaining the same look. The only difference between polished...

Granite and quartzite are generally harder than most marble. That’s why granite took over as the popular stone of choice for kitchen worktops and counter tops. However, this doesn’t mean that – for the right project, with the right clients – you can’t use marble. Yes, you heard...

Final public inquiry phase for the UNI1606448 project, which defines the criteria for evaluating the construction of wooden and parquet floorings for internal use, once the installation is completed and at the time of delivery. The Wood Commission is interested in the UNI1606448...

Hardwood floorings come in either planks or parquet block. The main difference is the size and how they are laid. Planks are long (usually of random lengths) and thin, whereas parquet blocks are much smaller and uniform in size.  If you are trying to decide between the two, have...

paolo.interiors supplied stonework, tiles and timber flooring for this uniquely refurbished terrace house featured on Evening Standard

A memorial to commemorate those who died under British command on D-Day (6 June 1944) and the subsequent Battle of Normandy (codename Operation Overlord) will open on a site overlooking one of the beaches where the troops landed in France next month (October), although the...