Drawing on Art Deco geometry, surrealist painting, schoolroom linoleum and rotary telephone cords, Catherine Martin’s new collection for Tongue & Groove brings an unexpected perspective to traditional parquetry.

Titled Parterre, the collection comprises six patterns developed through Tongue & Groove’s Co.Lab initiative, which pairs the Australian timber flooring specialist with creative practitioners to explore new possibilities in material and design. For Martin, the collaboration offered an opportunity to revisit a much-loved flooring technique and make it more accessible, adaptable and relevant to contemporary interiors.

Best known for her richly layered work across film, theatre and interiors, Martin brings an instinct for colour, pattern and storytelling to the collection. A four-time Academy Award winner, she draws on an eclectic mix of historical references, artistic influences and everyday memories to create a series that balances heritage with playfulness.

“I love parquet, and the idea of finding a way of making parquet interesting and accessible again was something that I was really interested in,” says Martin. “By changing the way that you combine tiles together, you can endlessly change the pattern, so that the pattern in itself becomes almost bespoke to the user.”

This modular approach is central to Parterre. Rather than presenting six fixed designs, the collection invites architects and interior designers to combine and rearrange elements, creating compositions tailored to individual projects. The patterns can be specified in tonal or contrasting palettes, moving from subtle and textural to bold and graphic.

The six designs – School Room, Capsule, Cable, Arches, Birdie and Hopscotch – each have a distinct point of departure. References range from the work of Italian surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico and the geometry of Art Deco to the familiar patterning of schoolroom linoleum and the coiled form of a rotary telephone cord. Birds in flight provide another source of inspiration, bringing a sense of movement to the collection’s geometric language.

The name Parterre, derived from the French expression meaning ‘on the ground’, references the tradition of decorative garden layouts and the history of patterned flooring. It also reflects Martin’s intention to treat the floor as an active part of the interior rather than simply a backdrop.

For Richard Karsay, CEO and founder of Tongue & Groove, this willingness to experiment is precisely what the Co.Lab initiative is designed to encourage.

“Catherine Martin is an incredibly talented human being,” says Karsay. “The whole idea of Co.Lab is to push boundaries and create extraordinary collections with creative visionaries. Catherine is a genius and there is a great synergy between her work and our vision.”