GridWork’s individually hand-stained engineered oak blocks are shown in a range of muted tones, with fine detailing between each piece referencing the grout lines of a ceramic tile.
A stack of GridWork blocks captures the modular spirit of the collection—each square a building block in a system designed to give designers freedom to compose, rotate and reimagine flooring.
Tongue & Groove unveils GridWork at Milan Design Week 2026—a collaboration with Established & Sons and Raw Edges that reimagines European oak flooring through tile-inspired grids and modular patterning.
In partnership with Tongue & Groove.
Tongue & Groove, Australia’s foremost producer of solid-engineered European Oak flooring, made its Milan Design Week debut with GridWork—the third chapter in its Co.Lab series, and its second collaboration with British design brand Established & Sons. Conceived once again alongside London-based studio Raw Edges, the collection finds a new material conversation in an unlikely source: the ceramic tile.
Nearly two decades of working together has given Established & Sons and Raw Edges an instinct for repetition and variation — ideas they return to at different scales, in different forms. GridWork continues that dialogue, exploring how pattern can quietly shift the character of European oak, following last year’s Wall to Wall collection developed with Tongue & Groove.
The collection takes the geometry of a square grid and renders it in interlocking timber blocks, drawing from modernist ceramic tile layouts to gently challenge what flooring can be. “Flooring has never allowed designers to express their creativity like this,” says Richard Karsay, CEO and founder of Tongue & Groove. “This new direction allows designers to add a personal touch — playing with colour, pattern, and grain direction. It’s about having fun with flooring and pushing its boundaries.”
Raw Edges co-founders Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay review GridWork samples ahead of the collection’s debut at Milan Design Week 2026.
GridWork is installed in a minimal interior setting, demonstrating how the collection’s modular square grid system shifts the traditional expression of European oak flooring.
Each engineered three-layer oak block is individually hand-stained in a palette of warm neutrals, with fine detailing between pieces recalling the grout lines of a ceramic tile. An innovative connection system allows the blocks to be oriented in multiple directions, inviting designers to compose their own arrangements.
“You have tiles in simple 15 x 15 modernist grids, but not in wood,” says Shay Alkalay, co-founder of Raw Edges alongside Yael Mer. “With ceramic tiles, you see endless imitations of wood. We thought it was about time wood returned the favour. It’s one of the simplest designs we’ve ever done — but there’s something bold in that simplicity.”
The GridWork collection will launch in Australia later in 2026.
