This used to be very common for machine shops to have wood floors, I found an article detailing it with some pictures. I worked in a couple shops that had wood floors, they were nothing to look at, it was an industrial setting after all. https://web.pa.msu.edu/services/machine-shop/shopfloor.htm

At Amazon in the new Day 1 building their main staircase to the lobby is built from wood ends and it is done very nicely. It looks great. There's probably pictures online of that.

edit, I found one picture from a geekwire article. Unfortunately you can't see the grain, the picture is from a far. https://cdn.geekwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/20161107...

>This used to be very common for machine shops to have wood floors

That is done because wood is soft and if you drop a tool or part on the floor it's far less likely to be damaged. Wood has been superseded by (usually vinyl IIRC) tile and/or rubber/plastic mats in a lot of places.

It's also done for the comfort of the people working there. Standing on concrete all day is more tiring than on a wooden floor.

Not OP, but I found some interesting information here.

http://kaswell.com/about-us/history-of-woodblock/

Looks like it's good for outside flooring. Actually doesn't look that bad when used for that either, kind of like bricks.

(Actual gallery here http://kaswell.com/gallery/)

It also was a traditional flooring for workshops, because it tolerated heavy abuse.

More pics: https://www.google.de/search?q=stirnholzparkett&source=lnms&...

I work at Red Wing Shoe Company, and our office has this type of flooring on the first floor: https://i.imgur.com/arWH5NR.jpg

That's gorgeous.

The labor cost to do it today would be substantial, I'm estimating it's around 4k-5k sqft of 2"x4" blocks!

Boulevard Brewery in KC has part of their event space floored with end grain. Overview pic: https://www.boulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BHB-7.j...

Closer up:https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0a/df/ba/b1/...

Here's a picture of the floor of the Square Root Restaurant in Brevard NC: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g48979-d...

Each block is 6"x6" (15cm x 15cm) of pine. Apparently it lasts a long time, but took a long time to install.

The entrance to Trinity College Dublin is an 18th century gatehouse where the floor is made of hexagonal wooden blocks that have weathered quite well.