Corkcomfort in South Africa’s First Green Hotel

Cape Town, South Africa – 

Hollow on the Square Hotel

Located in the beautiful city of Cape Town, Hollow on The Square is a 4 star city hotel designed by M&B Architects & Interiors offering 114 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites, all designed for comfort and tranquility.  The newly added eco-friendly rooms were conceived using nature as inspiration and incorporate materials that reflect natural comfort.

M&B chose Wicanders Corkcomfort products as an innate fit for this project.  Over 8,600 square feet of Wicanders Cork flooring cover the guest rooms, hallways and elevators, earning praise from a number of visiting guests.  Products used include Corkcomfort HPS Identity Spice, HPS Identity Chestnut and WRT Linn Sepia.  

The elegance of these materials and others used at the Hollow on The Square, M&B House, as well as the suave colors and distinctive décor, bring in a sense of total serenity, persuading visitors to enjoy an unforgettable stay.

View more projects using Wicanders Cork Flooring by visiting our Press Room.

Amorim’s ReCORK America and SOLE Footware to Upcycle Millions of Cork Stoppers

Napa, CA– ReCORK America has added another partner to support its cork recycling program.  SOLE, the manufacturer of premium footbeds, socks and sandals, will use a blend of recycled cork wine bottle closures in its line of 2010 footwear products.

SOLE joins the many restaurants, resorts, organizations, wine retailers, and wineries who help collect and find use for used natural corks.

To read the full article on this new partnership, please follow this link

Amorim Flooring partners with Architectural Systems, Inc.

Amorim Flooring North America, Inc. has appointed Architectural Systems, Inc. (ASI, www.archsystems.com) as its distributor in the commercial segment of Wicanders cork flooring.   ASI will cover the  Metro New York and New Jersey areas.

Founded in 1990, ASI has been known from the start for its fresh, innovative solutions for commercial interiors.  Today, the company’s products are confidently specified by the foremost architecture & design firms and installed globally in major retail, entertainment, hospitality, corporate, healthcare, education and institutional projects.

ASI’s clients return again and again for ASI’s extensive product expertise, professionalism, commitment to service, and collective eye for what’s next®, and the ability to find it all in one place.  Founders Nancy Jackson (President) and Ron Jackson (CEO) are design advocates who help their clients materialize their vision and have worked with the most prestige clientele.  ASI’s team of experts has been recognized for their involvement in every part of the contract project process from concept to installation.  Their innovative style and established relationships in the A& D community distinguish them from the rest.  Their exceptional knowledge of the industry is known globally and sets trends before anyone recognizes them as trends.

 Architectural Systems, Inc. (ASI), a family business, is acclaimed by the industry as a leading provider of architectural materials including sustainable products.

Amorim’s international flooring portfolio is known for its unique ecological properties, aesthetic design and technical attributes. 

This new strategic partnership reinforces the demand for high quality eco-efficient flooring solutions, and will strengthen Wicanders’ presence in the New York and New Jersey markets.

We welcome ASI to our family.

Team WIcanders

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Wicanders’ Cork Oak 2009 Green Flooring Collection

It’s finally here! We’ve unveiled our gorgeous 2009 Collection at Surfaces and now nature’s pallet is in your hands, so you can enjoy exciting new patterns, finishes, textures, and design possibilities.

In this video, our very own Marketing Manager, Ronit McGuthrie, introduces you to distinctive textures and exotic contrasts that celebrate your identity, and your personal expression. Just like we promised, now you can see for yourself that whatever you’ve thought about Green flooring design has now changed.

By now you all know that cork oak is one of the greenest and most sustainable flooring options available and how a true commitment to sustainability can spark progress toward developing clean energy sources, fighting climate change, conserving our land and waters, and rebuilding a battered economy.

So, on this President’s Day, we’d like to inspire you with a quote from Barack Obama‘s inaugural address: “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.”

Best wishes for a very green holiday, everyone…
Team Wicanders

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Amorim Unveils New Flooring Portfolio at Surfaces 2009

Amorim Revestimentos, the subsidiary of Corticeira Amorim SGPS, will launch the largest and most prestigious Home and Commercial Flooring Collections in its history at Surfaces 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, February 2nd-5th. With its recent 32 million Euros (44 Million USD) investments in new, state-of-the-art technology, Amorim once again confirms the company’s commitment to the development of the American market for cork flooring. Wicanders, it’s worldwide brand, continues to be the leader in the cork oak flooring category.

Extending the range from cork oak flooring to other product categories including linoleum and vinyl, the new Wicanders Collections unveil trendy, sophisticated fashion features not currently found in the American cork oak market. Combining their eco-friendly R&D innovations of 2008 with exclusive lifestyle and eco-fashion trends, Wicanders Home Flooring Collections and Commercial Flooring Collections truly represent “Nature at your feet.”

A member of the US Green Building Council, with many of its current products certified by GREENGUARD for indoor air quality, Amorim is a leading company in the environmental and social responsibility field as well, promoting business practices for CO2 emissions reduction, management of waste and by-products, and energy efficiency.

Surfaces 2009 is where manufacturers from around the world gather with over 35,000 retailers, distributors, architects, designers, builders, and installers to see and learn about the latest innovations in the floor covering industry.

Amorim Revestimentos has business operations in 14 countries around the world, and sells its products in more than 52 countries.

We’d love to have you visit Team Wicanders in Las Vegas at Surfaces 2009, Booth #2854, Hall A. We’ll be waiting for you!

For those of you who cannot attend Surfaces, please don’t hesitate to contact us  at projects@wicanderscorkoakblog.com or leave a comment below. Anxious to hear what you think of our wonderful, new collections. Until then,

Cheers!

Team Wicanders

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Installing Wicanders Cork Oak Floors

Installers! Soon there will be a section on our blog just for you…

Thank you for your questions and feedback. We are in the process of putting together an Installation FAQ’s section, which will be featured right here on our blog.

In the meantime, we thought we would share a video of DYI guru Bob Villa installing our Wicanders cork oak floors at a Miami Beach condo.

As stated on his website, “Bob looks at flooring options that included grinding and polishing the cement floors for a loft look, or ceramic Cuban tile, but the sound factor made both impossible. David Southard of DS WoodWorks explains that the building’s impact insulation class or IIC made using tile or hard-surface flooring difficult. To tile the floor would mean more than one inch of cork and plywood underneath and shaving all the doors. So, Bob opted for cork flooring from Wicanders, which is multi-layered with cork faces, a fiberboard middle, and a protective finish on top. Installed on top of cork underlayment for extra insulation, the cork floor is very soft underfoot and quiet. Installation is easy with an angle-to-angle fit. The planks are installed like puzzle pieces then tapped into place for a snap-together fit.”

Watch the video…

And if you have an installation question you would like answered in the meantime, please leave us a comment right here and we’ll be sure to post an answer. We always love hearing from you!

Best…
Team Wicanders

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Amorim & Wicanders. Green Building, GreenStars Award Winners!

We’re so proud…Interior Design magazine has recently chosen Amorim, and our Wicanders brand of naturally unique Cork Oak Flooring to receive it’s inaugural NeoCon GreenStars Award. The award was granted based on “a fantastic sustainable product and message at NeoCon 2008.” At NeoCon, Wicanders was singled out as “the only cork seller to control the entire process from seedling through harvest and manufacture, key to minimizing the product’s environmental footprint.”

Amorim & Wicanders—GreenStars Award Winners

Interior Design judges also praised our Xtreme WRT (wear resistant technology) finish which is considered to be the most revolutionary innovation in the flooring market. If you visit our blog often you know that our WRT finish contains tiny, ceramic, micro-beads that protect our Cork Oak floors against abrasion, scratches, UV rays, dirt, insects, and more, while guaranteeing all the natural qualities of our eco-friendly floors are preserved, letting their beauty shine through. You may want to read our story about The Mighty Penny—A Lesson in Conservation & Sustainability.

Mark Strauss, Publisher & Vice President of Interior Design magazine, writes: “The movement towards sustainability is such an important factor in our industry, and in our world, so we are naturally very excited about this new program and plan to promote it heavily.”

With all the moving, emotionally charged stories about the winning athletes at the Beijing Olympics, we thought this would be a good time to let you know about another one of our awards. Although it’s not a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal, it’s still a treasure to us.

Thank you, Interior Design magazine. We’re honored.

Team Wicanders

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