Contemporary cork: this sustainable super-material is making a comeback in our homes on floors, walls and furniture

No more shiny orange. Contemporary cork for the home comes in hip grey or white as well as easy-on-the-eye natural colourways.
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Marcus Field18 July 2019

Cork is enjoying a renaissance. Over the past 10 years, the fortunes of this humble material have risen to see it star in high-profile design projects ranging from Herzog & de Meuron’s theatrical 2012 Serpentine Pavilion, to Ilse Crawford’s hit Sinnerlig range of furniture for Ikea.

Now, fans of the cork floor tiles so beloved of the Sixties Habitat generation will be excited to hear about a new product that brings a fresh twist to this old-school classic.

Corka, launched this month by The Colour Flooring Company, based in London, has several significant improvements on its shiny, orange-hued forebears.

“It’s the first ever waterproof, pure cork, floating flooring,” explains Colour Flooring director Lena Corner, pointing out that those old tiles had to be glued down and varnished, while Corka comes in easy click-together planks and pre-finished in a protective eco-coating.

This makes it suitable for use in kitchens and bathrooms, as well as every other room in the home or workplace. It comes in six finishes — three in natural cork, and three in white or grey colour washes.

It’s the green credentials of the product that are likely to give it the greatest appeal in our eco-conscious age. “The flooring is actually carbon negative,” says Corner, “because no trees are cut down during the cork harvest and the forest retains more CO2 than is emitted in the manufacturing process.”

Corka is made of 100 per cent Portuguese cork, a natural material harvested every year from May until early August.

The bark of thousands of cork oak trees is expertly sliced from the trunks to be turned into some of the world’s most sustainable products, from basic bottle stoppers to hip furniture and flooring.

When I visited a cork oak forest in Portugal’s Alentejo region recently, I was captivated by the historic artisanal process by which the material is produced.

It takes 25 years for a tree to reach harvesting age, from when its bark will be removed by hand with a small axe every nine years. The tree can live over 200 years, regenerating its beautiful spongy coat up to 20 times.

No trees are harmed in the process, and the cork forest is home to a high level of biodiversity, including rare birds and lynxes.

Every bit of bark is usable, from the finest grades which are turned into wine bottle stoppers — the best ones commanding up to three euros per cork — to the leftovers, which are ground up and used to make composites for flooring, shoes such as Birkenstock, memo boards and other items.

The trompe-l'oeil cork-tiled floor at the Victoria & Albert Museum was a playful installation by the FAT design collective in 2013
London Design Festival/ Ed Reeve

Even the dust is swept up and burnt to generate energy at the Portuguese factories of Amorim, the world’s largest producer of cork products. Cork is biodegradable and lightweight, has excellent insulating properties and is naturally resistant to water.

No wonder the material has found such fresh appeal with designers and architects. Herzog & de Meuron used it for the floors, steps and seating in their 2012 Serpentine Pavilion. Others soon followed, including the mischievous design collective FAT, who installed a playful trompe-l’oeil cork-tiled floor at the V&A in 2013. Ilse Crawford’s Sinnerlig range of cork furniture for Ikea was a sell-out smash.

The trend has now extended to homewares, among them the stylish cork-encased Earthware range of mugs and dishes from the Cornish company Liga. And, of course, a good cork table mat, like The Conran Shop’s range, never goes out of fashion.

But it’s the new generation of cork flooring that’s likely to find most favour with Londoners.

Corka muffles sound from below, a big bonus for flat dwellers, as well as being warm to your feet. It’s also PVC free and 100 per cent recyclable, making it possibly the most sustainable floor in the world.

So let’s all raise a toast to the new age of cork.