Exploring 6 Interesting Applications of Cork Materials

The use of cork is rapidly increasing with a variety of new industries across the world looking to use the material.

From designers, to architects and engineers, everyone is searching for ways they can utilise this 100% raw material. 

This is driven by a design for more organisations to pay attention to their environmental footprint and implement more sustainable practices.

Being a carbon friendly and in some instances carbon positive product, many are seeing the benefit of using cork in place of other materials.

In this article, we share with you some of the unique ways businesses across the world are using cork.

Cork has recently been used in Mazda’s newest 100% electric car the MX-30.

This was selected as its a natural, sustainable and biodegradable raw material. Driven by an effort for the Japanese car manufacturer to reduce their environmental footprint. 

The Bridge Collection Museum at World of Wine – in Porto, Portugal uses cork display cases in their museum.

By choosing cork they were able to connect the physical exhibition with the narrative and the history of the wine collection.

Cork has been used in place of polished concrete in many commercial spaces. Cork offers excellent thermal insulation for these spaces whilst reducing noise and improving the under foot comfort. 

Rather than walking on a hard cold surface, you’ll enjoy warm feet all year round.

Fashion brands have also jumped onto the cork trend. Using the material to create a range of garments and other fashion products. One example of this is designers creating handbags which are made almost entirely from cork. 

Due to its excellent thermal insulation properties, cork has been used for years in the production of modern spacecrafts. The cork is applied to critical components for the spacecraft’s safety including the nose and around the external fuel tanks.

Cork is also making waves in the surfing community. In a partnership with Mercedes Benz, Amorim Cork Composites is developing cork surfboards for the Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara.

If you’re looking at using cork, be sure to get in touch with our team. We’d be happy to share our experience working with this product on various commercial and residential projects to ensure this is the right fit for you.