Wicanders

World leader in producing and distributing floor and wall covering Amorim Revestimentos, the worldwide market leader of cork flooring, places nature on the starting point for a better future, investigating and creating flooring solutions that, without affecting the environment, ensure a higher quality of life. Being present in more than 55 countries, Amorim Revestimentos' International flooring portfolio and brands, are known throughout the world as pioneers in creating top-quality, ground-breaking solutions. Wicanders®, Amorim Revestimentos' premium brand, has been producing flooring since 1868, always inspired on nature's most pure values and using avant-garde technologies to provide high quality, ecologic and stylish flooring. 

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The Properties

Cork - A truly nature’s miracle!

Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak tree. It is removed from the trunk by hand without ever damaging the tree. Every year a new bark grows making it a renewable and sustainable resource. Cork is ideal in terms of the ever increasing demand for conservation of natural resources.

The exclusive natural qualities of cork make it ideal to use in flooring as it reduces sound, provides an optimal floor temperature throughout the year and is comfortable to walk on. It has unique and incomparable qualities which no ingenious human has yet managed to copy or improve.

Cork is made of 40 millions cells per cm3 resembling a "honeycomb structure" which protects the tree from weather temperatures sharp changes. Each cell functions as a miniature natural thermal insulator and also provides above standard sound insulation and shock absorber properties.

The importance of Cork Oak

The Cork Oak (Quercus Suber L.) is a tree belonging to the Oak family from which Cork is extracted. Its value is based not only on the products extracted from the tree, but on all of the agricultural, forest, pastoral and hunting activities that revolve around the cultivation of the Cork Oak.

Regular extraction of the Cork (a process called stripping) is a fundamental contribution for environmental, economic and social sustainability in the rural areas of the Mediterranean region where the Cork Oak may be found.

The Cork tree is a slow growing tree, which may live for 200 years, which allows it, on average, to be stripped 16 times during its lifetime. The first extraction of cork from the Cork Oak tree occurs only 25 years after planting, following which it is harvested in 9 year cycles, without ever damaging the tree in any way. This method allows the cork oak forest to fulfill its role of fixing CO2, thus actively contributing to reduce global warming.

The Cork forest in Portugal (700.000 hectares), known as "Montado", is a typical Iberian Landscape which is key in supporting a natural bio-diversity, including some of the most endangered species in the world: Iberian Lynxes, Imperial Eagles', Black Storks, and Wolves.

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Cosy and elegant

This graceful visual with big random virgin cork portions will create an elegant and delightful ambiance. It is available in a wide range of natural colors to perfectly fit in with most decors. The innovative plank dimension of 1220x140mm conveys depth and reinforces its elegance.

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Sustainability

Wicanders® Towards Sustainable Development

Wicanders® is a truly sustainable brand! Produced by Amorim, it represents a unique balance between the creation of wealth and the protection of the environment. The starting point is a raw material that is extracted cyclically from the cork oak trees without ever damaging them. This raw material is then transformed into high value-added products while promoting the economic and social sustainability of areas at risk of desertification.

Several eco-efficiency studies, based on a comparative analysis with several other types of flooring, illustrate the excellent environmental performance of Wicanders® products and its manufacturing process. Besides the smaller amounts of energy and raw materials required for the manufacturing process, these products actively contribute to reducing global warming, not only through their low emissions, but also due to cork's natural property of retaining CO2.

It is estimated that the Portuguese cork oak forest - montado - is responsible for retaining 5% of the country's annual CO2 emission, representing 4.8 million tons per year.

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Who we are..

World leader in producing and distributing floor and wall covering

Amorim Revestimentos, the worldwide market leader of cork flooring, places nature on the starting point for a better future, investigating and creating flooring solutions that, without affecting the environment, ensure a higher quality of life.

Being present in more than 55 countries, Amorim Revestimentos' International flooring portfolio and brands, are known throughout the world as pioneers in creating top-quality, ground-breaking solutions.

Wicanders®, Amorim Revestimentos' premium brand, has been producing flooring since 1868, always inspired on nature's most pure values and using avant-garde technologies to provide high quality, ecologic and stylish flooring.

Wicanders is recognized as a leader because of the quality, innovation and unique characteristics of their solutions for interior decoration (technical performance, design and comfort). The coverings produced in this Business Unit constitute a unique sales proposition in themselves:

easily and rapidly installed (namely non-glued products with the corkloc tongue and groove system);

environmentally friendly - made out of natural products, they favour energy saving (insulating capacity, heat retention);

healthy - surface finishes do not retain dirt, therefore they do not favour the proliferation of germs and fungi;

sound resistant - they reduce the transmission of sound between and inside compartments (impact noise and step noise, respectively);

they provide natural thermal insulation, as well as a high capacity to retain thermal energy, thanks to the incorporation of cork;

comfortable - the cork incorporated into them deadens impact and relieves tension;

durable and easy to maintain but low impact on the environment;

re-usable (in tongue and groove system) or recyclable.

Wicanders profitable and sustained growth is based on three fundamental vectors: the products, the Clients and the distribution channels. Emphasis is on the correct weighting of each of the vectors, in such a way as to optimize commercialization margins.