Corticeira Amorim joins the Vitra Design Museum (VDM), one of the world’s most important design museums, in Germany. 3200 blocks of agglomerated cork produced at Amorim Cork Composites’ facilities are used in the exhibition, Home Stories: 100 Years, 20 Visionary Interiors. The thousands of blocks made it possible to create artistic structures that occupy about 1/3 of the entire exhibition.
Cork will be one of the main materials used in the construction of the Serpentine Summer Pavilion 2020, one of the world’s most important design and architecture exhibitions. Held annually in Kensington Gardens, London, the exhibition will use about 200m2 of cork supplied by Corticeira Amorim, which, together with other environmentally friendly elements, will make it possible to build the project designed by the trio of South African architects Counterspace. This is the second time that the Portuguese company has been associated with the Serpentine Summer Pavilion after its first cooperation in 2012.
Amorim Top Series invests in wooden stoppers, thereby reinforcing its commitment to sustainability.
In the same year, it also launches stoppers designed to maximise the sensory experience: sense tops, ambiance and evolutive. This range of products offers previously unimaginable possibilities for creating a stronger sensory bond with customers.
Sense Tops offers customers an unprecedented aromatic experience even before they open the bottle. In turn, the new Ambiance series incorporates elegant LED technology on the lid. The Evolutive series is a heat-sensitive cork stopper that offers several solutions - for example, it can indicate when the alcohol has reached the ideal temperature to be consumed.
Launch of the City Cortex project, a new research programme that aims to explore the connection between cork and the current urban context. Promoted by Corticeira Amorim, it is curated by experimenta design, and involves some of the world’s most talented architects and designers. Amorim Cork Composites provides all the technical and material support necessary for the development of the projects to be implemented in New York in 2020.
Installation of the Venda Nova project: 251 hectares of cork oak trees with irrigation.
The Amorim Cork Flooring brand, Amorim Wise, is launched, with a focus on sustainability and a commitment to only sell products that have a negative carbon footprint.
The new Lisbon Cruise Terminal, an emblematic project designed by the Portuguese architect João Luís Carrilho da Graça, presents an unprecedented solution that combines cork with concrete, thereby making it possible to reduce the building's structure weight and create an extraordinarily beautiful architectural effect. Light structural white concrete, mixed with granulated natural cork, applied to the building's facades, is 40% lighter than traditional concrete. This innovative composite cork product is the result of a partnership between Amorim Cork Composites, Secil and the University of Coimbra’s ITeCons. Combining the strength and beauty of architectural concrete with the lightness, durability and thermal insulation of cork, this material is lighter, ecological and more sustainable than traditional building options.
Amorim Top Series launches 100% sustainable capsulated stoppers. The result of a major R&D effort, these stoppers use new bio-based polymers derived exclusively from renewable and / or biodegradable sources.
Launch of the Cork Inside seal that demonstrates the strong commitment to the development of new products that combine cork with other raw materials sourced from the circular economy.
Acquisition of the Herdade da Baliza estate in the Castelo Branco / Tejo international area, that has a total area of 2866 hectares. This is the group's first investment in a forestry estate with the aim of installing a new cork oak plantation, using the best practices and cultivation processes.
Amorim Cork Composites launches the i.cork factory, a pilot innovation factory that is entirely dedicated to the research and development of new products that varies cork. The i.cork factory’s objective is to design new materials, and test and explore the application of technologies that haven’t yet had industrial application in the sector.
A study conducted by PwC concludes that the Neutrocork cork stopper has a negative carbon footprint: the carbon sequestration can be up to -392 grams of CO2 retention per stopper. A new study conducted by EY in 2019 concludes that the champagne cork has a negative carbon footprint of - 562g CO2 per stopper, when considering the contribution of the cork oak forest. The natural cork stopper, which consists of a single piece of natural cork, has a carbon footprint of -309g CO2 per stopper when also considering the carbon sequestration from the cork oak forest.
Tate Modern, in London, is lined with cork: about 5000 m2 of an innovative composite cork product is applied in the museum’s iconic Turbine Hall. An innovative composite cork product is used in the artistic installation One Two Three Swing! designed by the Danish collective SUPERFLEX. Originally created for the exhibition in the Tate Modern, the work was replicated in other spaces, and in 2018 was exhibited in Bonn and Copenhagen. "
Several French stadiums built for the UEFA Euro 2016 competition use Amorim Isolamentos’ cork infill system for natural turf. The system is also used in the National Rugby Centre - Domaine de Bellejame, on the outskirts of Paris, where the Portuguese national team trains daily.
TD Cork, a startup supported by Amorim Ventures launches SUGO CORK RUGS® collection: the first cork rugs collection designed using traditional weaving methods. This is the first time that a cork rug has been produced using traditional weaving methods, which has even resulted in a patent application.
Amorim Cork Composites' AluCORK® floor is selected for the new generation of high-speed trains of CP - Comboios de Portugal.
Corticeira Amorim presents NDtech technology, an unprecedented individual stopper sorting technology for cork stopper production lines, based on gas chromatography - one of the world’s most sophisticated chemical analysis techniques. NDtech technology offers incredible precision, and is capable of detecting any cork stopper that has more than 0.5 nanograms / litre (parts per trillion) of TCA, automatically removing it from the production line.