Cork has many natural advantages as a flooring material. Even so, an ingenious new twist on an existing technology is taking engineered cork flooring to another level. This article explains what to expect from this innovative cork flooring, and how it’s designed to handle the most demanding residential and commercial applications.
The Serenity Collection Backstory
WE Cork introduced our Serenity Collection of engineered cork floating floors in 2013. It was originally designed for customers that wanted the look of wood or stone with all the natural benefits of cork. This was accomplished by digitally printing high definition wood or stone visuals on a high density cork substrate. Beyond the visuals, significant engineering went into these floors to give them certain technical advantages. (More on those below.)
Then our “aha” moment came in 2023. Despite all of it’s impressive commercial-grade specifications, we realized that our customers who loved the look of cork were missing out on some the technical advantages that the Serenity Collection had to offer. We had one simple problem to solve – these floors didn’t look like cork!
A New Twist on Engineered Cork Flooring
Fast forward to present day, when our first production run of Serenity with CORK VISUALS is currently underway. Although it seems a bit circular, it makes all the sense in the world if you stop and think about it. What we’re talking about here is high definition cork visuals digitally printed on a cork substrate.
Serenity flooring layers diagram
Getting more specific, the illustration above shows that a special Hot Coating (1) is applied over a Lightfast digital print (2) on a > 600 kg/m3 cork substrate (3). Beneath that lies an 6 mm moisture retardant HDF (4) backed by cork underlay (5).
Technical Advantages of Serenity include how it’s:
- Fade resistant
- Water resistant based on ISO 4760 and NALFA standards
- Scratch resistant
- AC5 / 33 Class rated for commercial durability
- Completely biodegradable with no plastics!
Practical Benefits of Serenity with Cork Visuals
So how exactly do these design and engineering factors make a difference in real word applications?
- Homeowners now have a better fade resistant flooring option when adding cork patterns to rooms that receive direct sunlight.
- Families with pets now have an ideal cork flooring option that is both scratch and water resistant, requiring no additional coats of finish during installation.
- New construction can now include the natural look of cork even in high traffic rooms and hallways without concern for durability.
- WE Cork backs our Serenity Collection with an extended 25 yr residential / 10 year commercial wear layer warranty!
- Residential and commercial floor owners alike can have confidence in the eco-friendly nature of their cork flooring, which is both Greenshield Gold certified and A+ rated for emissions (see Serenity specs).
New Cork Patterns
Our first two cork patterns are Canyon FR and Monte Carlo FR. These two popular patterns were initially available in our Avant Garde collection as simply “Canyon” and “Monte Carlo,” but are now also available in our Serenity Collection with the added “FR” denoting “Fade Resistant.”
Canyon FR
Monte Carlo FR
Start Spreading the News!
We believe this new offering is going to check a lot of boxes and make cork flooring more appealing than ever, especially for those demanding environments likes the ones noted in this article. Samples for these two new colors shown above are available in our sample store, so place your order today!
