Cork Block Sofa by Miguel Arruda is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 Silver A' Design Award in Furniture Design Competition Category.
SilverFurniture· 2021
Cork Block Sofa
Client: Miguel Arruda Arquitectos Associados, Lda
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Furniture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #124323The Design
About Cork Block Sofa
Cork Block is a modular sofa made from recycled cork agglomerate. The material combines cork granulate with polyurethane, both recycled and joined with a binder inside a metal mold under pressure and heat. The resulting blocks are cohesive, elastic and pleasant to touch. Nine blocks form the single seat layout and thirteen blocks form the double seat layout. The blocks are cut in six shapes, so many combinations are possible. Selected blocks can be replaced by upholstered versions in different colors. Supports for the back and arms allow several levels of comfort.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
Cork Block Sofa is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Cork Block Sofa is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Cork Block Sofa is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Where to Get It
Sustainable Furniture and Architecture Design Services
We blend sculpture, design, and architecture to create innovative solutions using sustainable materials like recycled cork. With over five decades of international experience and academic expertise, we transform spaces and concepts into award-winning furniture and architectural projects that honor both form and environmental responsibility.
Contact UsBehind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The cork agglomerate, results from a composition of cork granulate with polyurethane,both recycled and consolidated through compression, heat and the use of a binder inside a metal mold. The physical, elastic and tactile quality of the material and the possibility to add upholstery solutions with different colors, provides several different confort and ambience solutions, achieving diferent supports to the coccyx, back and arms, for different effective comfort levels.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 120 or 180cm x Height 57cm and Depth 90cm
- Tags
- Sofa, Seat, Furniture, Cork, Recycled
- Production Technology
- A agglomerate from cork granulate and polyurethane, both recycled and consolidated with a binder, is launched inside a metal mold with 90 x 90 x 38cm, and subjected to pressure and temperature, allowing at the end a compression strength of 100, a recovery of 70 and a weight of 230kg pcm.
This blocks of physical, elastic and tactile quality material, are usually used only for technical acoustic solutions, are cutted allowing six types blocks, intended to combine for two different sofa solutions. - Design Challenge
- It was necessary to find a binding agent that could merge the recycled cork and plastic particles granting the volume a degree of elasticity and comfort in the sitting position in order to achieve the proper stability and the durability needed for its use. After that first step, finding the right proportions and a reduced number of pieces/bricks needed to assemble each model became a fun but challenging game.
- Research
- The cork agglomerate by Amorim Composits, from recycled cork granulate particle size 2 to 3 mm with polyurethane, generates a rectangular block resulting from the above described operation with 90 x 90 x 19 cm. Its cohesion, elasticity and overlap adherence, suggested the possibility of composing a set of nine blocks of different shapes for a sofa.
In indoor spaces, some volumes can be replaced by identical ones covered with fabric of different colors and with a more flexible interior. - Inspiration
- The observation of nature, where the cork oak tree has a strong sculptural volumetry, the technological possibility of recycling cork and the technology employed that allows an adequate degree of elasticity for the new agglomerate designated by reference 5058, naturally gave space to imagine a diversified association of nine blocks that build the single sheet sofa and of thirteen blocks for the double seet layout. Other combinations appeared during the process, which is not closed but rather available for each user design experiences.
- Project Duration
- The project started in February 2018 and finished in October 2020, both in Lisbon.
- Operation Flow
- The rectangular blocks of the Cork Block Sofa are cut in different shapes, allowing it to have several combinations, intended to combine in several shapes and sitting positions. The physical, elastic and tactile quality of the material and the possibility to add upholstery solutions with different colors, provides several diferent confort and ambience solutions, achieving diferent supports to the coccyx, back and arms, for different effective comfort levels.
- Team Members
- Designer: Miguel Arruda
- Image Credits
- Image 1:Pedro Sadio, Image 2: Miguel Arruda, Image 3: Pedro Sadio, Image 4: Pedro Sadio, Image 5: Pedro Sadio
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