Here at Playsmart UK, we are continually striving to bring the best possible product offerings to our customer base. With 20 years in the business ourselves, we literally search the globe to see who is bringing out the most innovative and interesting approaches to safety surfacing.
So in the first of a series of three blog articles, we are going to tell you exactly what it is that has prompted us to bring a new product to our range in the UK. Our first of these features the incredible use of natural materials, Corkeen. Playsmart UK is delighted to be the Brand Master and exclusive supplier/installer for Corkeen in the United Kingdom.
With a name like that, you won’t be surprised to know that it’s a cork based safety surface made up of 90% natural cork. It’s not just to help you with a well earned glass of wine on a Friday night, but so much more. An absolute gift from nature.
Specifically, it is the bark of the cork oak tree, but is sustainably harvested without felling the tree. It re-grows the outer oak layer and is not removed more than once every 9 years, and even then not until the tree is at least 25 years old.
The trees have a life expectancy of over 200 years – so cork can be safely removed from this living sustainable plant 15 to 18 times during a lifetime also spent absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, preventing soil degradation and desertification and generally fighting climate change!
Our partners on Corkeen are from Portugal and have been working with cork for over 150 years – and yes that includes the cork in your wine bottle, but also for cork flooring and wall coverings, insulation, and raw materials. Everything that they harvest, they use. Nothing is wasted.
At Playsmart UK, it seems to make absolute sense for the next generation of decision makers, to have a 100% natural, safe, stable and sustainable surface to play on as children. Corkeen cork flooring provides full wheelchair accessibility and is highly durable requiring limited maintenance when compared to many other alternative playground surfaces.
It has two layers – a flexible shock absorbing base layer and a firm wear resistant top layer. With such a firm coated outer layer, fall protection is permanent – it cannot be blown away.
As cork flooring is a natural insulator, it remains cool in warm temperatures – so can be walked on barefoot on the hottest of summer days, while the Corkeen system has excellent drainage capacity, so rain and rain and more rain isn’t a problem either. And of course because it is 100% natural, it is completely free of any harmful substances, toxins or chemicals.
The two layer system complies with EN1176 and EN1177 and comes with a 5 year warranty.
All in all, it seems to us at Playsmart UK that this is very much a product that captures the mood of the 2020s. We are all looking towards carbon neutrality and 100% natural options, and if that appeals to what you feel you want to select in your buying choices, Corkeen is the product for you. Get in touch by completing a ‘Request a Call Back’ form or ‘Request a Quote’ form right now and we very much look forward to talking soon.
Back again soon with another great product from around the world, that we think is fantastic, this time looking at grass and artificial grass solutions…
