Formica Corporation was founded in 1913 by two researchers who discovered a better way to make insulation materials for the growing electrical industry. Herbert A Faber and Daniel J O’Conor found that good quality insulators could be readily manufactured using plastic resins and high pressure. Until then, other manufacturers had been making these products out of the mineral mica. So Faber and O’Conor named their innovation ‘Formica’, as it was a substitute for mica.
The decorative potential of the product was discovered in 1927 when the company began lithographing images on to sheets of laminate. Thus a new product was introduced - one that would change the future of the company. By the 1930s, a wear-resistant melamine layer was added, giving Formica® laminates their legendary durability and ease of maintenance. World-renowned artists and architects had also begun to recognise the design potential of these decorative laminates, specifying them for Modernist and Art Deco interiors.
The aftermath of the Second World War greatly increased the demand for decorative laminates. In the USA the baby boom caused a housing wave; in Europe, post-war rebuilding and rising social expectations both created a need for modern, cost-effective interior design materials. In response to these trends, Formica Corporation began producing laminates in a variety of colours and patterns, and entered the European market in 1946.
The product was so successful that the Formica laminate brand name soon became universally recognised throughout the USA and Europe.
Formica products entered the Asian market in 1982, when the first high pressure laminate press was installed in Taiwan. From this manufacturing base, Formica Corporation has expanded geographically to become one of the largest producers of high pressure laminate in Asia.
In March 2000 the company acquired Perstorp Surface Materials, a leading international producer of surfacing solutions, including the market-leading Axiom worktop range.
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