Tires Reborn as Furniture and Bricks... Hankook Tire Wins Gold at Global Design Award

Recycling By-products from Tire Manufacturing

Hankook Tire & Technology announced on the 14th that it won the Gold Award at the international design award, 'A' Design Award 2026.

Hankook Tire & Technology announced on the 14th that it won the Gold Award at the international design competition 'A' Design Award 2026. Hankook Tire

The 'A' Design Award is one of the most prestigious design awards, with tens of thousands of entries submitted annually from over 100 countries. It recognizes outstanding works across more than 100 categories, including product, architecture, fashion, and graphic design.

Hankook Tire earned the honor of the Gold Award, given only to the top 3% of all entries, for the results of its upcycling project 'Remove'—the 'Brada Upcycling Series.'

'Remove' is a project that creates value by circulating 'Brada' (inner liner used in tire molding), a by-product from the tire manufacturing process, into a new resource.

The 'Brada Upcycling Series' was co-developed with the Circular Design Lab 'Disco Lab' at Seoul National University. It received high praise for its creative expression of resource circulation value, including 'upcycled furniture' made with 3D printing that highlights curved layer textures, the 'Upcycle Brick' that features a dynamic kinetic wall using recycled tire molds, and the lifestyle 'upcycle keyring' crafted through manual processes.

This series was first unveiled at the 'Seoul Design Festival' in 2025. This award marks Hankook Tire's first attempt at the 'A' Design Award, and the company won the Gold Award with its initial entry, demonstrating its global design competitiveness not only in mobility but also in materials and lifestyle. The winning works will be permanently exhibited at the Italian design museum, Museo del Design.

Meanwhile, Hankook Tire has continued its achievements in global eco-friendly design awards by winning the main award in the Concept category at Singapore's 'Red Dot Design Award 2024,' one of the world's top three design awards, and the '2025 Green Good Design Sustainability Award' in the United States, both for its first outcome from the 'Remove' project, the 'Upcycle Longboard.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.