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Retractable awnings help homeowner control indoor temperature
January 1st, 2009
Rolltec Rolling Systems Ltd. | Concord, Ontario, Canada This project, which won an Outstanding Achievement Award in the retractable awnings and canopies category of the 2008 International Achievement Awards, consisted of three retractable awnings installed on a custom-built home. Each awning is powered by a Somfy radio-control motor and is equipped with a sun and […]
Outdoor dining pavilion includes cooling tables
January 1st, 2009
Harking back to a simpler time, when technology was evident, and worked! By Jason Griffiths To the east of Johnson City, Texas, is the Lyndon B. Johnson family home. Part of the Johnson Estate is given over to a working farm circa 1870 that presents various aspects of domestic practice from the era. This includes […]
Panels shift color in response to body heat
January 1st, 2009
Designers Nuno Gonçalves Ferreira and Erin Hayne, of Visual Reference Studio, have introduced Touch Wall Panels, for those seeking full-body contact with a heat-sensing surface. The panels shift color in response to body heat. SOURCE Visual Reference Studio
Panels offer flexible lighting option
January 1st, 2009
Innolite light emitting capacitor (LEC)-based panels make lighting paper-thin for illumination on signage, architecture, and even wallpaper. CeeLite’s smart, programmable Flatline Inverters offer superior brightness, long life and many programmable dimming, fading and flashing standard features. The panels are constructed using screen-printable polymer thick film compositions. SOURCE Innolite
Japanese shoji now offered in FR glass fiber option
January 1st, 2009
Traditional shoji dividers are made of translucent rice paper, an impractical material without flame retardant modifiers for today’s commercial requirements. A high-tech alternative is being offered by Chukoh Chemical Industries Ltd., of Tokyo, that is made of PTFE-coated glass fibers. Skytop FGT-250 is flame-resistant, tear-proof, durable, and stays white longer and reflects more than 80% […]
Membrane qualified for Energy Star® and Cool Roof Rating Council rankings
January 1st, 2009
A first for fabric roofing systems, the Sheerfill Architectural Membrane offered by Birdair, Inc., is qualified for Energy Star® and Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) rankings. The fabric — manufactured by Saint Gobain Performance Plastics — has a solar reflectance performance rating of 0.73 and an initial thermal emittance rating of 0.89. SOURCE Birdair, Inc.
Semi-circular awning helps spruce up old warehouse
January 1st, 2009
Transforming a tired brick box into a lively center for selling tires. When Chicago architect Terri Johnson got the call from a client to spruce up an old warehouse, she assumed the job would be straightforward. What she found at the project site in Hammond, Ind., was an extremely plain, windowless 50 year-old concrete block […]
PVC breeds controversy
January 1st, 2009
Can vinyl fit in a green world? By Janice Kleinschmidt Poor Waldo Semon. Today the inventor would no doubt fly his private jet to his private island, where he would entertain VIPs in just about any industry you could name. But in 1926, when the B.F. Goodrich Co. researcher devised polyvinyl chloride (PVC), his employer […]
Tension revisited—3: ForTen 3000
January 1st, 2009
An ongoing review of tension structure software. Reviewed by Aaron Westre ForTen 3000 is the latest version of the tensile design software by Italian architect Gerry D’Anza of Baku Group. D’Anza has been developing the software for the past 15 years and it is in use by several design firms, including D’Anza’s own Baku Group. […]
Fabric canopies showcase the flexibility of space
January 1st, 2009
Two public atria — one in Peru, the other in Mexico — welcome natural light in poetic interplay. Dance of the sun In the heart of Oaxaca, a historic southern Mexican city east of Acapulco, is a popular tourist destination called Los Danzantes (“The Dancers”). Los Danzantes is housed in a restored colonial-era building near […]