Kiwi income Property Trust, one of NZ’s largest listed property trusts, have committed to enhanced environmental aspects in their two prominent office towers and as such are refitting tenancies with low electrical consumption lighting amongst other initiatives.

This ongoing upgrade includes roller blinds with the “Ecoview” ™ Met fabric SP Blinds sources from an ISO14001 (Implemented Environmental Management Standard) certified supplier.

The chosen fabric needed to be an open weave as the heavily tinted windows had already reduced natural light penetration and had therefore enhanced eye comfort to a certain extent. This glare control is complimented by the metal backed “Ecoview” ™ Met fabric with in black maximising the views available. The open weave still allows a level of natural light that ensure the demands on the low consumption lighting are minimised.

Warren & Mahoney’s Interior design team take out the 2008 Office Interior award with this tasteful design. Whilst the superior SP Blinds sunscreen rollers have a part to play in this the greater challenge was to minimise the cost impact of motorisation of a double set of blinds in the boardroom.

The shape of the boardroom required a precisely measured set of sunscreen and blockout products interlinked at slightly varied angles beyond 90 degrees. Sets of three blinds interlinked enable a 2/3rds cost reduction on the motorised product, much to the delight of the company’s accountant!

As well as a particular look being required in the general work areas this installation presented another skylight challenge. Once again, Roman style blinds, motorised and running on tracks have been equal to the task. The fabric in white provides a discreet match to the ceiling colours and the blockout nature of the fabric allows the room to dim enough to enable viewing of thoroughbred races with excellent eye comfort.

The intelligent building management system allows the automated blinds to be operated at the push of one ‘setting’ button that controls a number of functions including light dimming and audio visual initiation. Modern technology at it’s brilliant best.

Another test for the SP Blinds technical team but this time all the while under the scrutiny of some of New Zealand’s best Engineers!

This skylight solution involved a firm attachment to glass of the Roman blind tracks using a special adhesive with particular attention paid to the positioning of the tracking. Because this installation is on the first level of a prominent building it is highly visible and maintaining exterior aesthetics was a major concern.

Whilst visually a great result has been achieved the robust, practical aspects of the installation continue to impress the tenants.

Bianco demanded excellent organisation and was as much a logistics exercise as it was a blind manufacture and installation project. Each tower required over 350 blinds ready with one weeks notice with a window of only two days from measure to installation.

Our highly organised team managed a preliminary installation and measure for production purposes that allowed the factory to deliver the blinds required on time with a minimum of error. The installation was completed easily inside the time frame provided without the need for overtime.

This allowed the client to facilitate handover of the building from the financier to the eventual owner in the tight timeframe the financier required much to the delight of all parties involved. Including the builders who were then able to ‘collect’ in a timely fashion!

Warren & Mahoney’s design team have come up with a contemporary and diverse design with innovative use of printed blinds and automated interaction.

A massive 5.4m wide roller blind with a high resolution image covers the entrance to a staged setting which highlights the many 3M products targeted at the Healthcare market. This blind is motorised and operates from a touch screen incorporated into the Building Management System.

Continuing with the use of cutting edge technology, roller blinds are used to cover up an area which can accommodate 8 portable display units. Selecting one of the units from the Computer Interface Control initiates spotlighting and lifts the roller blind revealing the chosen display items.

Warren & Mahoney’s ongoing commitment to ecologically friendly design was reflected in the fabrics chosen (PVC Free) for the roller blinds both in these special settings and throughout the building.