Mahina, A sculpture of curved planes encased by glass to reveal a sleek white transparency an icon of engineered beauty.
Mahina, the Maori word for moon, is the name of Slants most recent iconic design. Based on the concept of Structure Led Architecture, the principle behind all Slant designs, the geometry was inspired by the bays below with the curves of the structure echoed throughout. Concrete and glass are the reigning materials with three elegantly curved concrete planes layered and supported by a series of seven arches to provide support and internal sculptural form.
www.mahinanz.co.nz
www.slant.co.nz
'Mahina' is from a new generation of visionary architecture... works of art you can live in.
TECHNICAL INFO:
• Mahina uses Diamante glass. This glass has a very low iron content and does not have the usual green tint of a standard glass. The glazing is structural and is mostly 32mm thick. Many of the panels can move, for example the master bedroom façade can slide and stack on both sides for 10m.
• The complete façade has two sets of blinds, one set of shade blinds and one set of block out. These are remote controlled and can make any room or area private. The blinds neatly roll up into the ceiling spaces meaning they cannot be seen when not in use.
• The whole building has been designed to sustainable principles. The house has a very high available thermal mass and the temperature is regulated by water cooling/heating in the floors and walls (arches). Warm water collected from warm days is stored for the evenings and cooler days. This system combined with geothermal heat exchangers allows for well regulated temperatures with low external energy input.
• A natural ventilation system deals with the high thermal gains the house receives during the day. This includes underground wet rock cooling chambers and hot air extraction through the roof. Effectively cooling is controlled by dragging cool air through underground chambers and expelling the warm air through the roof.
Info from YouTube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx8imzXajY8
