(Photo by François Halard)
The Miami Design District welcomes Onyx Solar’s Photovoltaic (PV) Glass with the opening of Balenciaga’s most sustainable flagship store worldwide, which features an impressive storefront made of PV glass.
Spearheaded by Balenciaga’s artistic director Demna Gvasalia, this is the 12th store of the luxury fashion company in the USA, and the first of this kind worldwide.
Located in the heart of the Miami Design District, where fashion luxury brands showcase their latest designs, Balenciaga’s new store stands out inside and outside, featuring unique interior designs, and an innovative brand new solar facade powered by Onyx.
The Spanish PV glass manufacturer worked hand in hand with New York-based Atmosphere Design Group and Balenciaga to create a unique glass design for the new store, that could align with Global Luxury Group and Balenciaga’s owner Kering’s corporate sustainability strategy and design intent.
The photovoltaic glass is made of crystalline Silicon cells embedded in between heat treated, laminated safety glass in a pale blue color; it also includes an Argon Spacer for additional thermal insulation.
Each glass unit spans almost 10 feet by 5 feet and offers 340 Watts per unit. It also controls light transmittance inside the store and protects its interiors against aging.
The PV glass is hurricane-resistant and it was assembled on a Crawford-Tracey curtain wall structure. California-based Pacific Construction was the contractor in command.
This new retail store demonstrates Balenciaga’s commitment to bricks-and-mortar and sets the fashion brand a step ahead in creating sustainability awareness among its customers and visitors, who can interact with this unique PV facade.
Diego Cuevas, Onyx’s director of Business Development in North America highlighted the good momentum photovoltaic glass is gaining in the region.
“Contemporary architecture demands building materials that deliver a superior performance at a controlled cost. In this sense, PV glass is one of the new age materials that can best respond to these new requirements,” Cuevas said. “The cost of photovoltaic glass has decreased to a point that it can compete against almost any conventional building material, providing the same thermal performance, plus generating free, clean power for the building. And best of all, it is aesthetically appealing and flexible in design. This is why companies such as Heineken, Hines, Coca-Cola, Apple Inc, Bell Works, and now Balenciaga have trusted us in North America, and growing”.
Founded by Alvaro Beltran in Avila, Spain in 2009, the company has become the market leader in photovoltaic glass for building in just a few years’ time. Onyx is headquartered in Spain, where it produces energy-generating photovoltaic glass for buildings using different solar cell technologies.
This glass is installed in buildings to generate clean power from their facades, skylights, canopies, balustrades and floors; it counts over 150 projects executed in the five continents. Onyx Solar has also offices in New York, and its customer portfolio include firms such as Apple Inc, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, The Miami Heat, FEMSA-Coca-Cola, Samsung, U.S. Department of State, Marriott, and Balenciaga.
The company has received over 30 domestic and international awards.
For additional information visit www.onyxsolar.com.
