Luxaflex were approached to supply a solution for Christchurch's Civic Center and worked in partnership with Australian supplier Horiso to design, manufacture to commission the 100mm Horiso External Venetian Blinds, which are installed in the twin façade on the north face of the building.

The Horiso External Venetian Blinds were installed in the cavity between the outer facade and internal glass wall, where they serve to control the amount of solar energy that passes into and through this void. Sun tracking and roof mounted brightness sensors detect the sunlight conditions, while the Embedia Controller determines the sun location and whether the blinds need to be deployed together with the tilt angle of the venetians on both levels of each floor.

The impact of the neighbouring building was also taken into consideration. During the cooling€™ periods the tilt angle of the upper blinds is adjusted to allow direct solar gains and more natural daylight into the building. The Embedia control system is fully automated with no manual overrides, resulting in a finely tuned and engineered solar control solution.