New York’s Architizer Inc has awarded Kaynemaile’s RE/8 architectural mesh an’ A+ Jury Award’ for ‘Building Envelopes, Cladding, and Roofing’ in its 12th annual awards honouring the world’s best architecture and spaces.
Kaynemaile was also the A+ Popular Choice Winner for ‘Sustainable Design.’
The design-led Petone company is on an awards roll following its naming in the US Architectural Record Products of the Year Awards saluting the best building and design products introduced to the US market within the last year.
In 2023, Kaynemaile won ‘Global Gold’ for exporting at Wellington’s Gold Awards and has featured in multiple New Zealand architectural awards won for the Invercargill Central which has transformed the city centre into a vibrant community hub with a beautiful indoor shopping complex.
The US awards are for Kaynemaile’s new RE/8 product launched in San Francisco a year ago. RE/8 is made from 88% bio-circular content from Covestro, the world-leading provider of high-tech polymers. The company says the mesh is extremely lightweight, uses 20% of the energy needed to produce steel, and is 100% recyclable.
“Today, Kaynemaile is a global leader in specialised architectural product applications that can be found on building exteriors and interiors all over the world,” says founder and CEO Kayne Horsham. Over 90% of sales are generated through exports.
Horsham says RE/8 has achieved a rare certification from the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) organisation covering its entire product cycle from ‘cradle to grave.’ RE/8 features a reduction in the carbon footprint of the base polymer material by up to 80%.
Kaynemaile’s focus on the US has seen the recent completion of exterior and interior projects in Atlanta, Dallas, Des Moines, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Santa Clara in Silicon Valley where 1,000 square metres of Kaynemaile 3D kinetic screens cover an 800 space parking garage features almost 1,000 square metres of its mesh screens across the facade.
Horsham says a major building wrap for a high-tech manufacturer has just unveiled in Belgium, with designs in currently progress for retail and hotel installations in the Philippines, Singapore, and Dubai.
Close to home, at the time of print the formal unveiling of Waimahara was due to occur, a transformative urban artwork in Auckland’s Myers Park. The mana whenua-led project honouring the presence of ancient waters now flowing beneath the ground is an interactive sound and light sculptural installation.
Wellington technology investor Movac is lead shareholder in Kaynemaile. Movac founding partner Phil McCaw has been chair of the company since 2016, and says the flow of awards to the Petone represents the success of a “wonder product” created by founder Kayne Horsham.
“The work that the Kaynemaile team have done over the past three years executing a major circular economy shift is opening multiple opportunities in architecture and construction as building codes around the world move to exacting new standards of environmental compliance.
“Kaynemaile is a beautiful thing that has taken a long time to bake,” says McCaw. “This is a business that combines architectural aesthetics and functionality, materials and building science, machine design, manufacturing, exporting, intellectual property, and climate mitigation.”
In 2023, the company doubled the size of its production facility and commissioned a new injecting moulding machine to enable 24/7 shifts as the company closes on some of the largest order enquiries they have experienced. The company works closely with architects throughout the world to customize its mesh systems whether it is a mega carpark façade or a highly decorative atrium chandelier.
Horsham says a key benefit of Kaynemaile is what he calls the ‘WonderCool effect’.
“With nearly a quarter of the USA’s population projected to live in extreme heat conditions, there is an urgent need for passive heat mitigation technology in new building designs. Kaynemaile delivers up to a 70% reduction in solar gain on exterior installations. It’s a product made for a hot world.”