CMI Toyota completed its striking new showroom on West Terrace, Adelaide, in January of this year. The key priority for the new building was that it should be able to display every new vehicle available in the Toyota range. An additional goal is that it would bring the new vehicle sales and service areas under the one roof. With an area of over 16,000 square metres the new showroom complex houses up to 400 cars alongside over 250 administrative, sales, service and parts staff. Project architect Matthews Architects, based in Adelaide, has delivered a flagship building for the dealership.
One of the most striking elements of this design is the new car showroom and service area with a ceiling height of over 7.5 metres. Despite the structural challenges this brought, it has given an amazing opportunity to create a transparent facade. Facing onto West Terrace, this facade uses seven-metre-high, two-metre-wide, 25 mm thick glass panels.
The size and height of the glass facades throughout the building required a specialist shading solution. Helioscreen supplied over 180 internal blinds powered by Somfy. The new car showroom and service area facade required 42 blinds with a drop of 7.6 metres. Somfy RTS motors are operated via a series of remote controls giving total control over the building’s facades. “The remote-controlled blinds have exceeded our expectations in reducing sun glare from the west,” says project architect Martin Childs. “Whilst they are of course functional, they also provide the building facade with additional depth, viewed from both inside and outside. Providing appropriate screening from the western sun is always a challenge. We feel that by using this system of blinds, a most successful result has been achieved.”
The manufacture and installation of such large blinds called for specialist expertise. Using their knowledge of working with very large blinds, the Helioscreen team used 100 mm tubes and had high load brackets with roller bearings fabricated for these blinds. Additionally they used a stainless steel guide cable to ensure that they tracked straight and true at all times. “Attention to detail is the key to the success of a complex installation such as this one,” says David Thomas, general manager for Helioscreen. “Our client, Sunscreens Australia, worked very closely with us and the architect to deliver a unique project.”
Helioscreen internal and external sunscreens come in a range of European and locally manufactured sun control fabrics. They can be supplied with stainless steel wire guides or aluminium tracks powdercoated to suit any facade. Automation solutions available through Somfy cater for everything from a single RTS remote-controlled motor right through to a complete facade-management system controlling thousands of motors.
Helioscreen and Somfy, as industry-leading partners, can tailor the perfect solution to meet any design requirements. Whether it is to design an energy-efficient six-star green building with a bioclimatic facade or to add that unique touch to a project, an automated Helioscreen sun control system powered by Somfy is the ideal solution.
Helioscreen Australia offers a five-year warranty for all hardware, with a five-year warranty on fabrics, while Somfy provides a five-year warranty for all motors and automation systems. For further information, call Somfy on 1800 076 639 or Helioscreen on 1300 766 319 or visit their websites www.somfy.com.au and www.helioscreen.com.au.