The Miami Design District welcomes Onyx Solar’s 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 United States, 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 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 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 ft by 5 ft and offers 340 W 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 brick-and-mortar stores 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,” he said. “In this sense, PV glass is one of the new age materials that can best respond to these new requirements. 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, Bell Works, and now Balenciaga have trusted us in North America, and growing.”

News item from Onyx Solar