In the desert of Abu Dhabi, on the 10MW solar farm of Masdar City, the MD Formatura panels of the Airshade Prototype close every morning and open again during the night. Without electricity. Completely by itself. Powered by air trapped in a tank. The air in the tank is heated by the sun, creating a pressure that causes the panels to move. That is the patented concept of Airshade Technologies, which is being tested at this location and appears to work.

Patented concept

Airshade Technologies is the patented concept that was devised by architect Nikola Znaor and has now won many innovation awards. For developer Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, Nikola Znaor Architects designed a pavilion with triangular panels that close every morning using Airshade technology and reopen after sunset. But before a complete pavilion was commissioned, Masdar City decided to first have a test setup made.

Prototype

Engineering firm Arup, in collaboration with Airshade Technologies, created the design for the prototype and had it built by Metadecor: in a joint development process, the engineers from the Facade Team of Arup and Airshade Technologies worked closely with the engineers from Metadecor. The first tests and adjustments were made in the workshop in Kampen (in the presence of Airshade Technologies and Arup) before the prototype was shipped to Abu Dhabi. There it was placed on four pedestals in the desert in August 2023 and monitoring of the system began.

Test period

After a test period of six months (the hot summer, the warm autumn and the sultry winter), the confidence in the system is such that Masdar City has released the concept. The lessons learned with this prototype can also be used for other projects to provide facades, pergolas and pavilions with moving sun blinds that are driven by air. At Metadecor, we are particularly proud that we have been able to participate in this project, because it is a concept with high future value: the reduction in operational C02 is not only significant due to the drive methodology. Permanent outdoor sun protection certainly makes a positive contribution to this reduction. A moving permanent outdoor sun blind, which filters daylight at times when the sun is too bright and powered by air and sun, is a win-win-win solution.

European climate

Metadecor can also announce that the collaboration with Airshade Technologies has been initiated for the European market with the development of a number of prototypes that will be built and tested during the course of this year.  These prototypes consist of a modular slat system and a louvre system, which are adjusted to the European climate. We expect to be able to publish the first results of the test period at the end of this year. With the experience of the Airshade Prototype in Masdar City, we expect that the facades of the future will become a lot more dynamic and buildings a lot more comfortable, without costing electricity.

In November 2024 the Airshade prototype was nominated in three categories of the Society of Façade Engineering Awards. Our prototype won in the category International Innovation.