Eden View Apartments

500 lineal metres of custom curved balustrade, engineered to flex with two seismically separated building wings while keeping a continuous, near-seamless line through the atrium. Designed by Paul Brown & Associates, Eden View brings over 100 one- and two-bedroom apartments to a 3,000m² site in Mount Eden, Auckland, with an atrium between the East and West blocks bringing natural light into the building. The architects specified a sinuous, curving white balustrade for the atrium to add visual interest and reflect light through the courtyard, which meant working to tight bend radii most standard balustrade systems aren't built for. UNEX developed a proprietary method for manufacturing the aluminium panels to produce a continuous curved rail, using a single mechanical screw fixing set flush at each corner and adhesive fixing around the perimeter to minimise visible joins. The harder problem was seismic: the building's two wings are seismically separated but connected by shared stairs and balustrades, so the balustrade needed to stop falls during an earthquake while still allowing the wings to move independently. As the architect Peter explained, "the challenge was how to resolve that in an aesthetically pleasing manner." UNEX developed telescopic balustrade sections that accommodate that movement without opening gaps in the line. Beyond the atrium, UNEX supplied Siena semi-frameless glass balustrades for apartment balconies, intertenancy privacy screens on selected balconies, and Leada stainless steel handrails through the common areas.