by Brianna Crandall — June 18, 2018 — Maars Living Walls, an award-winning global designer and manufacturer of acoustic walls and doors, received a prestigious Best of NeoCon Silver award last week at the Neocon 2018 contract furnishings show in Chicago for its groundbreaking AXES product, steel-finish doors that pivot on axis points to become an acoustic wall system.
AXES steel-finish doors pivot on axis points to become an acoustic wall system, enabling either open or private spaces. Image courtesy Maars
Maars CEO Menno de Vries commented:
We’re very pleased to receive a Best of NeoCon award! AXES is an elegant, minimalist solution that enables seamless transition from one space to another while also defining and creating the space itself. It’s the intersection between closed and open environments — dividing spaces will never be the same.
Maars Living Walls previously received Best of NeoCon Gold awards for lineaCube and SQAPE, and Best of NeoCon Silver awards for the Acoustical Sliding Door and Panorama.
Silver winner: AXES
AXES was developed with highly innovative and patented architectural standards, resulting in an access system with “invisible” doors, minimalist design and excellent acoustic performance. The so-called “revolutionary” system is well-suited for education, office, healthcare and other environments that require unimpeded access, the flexibility of both open and private spaces, and acoustic performance, says Maars.
AXES doors enable seamless transition from one space to another while also defining and creating the space itself. Image courtesy Maars
The company explains that AXES is the plural form of the word “axis.” In keeping with this plurality, AXES can be specified as a series of pivoting doors depending on need. AXES is also a play on the word “access.” Because AXES doors pivot as opposed to slide, access between spaces is physically and visually seamless — unimpeded by tracks on the floor or ceiling. AXES is also ADA compliant.
Developed by Maars’ research and development (R&D) team and third-party-lab tested, AXES’ patent-pending pivot construction offers three pre-defined positions for the doors, which let the user determine how the doors are placed and used — in other words, enabling an open, semi-private or private environment. When fully closed, the AXES doors form a wall that provides an acoustic rating of up to 48 STC (Sound Transmission Class) as tested by an independent laboratory.
An expert in acoustics, Maars specializes in STC performance and provides acoustic walls, sliding doors and related products around the world. Maars says it has developed more than 100 acoustic walls and door types that have been tested not only in its own lab but also tested and certified by independent laboratories.
Robert Craven, Maars Living Walls USA managing director, stated:
AXES answers the demand for spaces that need to be defined and transformed by the user. Although open-space environments have been trending for a number of years, we’ve seen more requirements for private spaces. AXES gives users the power to interact with and immediately change their environment depending on their need, which is critical to productivity.
AXES is said to integrate well with SQAPE — the Best of NeoCon Gold award-winning steel architectural wall system introduced by Maars in 2017 — as well as with other award-winning Maars products. Each Maars system is a celebration of sublimity and minimalism where unnecessary lines and details are either hidden or eliminated.
AXES is a relocatable architectural system that can be specified for new construction or existing spaces. AXES also can be an alternative to traditional dry wall, creating more design options for the built environment. AXES is made of environmentally friendly steel; the walls can help contribute to LEED, WELL and BREEAM standards.
“We co-create with architects and designers to produce environments that inspire,” de Vries commented.
For more information, visit the AXES page on the Maars Living Walls website.
