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Kaynemaile™ architectural mesh, from “Lord of the Rings” set designer Kayne Horsham, draws on the designer’s experience in the art of creating chainmail. During his work on the fantasy trilogy, he wove millions of rings into armor robes for Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom.
Horsham experimented with meshes using plastic via an injection molding process, eventually creating a 3D material made of solid rings with no joints or seams. With this process, Kaynemaile can be produced in a range of sizes and colors. The material he uses is made from a recyclable, UV-stabilized, high-spec polycarbonate, which is resistant to fire and difficult to damage.
The mesh is being used for interiors and exteriors around the world—forming dividing screens in a New Zealand airport, walls on the Aukland University campus, a car park facade in Australia and in other novel applications. The material can act as an effective wind and rain screen due to its cross-sectional density—using two layers of mesh, weather penetration may be as low as 5 percent—and it can help to control the level of light entering a building, promising up to 75 percent solar protection.
The lightweight mesh is expected to retain its strength for 20 years and not to melt or become brittle in adverse weather conditions. The company reports that Kaynemail weighs just 3 kilograms per square meter, making it a possibility for low-static load building scenarios.
Kaynemaile is also being used as lighting features, creating flowing installations at Cornell University. Horsham, CEO and founder of the company, says that Kaynemaile is “the link between art and science.”