The Studio-RMA designed full structural glass Mohala Pua building on the Hamakua Coast of the the Big Island of Hawaii survived the October 15th earthquake with no damage to the glass or the structure.

Big Island Damage

The glass building for the Mohala Pua retail operation, designed by Studio-RMA and manufactured and engineered by Frank Jonkman and Sons Ltd.,  withstood the 2006 quake with no damage to the building. 

Much of the merchandise was unfortunately lost to the quake.

The building has many moveable glass parts 

Glass Corner of the Building

  The motorized entry door

All the structural glass panes, the blue translucent roof panels and the glazed motorized  ventilation vents amount to a span of 80'.   There is a 30' wide motorized glass entry door.

Only minor damage was incurred  to some of the locally provided glass louvered windows at the back of the building. 

The motorized vent flaps

This is the first building of this kind used for retail in the USA.

The Disney Company uses the same  motorized doors in their theme parks. 

Studio-RMA is adapting this building system for new uses, in retail, restaurant and residential applications.

The Robert Mechielsen designed building owned by Lamme Enterprises LLC.  is designed with a prefabricated truss system, originating in the Dutch and Northern European agricultural green house business.   The computerized weather and climate control system that  steers the motors of the glazed vents is German in origin and has been  tested and proven to protect the crops.

Angled on the lot to capture the maximum effect of the trade winds, this 'Green house in the Tropics' maintains a pleasant inside climate. 

The building was prefabricated in Canada by Frank Jonkman and Sons Ltd.  When shipped the entire building fit in one container.   After the slab was poured by local builder M&M Construction, crews from Jonkman and Sons assembled the structure in just one month. 

The entire construction took four months at a very favorable square footage price.

By first sharing the renderings to show the intended use of the building in a more atmospheric and artistic manner, Studio-RMA tends to establish excitement with its collaborators on the project.

Once they receive the drawings for the building  collaborators already have a clear understanding of how the building will look because of the illustrations.  They don't have to puzzle together from the 2-D blueprints what the 3-D building should look like.  Studio-RMA does this for them.

The entire building was designed with 3-D computer models.  The manufacturer of the building normally works with agricultural greenhouses.  The renderings helped both the design and engineering staff at Frank Jonkman and Sons  understand of the use of the building and the reasons that certain adaptations to their system were required .

With a clear understanding of the intended use, consensus on the detailing, specific engineering, cost control can be easily achieved. The entire team is visually in-tune with the end-product, as opposed to only one aspect of the end-product .

The Studio uses local licensed project architects and engineers to ensure the designs conform to federal and local codes and regulations.