The Auckland Fish Market in New Zealand is a fresh food market and collection of restaurants that share an al fresco dining area. To maximize the profit potential of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the outdoor dining area needed to be weatherproofed. Structurflex designed, engineered, fabricated and installed a single-layer ETFE canopy that borrows structural support from adjacent structures. This allowed for the canopy to be completed in a short timeframe, despite difficult ground conditions. The design concepts were presented to the client as a 3D animation, which helped the client have a clear picture of how the lightweight courtyard cover would look and perform. Installation prep included adding extra weight to the foundation pedestals to achieve a larger bearing surface and negate any uplift caused by wind pressure. The lightweight, single-skin, cable-supported ETFE foil canopy has proven to be the ideal cover for a previously inclement courtyard, and was an economical alternative to a glass structure, installed for approximately 45% less the cost.
We are pleased to have collaborated with KieranTimberlake and the outfit of a parking structure on the Rice University Campus. In their blog post, they describe the concepts they employed to create an iconic sculptural element. For more details see the KieranTimberlake blog post.
The Increasing Importance of DurabilityWhile tensile fabric has several distinct advantages over more traditional materials like glass, one of the most important may be its ability to withstand severe weather events. Our tensile structures and tensile facades in Miami, Jacksonville, Houston, Fort Worth, Waco, and Atlanta did not sustain any damage or require any repair despite enduring events ranging […]
