Originally built in 1881, Denver’s Union Station modernization involved adding new spaces for new transportation modes, mixed-use development, and civic needs. Structurflex was responsible for designing, fabricating, and installing the vast tensile structure roof for the main train hall and separate canopies for passenger waiting and drop-off areas.
PTFE coated fiberglass and single-layer ETFE were used to create a structural roof that, while over 80,000 square feet in size, has an appearance of weightlessness. Sunlight is filtered through the roof to allow daylight in without the accompanying heat.
The overall modernization project consisted of eight separate structures, requiring a large project team of architects, engineers, contractors, steel fabricators, steel erectors, and other trades, led by famed architecture firm SOM. Coordinating and collaborating with various team members to deliver and install the tensile structure was crucial, especially with the number of other trades working on different parts of the project in the same physical space.
Press
“Tensile fabric structure transforms Denver Union Station,” Fabric Architecture Magazine
“New Trains in the Membrane,” Travel + Leisure
Related Blog Post
“Structurflex tension membrane structures contribute to the transformation of Denver’s new transportation hub”
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 […]
