THE CHALLENGE – PROVIDE CUSTOMER SHELTER WITHOUT LIMITING PLANT GROWTH
Palmers Garden Centre has been selling plants and garden supplies to the East Auckland, New Zealand community since 1985. In 1990, the center added a Structurflex tension membrane roof to cover weather-sensitive plants and provide a pleasant shopping environment for customers. The roof served Palmers admirably for 20 years. Twenty years later, working within time, budget and weather restrictions, Structurflex was given the task of designing, fabricating and installing a replacement membrane roof.
OUR SOLUTION – PLANT-FRIENDLY FABRIC WITH A LONGER LIFE EXPECTANCY
Building on the trust of an existing relationship, Structurflex recommended a replacement roof made with polyester-reinforced Ferrari 1002S – a fabric that didn’t exist when we built the original membrane roof in 1990. The new fabric has greater transparency, which has improved the customer experience at the garden center. It also comes with a lifespan that should considerably exceed the previous roof’s 20-year term of duty. Palmers management are highly satisfied with the result, which was achieved without major disruption to the garden center’s business.
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 […]
