THE CHALLENGE – MEET STRICT SECURITY REQUIREMENTS TO DESIGN AND INSTALL COMPLEX ENTRANCE CANOPY ON TIME
Working for the United Nations involves complying with the highest level of security. All personnel are required to undergo background checks and sign non-disclosure agreements. Moreover, accessing any construction site in Manhattan is challenging, and this United Nations site was more problematic than most.
We also had to work within an extremely tight timeframe, which required installation over the Christmas and New Year holiday break – the coldest time of year for New York City. Added to this were the detailing challenges of a complex design that included compound curved tri-chord trusses.
OUR SOLUTION – A HIGHLY EXPERIENCED TEAM, FULL 3D MODELING AND ROBUST PLANNING
To ensure we would achieve a ‘right the first time’ outcome for this entrance canopy project, Structurflex enlisted the expertise of Wade Consulting, a highly experienced team of tensile membrane structure engineers and detailers.
We also chose to work with a steel fabrication company that has made supporting framework for hundreds of tensile membrane structures over the past 15 years.
By getting a rock-solid team on board, backed up by the virtual preparation abilities of full 3D modeling, we insured this highly sensitive contract could be delivered without a hitch. Heavy snowfalls and low temperatures didn’t hinder our finely-tuned installation processes.
Press
“United Nations interim porte cochere,” Fabric Architecture Magazine
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 […]
