THE CHALLENGE – ENTRANCE CANOPY FOR ARRIVING PATIENTS AND VISITORS
Our brief was to develop a new entrance that extended a warm welcome to patients and visitors, while also providing the practicality of shelter from sun and rain. The Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center is a comprehensive facility that includes a women’s and a children’s medical center.
THE SOLUTION – AN ELEGANT ENTRANCE WITH AN INGENIOUS STORMWATER SOLUTION
Adorning two entrances of the newly constructed medical center is a series of white inverted umbrellas that float seamlessly above the walkways and drop-off zones. Beautifully constructed and finished, the umbrellas are an example of ingenious engineering and PTFE fabric architecture. The inverted cones are designed to channel rain into an integrated downspout that links into the site storm drains. There’s no need for unsightly downspouts and gutters. The highly durable and inert properties of the PTFE-coated fiberglass membranes will deliver decades of excellent performance, while maintaining a brilliant white appearance that suggests health and cleanliness.
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 […]
