Tensioned fabric for elegant buildings
By John Hutchinson
LONDON: Architects and designers worldwide are turning their attention to a recently-developed method of construction that allows them to achieve much higher levels of practicality and creativity in the buildings they develop than when using more conventional building techniques.
Tensioned fabric structures,in which extremely tough and durable materials such polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-coated polyester are prefabricated and held firmly in place by a tensioning system of masts and wire, are coming into prominence in a wide range of imaginative new building developments.
During the 1990s Britain has developed the scope and capability of tensioned fabric to new standards and now supplies an increasingly global demand for these structures, which have the unique ability to combine highly practical features such as large unobstructed areas of floorspace with impressive elements of exterior and interior appearance, shape and style that no other building technique or structural materials can provide.
Among the fastest-growing markets for tensioned fabric is the Middle East, where Britain's leading specialist has just completed and innovative construction contract.
The project, in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, has brought eye-catching elegance and welcome shade to an area that until a few months ago was a barren tract of sun-baked desert.
The main feature of this new residential complex -- the Alhamra Oasis Village -- is an attractive series of interlinking roofs and canopies. Its centerpiece is a striking gold-colored fabric building supported by four large masts 25 metres high which contains an air-conditioned sports facility enclosing basketball and tennis courts.
Surrounding this 3,000-square metre structure are tensioned fabric canopies covering walkways liking the sports complex and other facilities that surround an extensive swimming pool area.
These richly-colored tent-like structures combine to make Alhamra Oasis the most distinctive modern development in the Saudi capital.
Nearby, the same British company, Landrell Fabric Engineering, has built a single-peaked gold-colored canopy to provide shelter over a private swimming pool. The effect on this picturesque site is to create an oasis of shade, space, coolness, comfort and color enhanced by a sweeping structure that blends high- technology design and manufacturing techniques with the traditional Arab theme of nomadic tented life.
Another fast-expanding market for Britain's tensioned fabric industry is the Asia-Pacific region, where perhaps the most impressive building completed to date is a large, multi-peaked structure commissioned at extremely short notice for the Sultan of Brunei.
Here Landrell demonstrate another striking advantage of tensioned fabric compared with conventional building materials - the considerably shorter manufacturing and construction time required.
Within two weeks of receiving the contract the British supplier had fabricated the building, using fast and accurate computer-controlled equipment to cut and join the highly intricate shapes needed to create its complex curved roof.
Three days later the entire building, weighing 130 tons with its steel masts and stays, arrived at the Brunei site ready to be erected. Within four weeks the air-conditioned structure with all its interior fittings was ready for use.
New markets for tensioned fabric are emerging in Europe and North America, too. In particular, operators of public buildings such as theater and concert halls, shopping malls and sports facilities, are commissioning new or replacement buildings constructed in tensioned fabric.
For example, one of the world's largest amphitheaters, at Darien Lake in Buffalo, New York State, United States, has recently been equipped with a 4900-square metres tensioned roof that covers its stage and 7,000-capacity seating area, increasing the concert venue's total audience capacity to 27,000.
In Britain, the Stamford Shakespeare Company's unique tensioned fabric outdoor theater, set in the verdant gardens of a 16th century mansion in Lincolnshire, eastern England, attributes its record level of advance bookings for its 1997 season largely to the 600-seat theater's structure which provides and ideal environment for stage productions.
With design lives of typically 20 years and more, even in the harshest climates, tensioned fabric structures designed and manufactured in Britain are proving ideal for many different uses in widely varying markets and environments throughout the world.
Their speed of installation -- without the need for major site preparation -- and the minimal maintenance they require are two powerful factors in their favor. Above all, however, is the new degree of creative flexibility they provide designers and architects and the delight their shape, style and translucency bring to everyone who visits or uses them.
-- London Press Service