FAQ
1. What are you prepared to do for free?
We are really pleased to work with potential clients in developing initial ideas and also
providing outline costs.
If, for instance, you can supply a drawing or even a rough sketch of the area you want to
cover, we can give you a budget estimate for a fabric canopy within 24 hours. We can also
provide examples of similar canopies we have created and we’ll follow this up with a sketch
of how your canopy might look.
On larger projects we may undertake some preliminary analysis without any forward
commitment, to provide you with some feedback on shape, loads and costs that you can
build into your proposals.
2. How long will a tensile structure last?
This will depend on the materials used. So it’s about 35-40 years if you specify a PTFE or
silicon coated glass cloth - otherwise 15-20 years for PVC-coated polyester fabrics. The rest
of the steel frame and cables will be good for 50 years. To keep the structure looking at its
best and operating safely, some routine maintenance will be required, and we can advise on
this.
3. What about wind and snow loads?
Every structure we design satisfies the British Standard Codes for wind and snow loading (BS
6399 parts 2 & 3). We will also take into full account its location, height and surrounding
buildings and if it is designed for permanent or just seasonal use. Please be aware that some
companies offer sail shade structures that are inevitably lower in cost, but are not
engineered for year-round use. If this is what you require, this will need to be incorporated
into the specification.
4. Are tensile structures expensive?
A useful comparison is with other types of translucent roofing. A fabric structure over a
shopping mall or school internal street could be half the cost of a toughened glass roof -
particularly as the steel frame can be much lighter as it only needs to take a fraction of the
dead weight.
However, bespoke fabric structures would struggle to compete with clear triple wall
polycarbonate. The cost, of course, also needs to be weighed against the application and the
appearance
5. Can you describe the fabrics available?
This will be determined by the application. For external structures we work with PTFE
(Teflon) coated glass, Silicon coated glass, TENARA (PTFE coated PTFE) and PVC coated
polyester. We also offer a single skin ETFE framed ‘glazing’ system.
For internal structures there is a wealth of choice - from sunscreen meshes and lycras
through to polyesters and synthetic silks.
All are fire rated and all the external fabrics are supplied with the manufacturer’s warranty.
6. What does your service include?
We offer a one-stop shop - from design, manufacture, installation and through to after sales
maintenance support. We can supply everything above foundation level - ie the steel frame;
tie rods etc.
7. What about lighting?
It’s a real missed opportunity if you don’t consider lighting your fabric structure. We can
work with your lighting designer or offer our own services to maximize the visual impact. By
either back lighting or front/up lighting you can achieve some remarkable effects.
8. How green are tensile structures?
Tensile Fabric structures are probably the most efficient method of achieving long span
enclosures. Compared to conventional steel frame and glass alternatives the embodied
energy is significantly less. Conversely, though, tensile structures usually require larger
concrete foundations due to the tensile loads.
One of the biggest contributions fabric can make environmentally is in the over cladding of
structures where savings of up to 40% in the energy required for cooling have been
recorded.
9. Can you have insulated canopies?
Yes you can - using two layers of fabric with a suspended insulation layer in between. The
only drawback is that you lose the benefit of translucency, unless you use high translucency
insulation.
10. What about vandalism?
Fabric can be slashed. That is why we design our canopies to be sensibly out of reach if they
are in vulnerable sites. Most fabrics can be patched and repaired in situ, or can be designed
in panels that can easily be replaced.
11. What warranties do you offer?
All fabric manufacturers offer fabric warranties which can vary from a standard five years up
to a 15 year sliding scale warranty – all depending on the fabric and the supplier. Our fabric
matrix provides you with the design life of different fabrics which is a better guide to how
long materials can be expected to last the course.
12. So what’s new in the wonderful world of tensile architecture?
Well here are just a few things we are excited about:
A new family of high translucency PVC /polyester fabrics has just been launched. They offer
around 30-40% transparency and can be used on their own or integrated into a fabric
membrane to form varying translucencies.
Fabric facades… over cladding an existing façade can transform a building visually as well
providing massive energy savings.
13. Do you work overseas?
Yes we do. Where possible, we will utilize local resources for steel manufacture and skilled
labor to reduce costs and our carbon footprint. All installation work would be controlled by
our own site supervisors.
14. Where does ETFE fit into the scheme of things?
ETFE foil has made a huge contribution to the architect’s palette of materials. I only need to
mention the Eden Project for proof. We see its major potential in the future not so much in
the form of inflatable pillows, but mounted as a single skin in framing systems as a
substitute for glazing. ETFE is the material of choice if you need high visibility as opposed to
just translucency.
15. Can you use fabric to help with acoustics?
A layer of fabric has very little mass and therefore it cannot absorb sound to any useful
degree. There is one mesh fabric that has been engineered to reduce the higher frequencies
in quite a useful way.
Otherwise fabric can be used to disrupt reverberation times in noisy atriums by reducing the
area of hard surfaces with use of suspended sails. These ideally would be using a mesh or
perforated fabric.
16. How often and how should you clean tensile structures?
Translucency is one of the major benefits of tensile structures, so keeping them clean has to
be an advantage. But compared to glass, the cleaning regime is substantially less
demanding - usually amounting to an annual wash down with soapy water and soft brush.
Most structures can be cleaned from cherry pickers with telescopic brushes; but with deep
plan canopies, trained rope-access operatives should wet wipe the canopy with the help of
water filled backpacks. The frequency required will depend upon the location, with
structures in high profile city Centre sites benefiting from a six-month cycle.
Canopies under trees need particular attention as accumulating leaves can cause
discoloration.
Typical Details
This article is to give architects, contractors and potential customers an idea of the sort of
details used in typical fabric structures. It’s by no means conclusive, or fully comprehensive,
but since we often find ourselves providing this sort of information, we hope it will be useful
to anyone interested in this field.
Trying to list things logically, we will start with the bases, then consider the main structure,
followed by some of the typical fabric and connection details, and finally we’ll cover the
“rigging” hardware.
Foundations
Normally cast by the main contractor. We will have provided loadings so they know how big
to make them. It’s generally preferable if they cast holding down bolts in for us, as they
have exceptional holding capacity, and incorporate some tolerance for improved ease of
installation. In other cases, we can drill the concrete ourselves and fit chemical anchors, but
these don’t have the capacity to match holding down bolts.
Base Plates
These often require triangular stiffening plates. It’s important to know where finished ground
level will be and what will be the makeup of that level (e.g. bricks/pavers/slabs/tarmac). You
may need to lower the foundations to make the installation of the finished surfaces easier.
Double Shear Connection
This is the strongest way to join a spar to a column with a pinned/bolted connection. The
size of the pin/bolt determines the overall size of the connecting plates. If you were to use
just two single plates, the pin/bolt would be in single shear and would need to be
substantially larger.
Spigot Connection
A good way to join two tubes at full strength for a moment connection. An advantage is that
internal drainage or cabling can be arranged through the connection.
Halving Joint
Another method to form a moment connection between two members in line with each
other. This has the advantage of being installable in locations where a spigot connection
would be impossible to fit.
Cleats or Lugs
These are designed and sized according to the loads they are subject to. Some may be
subject to tension, some to compression, and some to both, so all structural specifications
for the cleat size and amount of weld must be strictly adhered to during fabrication.
Telescopic Strut
These are usually used as either the main tensioning device, or to build in some tolerance to
the whole structural design. The steelwork is accurately fabricated to enable correct
installation without sticking so that tensioning and adjustment can be easily carried out on
site.
Headring
Most conical shaped membranes are attached to a steel fabrication at the top called a
headring.
As with all other components, it is sized to accommodate the high loads imposed on it by the
fabric. The fabric is normally clamped to the outside face.
All sorts of designs and features can be incorporated into the details; in particular the use of
a clear covering dome is ideal when full rain protection is required.
Boundary Pocket
This is the pocket formed on a curved scalloped edge of a membrane to house the boundary
cable. They can be formed by either turning the fabric back on itself, or by adding a
premade pocket strip.
Roped Edge
This could be the key to tensioned fabric. By turning the fabric back on itself, and welding in
a rope, a perimeter detail is formed that can either be clamped or slid into a slot....
Extrusion
What a great invention for fabric, aluminium extrusions.....All sorts abound, but some
standard ones prove the most versatile. They have calculable loading capacities so that
structural engineers can use them confidently for high fabric tensions. Easily fitted on site,
they can be powder coated to match the supporting steelwork. They generally need to be
fixed at short intervals to a main structural element, such as a column, beam or strut.
Membrane Plate
The membrane plate is a vital component of nearly all tensile structures. It serves two main
purposes: firstly, to clamp onto the corner of the fabric to enable the fabric to be pulled
tight, and secondly, to hold the ends of the boundary cables that run in the fabric edge
pockets. All of these combined loadings are effectively transferred through the membrane
plate into the supporting steel structure.
Membrane plates can also act as drainage points, in conjunction with upstands on the fabric.
Extrusion Membrane Plate
The extrusion membrane plate serves the same purposes as a normal “free” membrane
plate, but it is designed to fit into an extrusion to enable a sliding fit for tensioning. Smaller
canopies use very simple plate details whereas larger canopies are likely to need additional
supporting structure to prevent the membrane plate from pulling out of the extrusion.
Rigging Hardware
We use many traditional sailing type fittings in our canopies. They are all grade 316
stainless steel for outstanding durability and maximum resistance to corrosion.
Cables are typically terminated with either a threaded stud, or a fork end. The jointing
process for stainless steel cables is known as swaging, which produces a very slimline and
high strength connection that will exceed the breaking strain of the cable.
The swaging process involves fitting the cable into the
terminal, then crushing the terminal onto the cable with a specialised swaging machine. All
fittings are sized to ensure an equal or greater strength than the cable.
Turnbuckle tensioners (often known as bottle screws) are frequently used to adjust tie
cables to the required length. They are available in a very large range of designs and sizes
to suit all standard cable sizes. The highest quality tensioners incorporate brass elements
into the threaded parts to avoid seizing.
They should be fitted with suitable locking nuts to ensure that they don’t become loose over
time.
We hope that you have found this reference guide to the components of a tensile structure
informative and useful. If it has left you with any of your own unanswered questions, we’d be
happy to hear from you.
REFERENCES
http://www.spandesign.com/technical/article_typical_details.aspx
