Gracechurch Shopping Centre canopies
As the centre will remain open for business throughout, the team of expert installation engineers will work special hours to dismantle several small tensiles no longer serving a purpose, whilst re-skinning the main bespoke double conic structure with new canopies. The project, awarded by Hatmet, is due for completion in mid-October in time for the start of the festive shopping season and the specially selected high-translucency fabric from Japan will flood the area with natural light, allowing shoppers to enjoy the inside-outside space on a year-round basis.
http://www.gracechurchcentre.com/home.aspx
Stanstead Airport Canopy
MAG announced in June 2013 (as part of a visit to the airport by the Secretary of State for Transport) that it would be launching an £80 million terminal redevelopment programme (including a new canopy).
As part of this redevelopment, Galliford Try has awarded Fabric Architecture the contract to design, engineer and install a series of tensile canopies for the airport’s Meet & Greet Valet Parking service. The structures will cover over 600sqm of car parking space, providing welcoming and practical shelter for customers dropping off their vehicles at the premium parking area.
The design brief stipulated that the canopies should compliment the terminal building and the existing ETFE structure. The terminal building was designed by Foster Associates and features a “floating” roof, supported by a space frame of inverted-pyramid roof trusses, creating the impression of a stylised swan in flight.
The Fabric Architecture design comprises a low-impact barrel canopy of crisp white PVC fabric, on an uncomplicated steel framework, which is both galvanised and powder-coated to meet to the stringent 25+ year life-expectancy specification.
The project is due to complete in early summer 2015.
Lighting up Scottish Power Headquarters
The site, previously the home to the former Strathclyde Regional Council, overlooks the M8 motorway and Kingston Bridge and will replace Scottish Power’s current office locations in Falkirk, and Cathcart & Yoker in Glasgow.
Fabric Architecture was approached by a team of Glasgow-based architects appointed by Scottish Power who were struggling to find an adaptable solution for a series of ceiling voids on the ground level of the new 14-storey HQ building.
Other products on the market were either no longer being produced or were very limited in their flexibility. Fabric Architecture’s solution is adaptable to the project-specific needs and is offered at a fraction of the cost. Previous projects, such as Dublin T2 and Heathrow T2B provided the architects with an extra level of confidence to develop the project with the Fab Arch team.
13 large ceiling panels will now form part of the ground floor ceiling system, sitting flush within the plasterboard soffits and lighting up the hallways leading to several banks of lifts and stairwells.
Over several months, Fabric Architecture’s in-house design and engineering team has developed the system with the Architects and Main Contractor Laing O’Rourke, casting proprietary dies and building test rigs with a series of translucent fabrics, in order to achieve the desired lux levels.
The end result will be a slick, lightweight and demountable illuminated ceiling system, delivered on time and well inside the original budget anticipated by the client.
“Better to illuminate than merely to shine” Thomas Aquinas
Replacement Retail Tensile
Re-use | Reduce | Recycle
Given its age and the changing trends in retail design and development, there have been several improvement projects at Gracechurch over the years. Most recently a project began to “breath new life” into the centre’s facilities by removing and replacing the tensile structures that had come to the end of their lifespan.
Fabric Architecture designed and engineered a new retail tensile to replace the old one, which sits at the heart of the mall – a double conic form measuring 300sqm and fixed at various points around its perimeter to the surrounding buildings. Centrally the canopy is supported by 2 angled main masts, down to ground level. Overall the structure stands at 10m tall, providing a large covered space for shoppers to stay sheltered and for additional retail area with smaller outdoor kiosks.
In the lead up to the Christmas period, it was essential that retail operating hours and turnover were not compromised. However the location of the canopy and its position at the heart of the mall presented some operational challenges. Work at height was carried out during the night under dedicated task lighting for both the dismantle and the re-installation, allowing the centre to remain open to public as normal during the day, without any detrimental effect to trade over the festive season.
The Gracechurch project was delivered successfully without a negative effect on retail turnover over the festive season. The retail tensile canopy continues to provide much needed cover for shoppers and outdoor retailers, with the area underneath being significantly brighter in look and feel as a result of the new fabric. This has helped the shopping centre attract more visitors, allowing them to successfully compete with other, new-build shopping centres nearby.
New Street, New Start
We are working to deliver an integrated fabric lining inside the station’s new atrium and concourse.
During this final phase, Fabric Architecture are working alongside contractors Mace Group, to deliver a fully-integrated fabric lining inside the station’s new atrium and concourse. This large-scale interior project includes a bespoke steel truss framework and over 600sqm of tensile cladding, combining both solid and mesh fabrics.
Currently underway is the installation of the fabric collar which sweeps around the upper retail level and forms teardrop openings amongst the steel ‘buttresses’. The use of tensile fabric allows a sleek and uninterrupted interface between the concrete bulkhead and the ETFE roof above.
Fabric Architecture will be on site until August 2015 – watch this story unfold over the coming months in our Fabric Architecture blog or click on the links below to see what Mace are saying and how Network Rail Birmingham are tracking progress…
http://www.macegroup.com/projects/birmingham-new-street-refurbishment
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/6222.aspx
http://www.newstreetnewstart.co.uk/
FIFA FanZone Wins Award!
Fan Zone wins ‘Innovative Solution of the Year’ Award
“Created to test and showcase a scale model of one of the cooling technologies which will be used at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™, partially at the proposed host venues and mainly for open air public gatherings, the open-air fan zone allowed football fans in Qatar to watch 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ matches at a temperature on average 12 degrees Celsius lower inside than outside.” SC
Our solution featured a large-scale retractable roof system with integrated climate control.
Click here for the full Fabric Architecture project story…
Click here to read more from the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy…
Chandos Fabric Roof
Fabric Architecture awarded Chandos Lawn Tennis Club fabric roof contract
Carrying forward the initial scheme design by Hopkins architects and Arup, Fabric Architecture’s in-house Design & Engineering Team have worked with Barr’s Structural Engineers to design foundations for the 2000sqm PVC and ETFE hybrid fabric roof structure, consisting of 64 tonnes of tri-cord steel truss frame and over 3000sqm of tensile fabric.
Each fabric tensile structure is designed and engineered to the specific project requirements and criteria. The process is a continual exchange of ideas between Fabric Architecture and the customer, to ensure a seamless delivery of the end result.
This high-end leisure facility is the latest in a growing portfolio of large-scale, clear-span sports & leisure projects by Fabric Architecture. Installation began on site in early 2015 and completion is scheduled for August 2015.
We will be running a 'Watch it Unfold' series on our News Blog about this project. Stay tuned!
Dubai interior project
Rob Arthur, General Manager of Fabric Architecture Middle East (FAME), will now follow the multi-million INTERIOR project from the company’s new Dubai-based UAE office providing a vital local interface between the UK design and engineering team and our crew on the ground.
Awarded by one of the country’s main government organisations, this high-end, large-scale interior application uses a unique combination of products and technologies, notably a Japanese pearlescent tensile fabric, new to the industry.
Working above a 60m void, skilled rigging and installation teams will work day and night shifts to carry out their work in a complex environment, completing the final project later in 2015.
Fabric Ceiling in Glasgow
The new South Glasgow University Hospital and Royal Hospital For Sick Children will deliver a truly gold standard of healthcare. We delivered a fabric ceiling and interior fabric cladding.
Working again in conjunction with Nightingale Associates and Brookfield Multiplex, Fabric Architecture have recently completed the installation of the fabric ceiling and interior fabric cladding inside New South Glasgow Hospital, providing two very different fabric solutions, serving two very different purposes.
To hide services and soften hard lines of the raw concrete construction, a 240sqm internal wave shaped fabric ceiling was designed using an inherently flame-retardant stretch polyester fabric to create a smooth and undulating surface. This was framed and suspended from the building’s sub-structure and benefits from a perimeter shadow gap with atmospheric uplighters. The net result is a more organic and sympathetic interior within a practical and busy hospital environment.
Translucent PVC tensile fabric cladding was used in a second area of the hospital, to cover one side of the hospital’s “Sanctuary”, a room-within-a-room in the hospital’s central atrium area. The Sanctuary is an asymmetric cube, suspended on stilts and provides a calm and serene environment for staff, patients and visitors. This 90sqm series of fabric-clad panels are fixed to the outside fascia of the Sanctuary and backlit with a series of LED lights. This serves to soften the overall look and feel of the cube which provides a calming retreat from the fast pace of hospital life outside.
http://www.brookfieldmultiplex.com/
http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=home_new_sg_acutehospital
University of Middlesex sail canopy
Improving social space at University of Middlesex with shelter canopy
Fabric Architecture worked closely with bpr Architects, Curtins structural engineers and main contractors Coniston, to design, engineer and install the 105sqm bespoke shelter canopy outside the University’s sports facilities.
As well as the fabric, the canopy’s framework alsoply installing onto concrete foundations. The sub-structure was designed as a level terrace over sloping ground and each mast for the fabric canopy had to interface exactly with the steel uprights below.
With their cross-collaborative approach, Fabric Architecture designed and engineered the canopy, simultaneously working to bpr’s original concept whilst liaising closely with Curtins’ engineers to ensure the loads could be supported by the steel sub-frame.
The area where the canopy is located is a fire escape route and assembly point, so Fabric Architecture recommended an inherently flame-retardant woven glass fabric. Environmentally friendly and highly-translucent, the fabric suits the overall simplistic design. Steel was kept to a minimum and replaced with cable systems wherever possible to avoid looking overly ‘clunky’, which alongside hidden electrics for down-lighters and smooth powder-coated framework, have resulted in a sleek and fully-integrated hybrid canopy.
Fabric Architecture’s structure moves away from the typical barrel vault design normally reserved for such projects, to an undulating hyperbolic form that delivers both visual impact and practical shade and shelter.