The team at John Sisk & Sons working on the newly built Pelletstown Railway Station, approached us to help them with a triple canopy scheme that would provide ample bicycle shelter space for the commuters and travellers and allow greener use of public transport.
We created a bespoke design for each of the three canopies. The steelwork frames were manufactured in the UK and installed by SISK. The PVC fabric membranes and associated fixings and fittings were installed by Base Structures.
Along with the logistical challenges of travel restrictions between UK and Ireland at that time, summer 2021 during the Covid-19 Pandemic, we also had the challenges of working next to a live railway line into our safety procedures.
The end result is an attractive suite of highly functional fabric canopies that will improve the travelling experience for travellers and make it more practical and environmentally friendly for people to travel to the station by bicycle.
One of our key environmental objectives is zero waste to landfill. When working on the early stages of a fabric structure, this is a key…
There is no doubt that many of the changes our communities have had to make around Coronavirus restrictions are staying put for a while yet.…
The Forum at the University of Hertfordshire College Lane Campus is undergoing a significant redevelopment to include new social facilities and expansion of the teaching space.
The Main Contractor for the redevelopment project, Wilmot Dixon, asked us to design, supply and install an external fabric entrance canopy at The Forum to form part of this expansion.
Part of the brief was for the structure to be free-standing and not connected to the building. Our solution was an attractive bespoke L-shaped barrel-vaulted canopy that would achieve the required roof coverage area for the new outdoor space.
The result is an eye-catching structure expanding the space ready for the improved teaching and socialising experience at The Forum.
One of our key environmental objectives is zero waste to landfill. When working on the early stages of a fabric structure, this is a key…
There is no doubt that many of the changes our communities have had to make around Coronavirus restrictions are staying put for a while yet.…
Event Communications Ltd approached us to help them develop a series of 9 fabric wave sculptures to embody the water element of the new Viking exhibition, menacingly titled The Raid!, and which opened June 2021. The waves help create a dynamic & natural flow for visitors as they follow the tour.
Our solution utilised similar details from a project we were proudly involved in with Zaha Hadid, the JS Bach Music Hall – Zaha Hadid | Base Structures, and encompasses a light aluminium modular framing system. Double skinned stretched spandex fabric, patterned specifically for the complex organic geometries, provides a soft sense motion and defines the exhibit space the museum were looking for.
The finished fabric forms add theatre to the installation with a sense of the ocean to fit with the origins of the Vikings. A separate blackout skin fitted between the spandex allows the museum to project imagery onto the fabric as part of the exhibit and because of the modular design, the structures can be used again for future exhibitions.
One of our key environmental objectives is zero waste to landfill. When working on the early stages of a fabric structure, this is a key…
There is no doubt that many of the changes our communities have had to make around Coronavirus restrictions are staying put for a while yet.…
Trepassey care home had been undergoing extensive redevelopment involving a series of extensions and garden terraces. So our client approached us to provide a barrel-vault canopy to the new landscaped garden. The canopy was to double as a covered seating area for the residents to enjoy the attractive surroundings and to provide a 52m door to door sheltered walkway to protect from the elements.
A continuous series of tensile PVC fabric canopies comprising 15 bays, supporting steel masts and rolled arches. Also with PPC aluminium extrusions and electro-polished s/s membrane plates. This allowed us to achieve the curvature required to fit the garden shape and crescent walkway path accurately.
A structure like this in an elevated position overlooking The Wirral will withstand inclement weather conditions and provide a robust shelter and shade. Because of this the residents will be able to spend more time outside for fresh air and safe distanced socialising.
One of our key environmental objectives is zero waste to landfill. When working on the early stages of a fabric structure, this is a key…
There is no doubt that many of the changes our communities have had to make around Coronavirus restrictions are staying put for a while yet.…
Edinburgh Airport’s commercial team approached us to help them develop several landside canopies as part of their new East Terminal project. The scheme comprised of two long pedestrian walkway canopies adjacent to the taxi zone, a small bus stop canopy and a large terminus canopy.
We developed and the detailed the schemes with design engineers Tony Hogg Design & Scottish based steel fabricators Miller Fabrication, to include the primary steel structures for all canopies, fabric interface extrusion system and 44no. PVC fabric roof membranes.
The result is a series of visually impressive fabric structures providing an enhanced passenger experience to this historic terminal development project.
Bethell Construction approached us to help them develop a canopy scheme as part of their ongoing regeneration works with the Manchester Airport transformation team and the redevelopment of Terminal 2.
The Meet and Greet valet parking service was to be relocated to T2 and required Base to design, supply and install a new canopy. To reduce queuing times, the new structure required 3 lanes with internal cameras and scanners to scan car registrations as they arrived at the terminal.
We developed the detailed scheme with structural design engineers Fenton Holloway & steel fabricators Sheetfabs to include the primary steel structure, fabric interface extrusion system, 2 PVC roof panels, 4 wall panels, 2 gable end panels and a bird proofing system.
The client and Base are very pleased with the resulting robust, practical and attractive canopy to service the parking customers at the terminal.
Passenger comfort is essential to the whole 21st Century travel experience and so it is that bus stations are coming of age. Gone are the diesel streaked, wind-swept naked expanses of concrete and tarmac inhabited only by pigeons, drunks and unfortunate late night travelers. Nowadays passenger embarkation terminals are state of the art architectural landmarks that have more in common with the best hotels than ghost towns, and now Wolverhampton Bus Station is no different after commissioning a PTFE roof for it’s terminal.
Wolverhampton is the latest city to have invested in passenger welfare by constructing three steel and glass boulevards, sealed against the elements with 6000m2 of architectural fabric that has been especially profiled to minimise the roofs intrusion onto the cityscape beyond.
The daytime translucency of the fabric and night time feature lighting ensure the friendly ambience is maintained 24 hours a day.
This silicon glass cloth canopy structure formed part of the final stage of construction of the now famous White City Shopping Complex in West London. The scope of works covered design, manufacture and installation of the steelwork, fabric, gutter and nosing.
The client had a requirement for a high level of translucency, previous similar structures in the complex had used a PTFE based cloth which is expensive, particularly when ordered in small quantities. In order to overcome this Base structures sourced a high translucency silicon glass cloth, Atex 3000®, fabricated using special heat welding techniques, and this provided the client with a cost effective solution. At the front of the structure the water capture and collection system is artfully concealed behind a powder coated aluminium nosing, giving the installation a clean finish.
An attractive tensile fabric covered walkway designed as part of the redevelopment works at Westgate shopping centre in Oxford.
The canopy shelters a connecting link walkway within the complex and gives ambient soft diffused lighting to the area. Our scope of works included design, supply and erection of steel frame, connection details and tensile fabric canopy.
Formerly used as a School of Architecture, the Portland Building was designed by Sir Colin Stansfield-Smith in the 1990’s. In 2014 the building required complete remodelling and refurbishment by University of Portsmouth to accommodate new schools for Business, Civil Engineering and Information Services, with Studio Four architects acting as lead consultants on the new scheme.
A key success of the redevelopment included bringing an external, under-utilised courtyard into use with resurfacing and new tensile fabric canopy shelters. One of our pre-designed fabric canopies Playsail-4P-500 was used to create a series of six simple hypar fabric canopies manufactured from Type 2 PVC fabric and measuring 4.7m x 4.7m in plan were tensioned to shared posts. The substantial posts rising from the ground are made from galvanised mild steel, linking the individual fabric elements into a much larger modular structure.
The structure as a whole is reminiscent of ship masts and sails – and it not only provides shelter to extend the usable external space but also helps to create a new identity for the Portland building. We hope this architectural flourish is one that Sir Colin Stansfield Smith would have approved of!