Concerned about the turning autumn weather the client was looking for temporary weather solution to enable them to secure the building and maintain their programme of works for the internal fit out of the new 15 storey office building in a prominent city centre location.
Base have previously installed temporary weatherproof screening on several large and prestigious construction projects to provide rain and wind protection for construction teams, enabling them to continue to work uninterrupted where building exterior is yet to be completed.
Tensile fabric screens can be installed quickly with minimal disruption to other site works. They are extremely adaptable and can be tailored to suit the access requirements. Base can also offer the option to have either vertical or horizontal webbing strap attachments, customising the screens to suit the interfacing options available within the space.
To provide a series of tensile fabric weather screens around the entire building perimeter, covering from the ground up to the 2nd floor. This would be an engineered solution allowing the client to assess the loads applied to the structure and have peace of mind that the screens are both weatherproof and also meet the sites prescribed wind loading.
The PVC flame retardant (B-S2-D0) fabric screens were proposed to be manufactured with horizontal welded webbing straps & ratchets at 1m centres providing attachments to tension the screens to the steel columns of the building, and the seams to be hot air welded to ensure completely watertight.
The entire project consisted of 44# screens with a total fabric area of 1800m2. The largest of the screens were 11m high by 8m wide. Some were split in two to provide a removable lower section allowing access when needed. Others were specifically adapted to fit around the personnel and goods hoists.
The screens each have a ground level weather flap that is timber battened to the existing concrete slab using 100mm frame fixings. Where screens abut with one another, they have vertical screen to screen weather flaps that were hot air welded together to form a weather tight seal.
Where fabric screens could not be tensioned laterally to columns, the design was adapted to tension vertically between the steel beams above and the concrete slab below. This was accomplished by utilising a pole and pocket detail top and bottom, with a steel plate bracket fixed to beam with lindaptors and eyebolts resin anchored to the concrete slab.
All panels are engineered to withstand the relevant British Standard wind loadings.
Fabric panel installation can become hazardous in wind speeds exceeding 10mph, be they steady or gusting. Weather conditions for the installation must be carefully considered during install planning and discussed fully with the client to understand any impact to programme.
There were several areas on the project where the existing columns were not able to be used to support the webbing strap screen fixings and alternative attachment methods had to be devised with the client.
Screens adjacent to bays that accommodated the hoists had to be adapted to fit around the hoist support scaffolding. In these locations, the screens had cut-outs to stop short of the hoist and their webbing tails were extended to fit through the hoist supports.
The clients project team were incredibly happy with the performance of the screens and the versatility offered by our solution which enabled them to adapt and match their fast-moving programme. Multiplex also found that Base Structures’ screening solutions were the most cost effective compared with alternative products they had reviewed and implemented on their other UK sites. Base’s screens also proved to be more versatile and offered more flexibility when considering site conditions and access requirements.
“Base have been excellent throughout the full process, from tender to installation. We have used a temporary weathering solution which is a great design and works perfectly. The installation team have maintained an extremely high standard of quality and safety and delivered the install ahead of the anticipated programme. I would highly recommend Base to any contractor looking for a temporary weathering solution. Well done to all.” The Client.
Once the client have completed their internal fit out works and ready to move onto the exterior and no longer require the screens, Base will remove them. Our screens are very quick to demount and, as with the installation, the operation causes minimal disruption to other site works.
From there Base will review the future of the screens as to their suitability for re-use, initially discussing with the client about any possible uses and if not look at our fabric industry and event industry networks to find a re-use. We have a zero to landfill policy and are committed to the upcycling and re-use of tensile fabric that has not yet reached the end of its life.
Construction projects can be complex affairs, with many different teams converging on small, often tight spaces to carry out the necessary work in time. Alongside…
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…
When we put fabric structures up, we do all we can to ensure their lifespan is as long as it can be. The key to…
In need of additional outdoor space, playground shade and weather protection, St Crispin’s School were looking for a series of three colourful outdoor canopies in the school grounds. McLaughlin & Harvey came to us for a solution.
The Mendip 4P 400 is a popular multi-functional canopy from our pre-designed range. It was the most appropriate structure for the project as they are perfectly suited for providing play shade, shelter and covered seating with an elegant yet simple design.
The result provides and increased amount of practical open-air space which can be utilised in many ways including outdoor leaning, school events and socialising areas.
Construction projects can be complex affairs, with many different teams converging on small, often tight spaces to carry out the necessary work in time. Alongside…
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…
When we put fabric structures up, we do all we can to ensure their lifespan is as long as it can be. The key to…
TFT Consultants approached us on behalf of the Glamorgan Cricket to replace the two membranes of the seating stand covers at the Sophia Gardens stadium as the original membranes had reached the end of their design life.
To give the stadium a fresh new look and renewed canopy lifespan for years to come, we removed both old membranes and supplied and installed new membranes to both the Croeso and Pro Steel Engineering Stands. We inspected the associated steelwork for suitability of re-use on both structures and re-furbished where necessary.
As part of our zero waste to landfill policy we used our network to find re-use opportunities for the old fabric, that whilst past its structural design life could still be used for many other applications, including wrapping timber for waterproofing.
Construction projects can be complex affairs, with many different teams converging on small, often tight spaces to carry out the necessary work in time. Alongside…
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…
When we put fabric structures up, we do all we can to ensure their lifespan is as long as it can be. The key to…
Having originally installed the fabric mesh façade to the Nova Leisure Centre in Prestatyn in 2015, we were asked to remove the 28 no. mesh screens and supporting aluminium extrusion temporarily to allow some much needed maintenance works to the existing building.
We then re-instated the mesh fabric screens once the refurbishment works had been completed.
The original installation was for ISG Construction and involved design, manufacture and install of the large fabric façade panels ranging in size up to 7m long, along with the associated fittings.
Located on the banks of the River Thames in Barnes, The London Wetland Centre brings the countryside into the Capital. Designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2002, the wetlands are home to otters, peregrine falcons, bitterns and a multitude of other species – and all despite being under the main flight path for Heathrow Airport. In 2010 the WWT approached us to help create a brand new, high-tech ‘Pond Zone’. Bringing pond dipping into the 21st century, this outdoor attraction features a manoeuvrable underwater webcam and wide screen displays.
To ensure this educational facility can be used in all weathers, one of our standard tensile fabric canopies was specially adapted to provide an affordable solution. A Malvern 6P 1000 was fitted with stainless steel chains to attractively direct water to ground level, whilst a serpent hose on one corner channels rainwater into the pond itself.
With green steelwork and cream PVC, this tensile fabric structure creates a natural yet stylish addition to the wildest corner of the Capital city.
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.
West Drayton Primary School needed a tensile fabric solution for their playground to provide a sheltered play area for the children and a walkway adjacent to the building.
This project consists of a 40 meter long PVC fabric covered architectural walkway structure installed in the school’s playground. Our scope of works included the design, manufacture and installation of the PVC fabric canopy, steelwork and associated fittings. As part of our standard pre-designed range, this walkway canopy is both budget friendly and stylish.
The fabric canopy benefits both the pupils and the building providing a sheltered walkway as well as a shaded outdoor play area.
The project brief was to supply a tensile roof structure and fabric walling which could incorporate doors and see through panels to form this large temporary building in Miami, Florida.
Using fabric for the roof and walls provided diffused lighting and a soft ambience to create the desired environment in which the client could hold a Victoria’s Secret fashion show. The fabric panels proved to be a great architectural solution, catering for all the client’s needs in a short time frame.
in Bristol
