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TENSILE MEMBRANE STRUCTURES: THE FUNCTIONAL ADVANTAGES

Updated: Sep 6, 2022



THE ADVANTAGES OF TENSILE MEMBRANE STRUCTURES Visually striking, tensile membrane structures (and architecture) are a highly sophisticated medium that offers unique advantages for architects, designers, and engineers to experiment with form and create alternative solutions to everyday design challenges. Characterized by their unique ability to produce novel designs and breath-taking spaces, tensile membranes provide a number of functional advantages too.

Here are a few reasons why:


THE UNLIMITED DESIGN FLEXIBILITY OF TENSILE MEMBRANE STRUCTURE

Tensile membrane structures provide architects, designers, and engineers with an almost unlimited palette of design opportunities. Due largely to the inherent flexibility, high-performance capabilities, and lightweight nature of composite membranes previously inconceivable shapes and architectural forms are made possible through the highly flexible nature of the fabrics and their underlying structures.


LIGHT-WEIGHT, BUT NOT LIGHTWEIGHT Tensile membranes have the uncanny ability to enclose large expanses of space with limited supporting steel frames when compared to more conventional roofing structures. The lightweight nature of tensile membrane structures, coupled with this radical reduction of supporting materials, makes textile membrane architecture an incredibly cost-effective solution for almost any project.

The unique tensile strength afforded by the materials and advanced engineering capabilities of the Tenthouse Structures design-engineering team has seen the deployment of light-weight tensile membranes in some unusual wilderness locations where extremes of climate and environmental stressors like flash floods, high winds, and snow loads are mitigated through the ingenious nature of tensile membrane design and engineering.


FABRIC VARIETY high-performance fabrics that are primed to provide a variety of functions for specific (and extreme) environments. From insulated tensile membranes providing thermal regulation and climate control to highly flexible stretch membranes that allow for rapid deployment by construction and assembly teams. Just as with any other construction material, the fabrics used in tensile membrane structures can be specified for a specific function or utility depending on environmental, or guest-experience needs.


LOW MAINTENANCE Given their ability to enclose vast spaces, tensile structures are remarkable in that they require minimal maintenance compared to conventional buildings of the same magnitude.


TENSILE MEMBRANE STRUCTURES & CODE COMPLIANCE As a result of highly sophisticated engineering technology, tensile systems comply with stringent construction codes. Depending on the type of membrane and specific project requirements, these superior structures perform well in extreme environments and fluctuating weather conditions.


COST EFFECTIVE A further benefit of lightweight tensile structures is cost-efficiency. An ideal choice for property owners, particularly in remote areas, the ease of logistics compared to transporting traditional construction materials is much lighter on the pocket and a sound investment overall.


For more information about tensile membranes and tent architecture, please contact us directly.

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