There are many great advantages and functional benefits of tensile membrane structures and here listed the top 6 reasons:

1.Aesthetics and Attracting – Delight the eye and capture the Imagination.  Tensile membrane structures are distinctive elegant features for any building owners.

2. Energy Saving –Fabric membrane translucency offers soft diffused naturally lit spaces reducing the interior lighting costs in daylight.  With high reflectivity and low absorption of sunlight, tensile membrane structures contribute to reduce electrical energy costs.

3. Low Maintenance – The protection coating is highly dust-resistance and require minimum maintenance.

4. Cost Effective – You can extend your habitable space or provide protection area from harmful UV rays or rains at a fraction of the cost of conventional construction.

5.Excellent Durability – With several different membranes in the market place such as PTFE fiberglass, ETFE film and PVC, the durability and longevity of tensile membrane structures have been proven and engineered to meet the code requirement for wind and other design criteria.

6.Speed of Construction – Since tensile membrane structure are pre-engineered product, it only takes 4-6 weeks for typical installation, may vary depending on project size and type of foundation.

There are at least 4 things need to be consider during the design/build process.

1. Material Choices: The frame and cables are typically constructed with steel.  Non-corroding aluminum arches/members are also recommended.  The roofs are usually made of high tensioned architectural fabrics such as PTFE, PVC or ETFE.  

a.PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) – excellent weather, temperature and chemical resistance with longer life span.

b.PVC – most cost effective membrane material and available in a variety of colors and textures.

c. ETFE (ETHYLENE TETRAFLUOROETHYLENE) – transparent material used as an alternative to structural glass

2. Design and engineering:  Professional designers and engineers shall be used to provide expertise for design the tensile membrane structures to meet the correct building code.

3. Fabrication and Manufacturer warranty: The fabric membranes shall be fabricated by an ISO 9001 certificated manufacturing plant.  The typical manufacturer warranty for fabric is 15 years.

4. Construction (Installation): Once a contractor is chosen, the technical consultant shall remain on-site during the build to monitor the project throughout construction to ensure quality.

With understanding the good reasons to use Tensile Architectural and important factors during design and build, you might want to consider to create a beautiful feature as part of your property soon.