TENSIONED FABRIC STRUCTURES

The design of state of the art fabric tension structures is one of the most demanding fields in contemporary structural engineering. They are reliant on sophisticated computer programs for the shaping, analysis, and patterning of membranes curved in three dimensions, and the engineer must have acuity in detailing structures in which fabric and a number of cables and steel members all meet at a single point. Structural and architectural form coincide in tension structure design, and structural details are exposed, such that the structural designer must have unusual aesthetic sensitivity.

Tensioned fabric structures are a discipline that few engineers have mastered, and one where Huntington Design Associates has participated in a number of exciting projects. Many of the strategies and methodologies that we use in their design are described in Craig Huntington's book, The Tensioned Fabric Roof.