Tension structure provides shade for hotel guests

FabriTec Structures | Costa Mesa, Calif., United States

The purpose was to announce the entry to a hotel that was being extensively renovated and re-branded as a Holiday Inn in Palm Springs, Calif. The tension structure, which won an Outstanding Achievement Award in the tensile structures, under 6,000 sq. ft. category of the 2008 International Achievement Awards, provides shade for hotel guests and their vehicles as they are being picked up or dropped off. It also shades the entry doors and windows, preventing direct sunlight from heating the reception area. This large structure works off only four main structural foundations. The large cantilever design creates high load reactions that had to be resolved both within the structure itself and the structural foundations. The project has become something of a local landmark and is visible from some distance in all directions; particularly at night when it is illuminated.