Saint-Gobain opens North American headquarters

December 1, 2015  |  News

Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest building materials companies, based in France, announced the official opening of its new North American headquarters in Malvern, Pa. The 320,000-square-foot campus, situated on 65 acres, underwent an 18-month-long renovation to transform the site into a sho…
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Fabric Structures Association produces Building Code Matrix resource

December 1, 2015  |  News

The Fabric Structures Association (FSA) Building Code Matrix is a tool to help FSA members, architects, engineers and designers understand the building codes that are relevant to the type of fabric structure being designed. This resource provides definitions of and clarity to the applicable internat…
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Seaman pretension fabric for permanent structures

December 1, 2015  |  News

Seaman Corporation introduced a new lightweight pretension fabric designed to retain its original physical integrity when used for permanent tension structures. Shelter-Rite® Tite™ fabric is designed to withstand a wide range of environmental and design challenges, and it represents three proven …
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Rooftop canopies

December 1, 2015  |  Features

In daytime, three white sails provide protection from the sun; at night, lighted canopies create a warm, intimate atmosphere for elegant dining. Santa Monica Place, one of the most popular public gathering spots in this southern California Eden, has a storied history serving as backdrop to several f…
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Beyond the rectangle

December 1, 2015  |  Features

Fabric structure manufacturers are stretching their boundaries with new shapes and flexible materials for temporary structures for events. Consider, if you will, the Pythagoreans, who dissected a sphere as early as 600 B.C. Latecomers like Plato and Buckminster Fuller took the ball and ran with it, …
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Iconic shade intervals

December 1, 2015  |  Case Studies, Exteriors

Tensile fabric canopies form partial tunnels to protect from the elements To connect the city parks along the Hillsborough River, the city of Tampa, Fla., wanted an iconic centerpiece that would attract joggers, bikers and visitors to the area when designing its Riverwalk project. Span Systems Inc.,…
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Architecture Billings Index on solid footing

December 1, 2015  |  News

There have been increasing levels of demand for design services for nearly all construction project types for the majority of the year as revealed in the Architecture Billings Index (ABI). As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month le…
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