Fabric Ceiling in Glasgow
The new South Glasgow University Hospital and Royal Hospital For Sick Children will deliver a truly gold standard of healthcare. We delivered a fabric ceiling and interior fabric cladding.
Working again in conjunction with Nightingale Associates and Brookfield Multiplex, Fabric Architecture have recently completed the installation of the fabric ceiling and interior fabric cladding inside New South Glasgow Hospital, providing two very different fabric solutions, serving two very different purposes.
To hide services and soften hard lines of the raw concrete construction, a 240sqm internal wave shaped fabric ceiling was designed using an inherently flame-retardant stretch polyester fabric to create a smooth and undulating surface. This was framed and suspended from the building’s sub-structure and benefits from a perimeter shadow gap with atmospheric uplighters. The net result is a more organic and sympathetic interior within a practical and busy hospital environment.
Translucent PVC tensile fabric cladding was used in a second area of the hospital, to cover one side of the hospital’s “Sanctuary”, a room-within-a-room in the hospital’s central atrium area. The Sanctuary is an asymmetric cube, suspended on stilts and provides a calm and serene environment for staff, patients and visitors. This 90sqm series of fabric-clad panels are fixed to the outside fascia of the Sanctuary and backlit with a series of LED lights. This serves to soften the overall look and feel of the cube which provides a calming retreat from the fast pace of hospital life outside.
http://www.brookfieldmultiplex.com/
http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=home_new_sg_acutehospital
University of Middlesex sail canopy
Improving social space at University of Middlesex with shelter canopy
Fabric Architecture worked closely with bpr Architects, Curtins structural engineers and main contractors Coniston, to design, engineer and install the 105sqm bespoke shelter canopy outside the University’s sports facilities.
As well as the fabric, the canopy’s framework alsoply installing onto concrete foundations. The sub-structure was designed as a level terrace over sloping ground and each mast for the fabric canopy had to interface exactly with the steel uprights below.
With their cross-collaborative approach, Fabric Architecture designed and engineered the canopy, simultaneously working to bpr’s original concept whilst liaising closely with Curtins’ engineers to ensure the loads could be supported by the steel sub-frame.
The area where the canopy is located is a fire escape route and assembly point, so Fabric Architecture recommended an inherently flame-retardant woven glass fabric. Environmentally friendly and highly-translucent, the fabric suits the overall simplistic design. Steel was kept to a minimum and replaced with cable systems wherever possible to avoid looking overly ‘clunky’, which alongside hidden electrics for down-lighters and smooth powder-coated framework, have resulted in a sleek and fully-integrated hybrid canopy.
Fabric Architecture’s structure moves away from the typical barrel vault design normally reserved for such projects, to an undulating hyperbolic form that delivers both visual impact and practical shade and shelter.