South Beach, Florida, USA

Hialeah Park Casino Hotel

DESCRIPTION

Bespoke Tensile Fabric Structure

Hialeah Park Race Track in Florida is one of the oldest thoroughbred racing facilities in the United States. Set within 200 acres of lush landscape and verdant gardens this Southern Belle was built to replicate 16th Century French architecture. It is an Audubon Flamingo Sanctuary and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places… a perfect setting for a Fabric Architecture fabric roof!

The Challenge

In 2001, sadly Hialeah closed to the public, but it is now being brought back to life through the ambitious visions of Architects Ewing Cole. Throughout the refurbishment of the 1920’s building, it was important to maintain the ambience and original architectural style, while introducing practical 21st century design and engineering. Fabric Architecture was brought in to help design a contemporary fabric roof for Hialeah’s new Casino Hotel. This feature would bring retro style grandeur to the entrance, which leads through to the historic race track. In addition to the tensile fabric roof, the redevelopment will include a new slot gaming facility and poker lounge, two restaurants seating up to 300 people, a cinema and commercial centre for the residents of nearby South Beach to enjoy.

The Solution

We designed six steel frames which were then welded to an existing steel trellis. To achieve efficient drainage into perimeter guttering, each fabric panel was patterned into a shallow conic. Floating push-up masts on the underside of each canopy support the 600mm (2ft) diameter head rings and give shape to the 5.8m (17ft) square fabric sections. The total fabric element measures 17m (56ft) long and is manufactured from type 2 architectural PVC in dark cream to match the hotel’s façade. Once established, beautiful Bougainvillea will cover the support frame around the canopies and soften the lines of the steel trellis with its delicate flamingo pink flowers.

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