When a project brief asks for a focal point for an atrium, a city centre artistic application or an architectural statement for a retail space, consider fabric as your building material of choice.

Tensile fabric sculptures are elegant, lightweight and versatile, providing design flexibility inside and outside. They can display beautiful curves, colours and character while also delivering on the practical aspects of a brief, such as diffusing light, resolving glare and enhancing acoustics.

Let’s consider how Fabric Sculptures can play an architectural role in enhancing a space.  

Unique design possibilities

Fabric is versatile and can be used to create interior or exterior artistic applications. Designers are commissioned to create one-off sculptures or architectural statements for many occasions: to celebrate a landmark or launch an initiative for a region, to introduce a focal point within a city centre or to frame a walkway up to a major sporting stadium.

Think of when a city hosts an Olympic Games and the many sculptures installed to signpost the different venues and mark the occasion. Tensile fabric is the perfect material for these artistic creations – it’s strong and durable, will withstand the elements and have a life expectancy of 10 to 30+ years.

Maximising space within a scheme

Tensile fabric structures can create a stunning first impression within a building. They’re ideal for enhancing large spaces – a double-height atrium or grand hotel foyer, for example – by drawing the eye up. One example for a university is this elegant floating stretch fabric design using our patented Archi-Cladding framing system. Subtle or standout, fabric sculptures can set the tone of an interior scheme.

Calming acoustics and lighting

Introducing fabric to any space, particularly one with plenty of hard surfaces, will always help to manage the acoustics – particularly important in commercial office spaces, education settings and retail environments.

Fabric sculptures predominantly use stretch Lycra or polyester to create beautiful curved forms or translucent shapes. These not only create a design focal point but they also help to soften acoustics and diffuse the light, even helping to manage glare when strategically placed.

Creativity is at the heart of our fabric sculptures and we love helping clients realise their ideas and concepts through to creation, installation and – ultimately – admiration.