Our brief was to provide a spectacular bar for VIPs and artists to service the O2 Venue. The fabric structure consists of four interlocking domes, two entrance tunnels, one of which encloses a staircase, and three conical column claddings.
Barrisol was specified as an ideal material to cope with the complex architectural geometries of each panel. The fabric in the domes is back lit and LED lights are built into the tunnel frames. Base Structures coordinated the complex design and detailing of the scheme and provided the steel frame onto which the Barrisol panels were fixed.
The ambitious design was fully realized to provide a unique chill out zone.
The centrepiece of the new Winton Gallery at London’s Science Museum is a trio of fabric pod sculptures clustered around the tail and wings of a vintage Handley Page aircraft.
The organic fabric forms and the layout of the surrounding gallery are an interpretation by Zaha Hadid Architects of the airflow vortices that would be generated by the plane.
We installed the complex structures, each consisting of a curved aluminium tubular frame suspended from the ceiling onto which two skins of semi-translucent PVC coated polyester are tensioned.
Multiple LED lighting strips are mounted between the skins and contribute to the stunning overall effect. Due to the complexity of the structures, one of the twin skins had to be split and fed through the apertures created by the other skin before being joined together with two hidden zips.
The tensioning system is hidden behind double curved aluminium cover plates.
Base were also responsible for the installation of the interpretation surfaces adjacent to each exhibit.
Image credits: © Nick Guttridge
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A wide range of shapes and fabrics for the internal structures were employed ranging from internally lit tensile lycra cones to multi-coloured silk flags for a Himalayan inspired feature.
Tapered prisms were suspended above the check out desks wrapped in a leaf patterned fabric. A golden brown silk fabric was tensioned onto lightweight leaf shaped frames and was grouped on branches as well as being suspended in an array of twenty above a main aisle. Finally in an external courtyard triangular mesh fabric sails were tensioned between stripped bark timber poles set in concrete foundations to act as a sun shade.
Van Hage Garden Park is an excellent example of the range of fabrics and forms that can be used to good effect in one project.
With a maximum of 24 guests allowed at any one time and spacious bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, this is the ultimate safari experience.
Manchester International Festival (MIF) is an artist-led, commissioning festival which presents new works from the performing arts, visual arts and popular culture. As part of the 2009 festival, Zaha Hadid Architects was commissioned to design a contemporary salon to house solo performances of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. The installation was to be housed in a 25m x 17m ‘black box’ in the Manchester Art Gallery. Zaha Hadid Architects responded with a stunning design consisting of a 110m long white ribbon which would wrap itself around both the stage and the audience, creating a dynamic yet intimate performance space.
Zaha Hadid is one of the most extraordinary, innovative and creative designers to work with textile architecture. Each piece designed by her team is a head turning, award winning revelation. We have collaborated on a number of projects and each time our creativity in design and manufacture as well as the technical capabilities in the fabric are challenged to their very limits. The results are awe inspiring brilliance.
Jack Thompson, Technical Director, MIF
Tracey Low, Senior Producer, MIF
Melodie Leung, Architect, Zaha Hadid Architects
Gerhild Orthacker, Architect, Zaha Hadid Architects
Kevin Hemmings, Architect, Base Structures
Andy Traynor, Installation Director, Base Structures
Tony Hogg, Engineer, Tony Hogg Design
Benedict Whybrow, Designer, Tony Hogg Design
Michael Whitcroft, Acoustic Engineer, Sandy Brown Associates
Nick Croker & Paul Thomas, Site Supervisors, Base Structures
Having already successfully collaborated on the Serpentine Gallery project, Zaha Hadid Architects approached Base to gain the team’s technical expertise on the design’s buildability – with the performance of the ‘ribbon’ being pivotal to its function. Transport ability was another consideration for Base, as the installation would also be reinstalled in other venues.
Base’s recommendation was to combine a light aluminium frame with a stretch Lycra® fabric skin. With preliminary costs coming within budget, Zaha Hadid Architects commissioned Base to develop the design through to cost certainty.
The first challenge for Base was to transform the architect’s complex 3D model into a buildable structure that retained all the fluidity of the original design. With the help of experienced tensile engineers Tony Hogg Design, Base constructed a framework that replicated the model exactly. And to be certain of the fabric’s suitability, Base fabricated and wrapped a prototype section of the frame to test fabric compensations.
For the ‘ribbon’ to perform as intended, it was imperative that a smooth change of curvature was maintained throughout the structure. So Base’s solution featured a series of eye shaped rib frames, connected with a top and bottom rail each rolled to a specific radius. Speed of installation was essential too, so turned nylon spigots were employed to connect the frames with a push fit connection. Likewise the fabric was designed to be applied rapidly by only having nine ‘fields’ which were zipped together with a discrete plastic closure, utilising Base’s expertise from the banner finishing side of its business.
The frame was hung by 2.5mm stainless steel cables from suspension points in the gallery ceiling, incorporating an easy to adjust fastener. Base also supplied the stage platform and fitted rigid acoustic reflector panels inside parts of the ribbon, directed by acoustic engineers, Sandy Brown Associates. The structure was installed in three days with two teams of four riggers, working day and night shifts.
The result was a single continuous ribbon which swirled around one of the main rooms in the Manchester Art Gallery, creating layered spaces cocooning both performers and the audience. Base’s successful realisation of Zaha Hadid Architect’s design was largely due to the combined experience of the team, ranging from engineering; detail design; fabrication of the frame; assembly of the fabric; and the professional site crew. The project’s triumph was also recognised by one arts critic in particular, stating that the structure not only worked as a sculptural object but acoustically as a chamber music venue. The structure has since visited the Amsterdam Festival in 2010 and is due to continue its tour, scheduled for a visit to Abu Dhabi in March 2011.
in Bristol
