Malled in comfort, weather or not

Visitors who meet at the U.S. and Canadian border to see the awesome power of Niagara Falls, which has the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, expect to emerge from the experience inspired, wind-blown and mist-dampened. After visiting the falls, nothing could be more natural than visiting Canada’s largest open-air outlet mall, which opened on May 15, 2014. Outlet Collection at Niagara in picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, gives tourists and bargain hunters alike 102 retailers connected by covered walkways with canopies that protect them from the weather extremes that characterize the northern Great Lakes.

Developer Ivanhoé Cambridge selected Birdair Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., to design and install the canopies, made of PTFE, a Teflon®-coated woven fiberglass membrane that is extremely durable and weather-resistant. The flying-mast cone design used approximately 23,000 square feet of membrane, providing Outlet Collection at Niagara with a distinctive appearance, inside and out. The PTFE fiberglass membrane is readily rinsed by rainwater, immune to UV radiation, chemically inert, thermally stable and fire resistant.