GuildWorks gives a California park its first shade

February 1, 2025  |  Projects

River Park in Petaluma, Calif., is transforming. Its inaugural structure is the peninsula’s first shaded area—there aren’t even any trees—underneath a shade sail array composed of diamond shapes and providing a covered area more than 70 feet in diameter. It rises 20 feet and was created by G…
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Australia’s Wangun Amphitheater honors cultures

January 1, 2025  |  Projects

Fabric architecture includes innumerable possibilities with shape and form, which can result in imbuing even an amphitheater with rich cultural symbolism. Wangun Amphitheatre in Kalimna West, Australia, commissioned by the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC), is such a place.…
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New Zealand backyard shade sail solution

December 10, 2024  |  IAA, Projects

The clients for this project asked for a shade sail to cover their north-west facing courtyard. The solution from SunCraft NZ, Ltd., won an Award of Excellence in the Commercial Awnings & Canopies category of the 2024 Advanced Textiles Association International Achievement Awards. It was importa…
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Fabric skin completely transforms riverboat casino

December 1, 2024  |  Projects

Calling it “a complete overhaul” doesn’t even begin to describe the transformation of the Bally’s riverboat casino in Kansas City, Mo., done by Structurflex of Merriam, Kan., with the FlexFacades cladding system. There’s nothing “old-timey riverboat” about the current look, although th…
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Covered rotunda offers comfort for medical center

November 12, 2024  |  Projects

Tropical J’s, a Hawaii-based awning and canopy manufacturer, had completed an awning for the rear of the Straub’s Medical Center during COVID. That project so impressed the CEO of the center that when it came time for another shade project, he asked his facilities manager to reach out to the…
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Robotics plus ETFE fabric architecture in a Chinese building

November 1, 2024  |  Projects

When you think of robotics, architecture probably is not what first comes to mind. But design company line+, of Hangzhou, China, partnered with robotics systems company RoboticPlus.AI to create a dynamic building like no other.
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Lawrence Fabric shade sails provide rooftop dining upgrade

October 1, 2024  |  Projects

Relaxing in outdoor seating is a favorite part of eating at the Frisco Barroom, a restaurant located in the St. Louis, Mo., area that has both a 50-seat back patio and a shaded rooftop deck that accommodates 42. The sun protection on that upper perch was an improvement made a few years after the eat…
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75 shade sails taking flight at Dayton library

September 1, 2024  |  Projects

Upon approaching the Dayton Metro Library West Branch, viewers notice the building’s soaring rooflines, which honor the historic Wright Company Factory (within view in the background) where the Wright Brothers developed their commercially viable airplanes. One can imagine hearing the sounds from t…
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