Designing to Site: Architecture That Belongs
- Steve Jones
- Jul 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 6
Every structure we create is influenced by its environment, shaped by factors such as wind, sunlight, terrain, and the surrounding ecosystem. We build with care, curiosity, and a deep respect for the untamed beauty of nature.
Tensile architecture offers an exciting opportunity to approach design from a new perspective. Lightweight, sustainable, and inherently flexible, these structures often excel where traditional buildings may face challenges.
However, success depends not only on the system itself but also on how well we understand and respond to the specific characteristics of your site.
STARTING WITH THE SITE
THS adopts a design-to-site approach employing bio-design principles.
Before any design work begins, we immerse ourselves in the landscape. It's about understanding the soul of the place, how it feels, functions, and breathes.
As part of our process, we look at:
Wind Patterns & Speeds: These determine how the membrane forms are shaped, how enclosures ventilate, and how the overall structure stands up to the elements.
Solar Studies: Help us orient the building and select textiles for optimal shading, energy efficiency, and thermal comfort.
Rainfall & Water Flow: These influence membrane design and coverage
Snowfall: This informs our design for snow loading and thermal considerations.
Ground Conditions: Whether solid rock, loam or sandy soil, this influences our anchoring strategy and logistics.
Fauna & Flora: Low-impact design means our structures should allow as much as possible to protect and preserve what's already thriving. We won't uproot a 50-year-old tree to install a tent structure.
Game Paths: Created by the repeated movement of animals through an area - we need to respect and not disrupt these natural pathways.
At its best, a Tenthouse project doesn't interrupt nature; it complements it. The result? A structure that enhances the landscape, not imposes on it.
WHERE ENGINEERING IS ARCHITECTURE
Tensile structures blur the lines between engineering and architecture. The membrane, supports, and connections aren't hidden behind walls. They are the architecture.
A pure tensile structure is in a state of perfect balance between tension and compression. Our bionic structures efficiently distribute loads through lightweight structures, tension surfaces and expertly aligned compression loads.
This balance is achieved through real-time collaboration between architects, engineers, and our fabrication teams throughout the design cycle to sculpt forms and design structures that are both expressive and efficient.
Minimal materials. Maximum performance. Tensile architecture and engineering are inseparable – form and force work hand in hand.
SELECTING THE RIGHT MATERIALS
Textile architecture is at the core of Tenthouse Structures’ tensile design, combining function and performance with expertly crafted form, texture and detailing to deliver a distinctive, iconic look and feel.
Material selection is both an aesthetic and technical process. Through site-responsive architecture, engineering and building physics design, we analyse and specify our materials to the context.
Holistic Considerations
In addition, throughout our design and engineering process, we consider:
The operator defined guest journey.
Guest interaction with the surrounding nature.
Passive energy comfort.
Construct-ability.
Durability, maintenance and warranties.
Tenthouse Specialist Fabrication
Our core offering includes:
Supporting Structure
Membrane confection
Rigging and connections
Exterior and interior canvas work
Specialized textile facades
Fine detailing to the above
Tenthouse Structures are designed, engineered and quality-controlled with rigour and precision as a holistic system for optimal performance.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN BAKED IN
Embracing biophilic design in our textile architecture, we have the design freedom to integrate nature into our structures.
Lightweight and low-impact by design, our proprietary building technologies further enable efficient transport and fast, precise on-site assembly. This, combined with streamlined procurement that prioritizes sustainable materials and intelligent sourcing, reflects our deep commitment to environmental responsibility.
These aren’t just ideas on paper. We back them with data – on request, we can measure our carbon footprint using established international standards, constantly refining our methods for greater efficiency. Our structures tread lightly, both during production, construction and over their lifetime.
Environmental design isn’t an add-on. It’s baked in, from the first sketch to the final tented structure.
REMOTE DOESN'T MEAN IMPOSSIBLE
Many of our projects are in remote or hard-to-access locations.
That’s why, where suitable, we leverage our proprietary modular building technology. In addition, our DfMA (Design for Manufacture and Assembly) methodology supports:
Precision manufacturing that reduces material offcuts and on-site waste
Less disruption to natural environments due to reduced site work and excavation
Compact shipping reduces transport costs
Rapid and accurate assembly requiring less machinery, labour, tools and equipment
But the system is only half the story. We send experienced technical supervisors and qualified tensile riggers – all carefully selected to match the specific requirements of each site and installation.
Their expertise ensures that every detail is executed precisely, even in the most logistically complex environments. Furthermore, we embrace and upskill local workmen on-site, reducing costs.
Post-installation, we support long-term performance through regular maintenance inspections and by providing clear cleaning and care guidelines.
Following these contributes significantly to the longevity and integrity of your tented assets – preserving their lifespan, function, and visual appeal over time.
Our approach makes high-performance architecture possible in the most extraordinary places.
BRING IT ALL TOGETHER
A Tenthouse structure looks like it belongs. Like it was meant to be there all along. That takes more than technical know-how.
It requires sensitivity to place, a respect for nature, and a collaborative process that aligns design, construction, and nature.
That's #MadeForTheWild.
