The future is lightweight.
Site-responsive, kinesthetic design engineered with lightweight performance materials to craft peerless luxury tented structures made for the wild.
Introduction to lightweight structures and new design approaches:
Outdoor hospitality is becoming increasingly popular as people seek to enjoy the beauty of nature while dining, relaxing, or vacationing. People are looking for a connection to nature, a chance to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and reconnect with the natural world. This is where the latest design technologies, processes, and approaches come into play.
The advantages of lightweight structures over traditional construction include the following:
Reduced foundation and structural costs: Because lightweight materials have a lower weight-to-strength ratio, they require smaller foundations and less structural support, which can lead to significant cost savings.
Increased design flexibility: Lightweight materials allow for more creative and complex architectural designs, as they can be formed into a wide range of shapes and spaces.
Increased energy efficiency: Lightweight materials have higher thermal insulation properties than traditional materials, which can help to reduce energy consumption and costs.
Increased durability and safety: Lightweight materials are more resistant to natural disasters like earthquakes and high winds. They are also more durable and require less maintenance than traditional materials.
Rapid on-site assembly: Lightweight structures can be designed and manufactured off-site and then assembled quickly on-site, allowing for fast turnaround times on projects
Another significant trend in outdoor hospitality is 'design to site.' The overall process of taking a design concept and turning it into a physical reality on a specific site. This process involves a complex coordination of tasks to achieve speed to market with limited on-site construction time in a process we refer to as DFMA (Design for Manufacture and [Rapid] Assembly).
Site responsive design is a specific design approach used within the overall process of 'design to site.' It considers the site's natural features, such as:
the local climate,
topography, and
ecology,
and uses this information to inform the structure's design.
It also considers the way people will move and interact with the structure (kinesthetics) and how the structure will impact the site and the environment (sustainability).
Finally, kinesthetic design is a design approach that focuses on creating structures that respond to the movements and interactions of the people who use them.
This approach is critical to creating an optimal dwelling experience for outdoor hospitality applications and creates a sense of connection and harmony with the natural environment.
In summary, the future of outdoor hospitality is in lightweight structures that are designed and built using the latest technologies, processes, and approaches.
By considering the specific location and environment of the site and focusing on the human experience and connection to nature, we can create structures that are not only visually impressive but also highly functional and beneficial for our clients.
The advantages of lightweight structures include the following:
Reduced costs.
Increased design flexibility.
Increased durability and safety.
Increased energy efficiency.
Rapid on-site assembly.
Combining a design-to-site approach and lightweight structures is vital to achieving optimal results in outdoor hospitality applications.
Technical Application:
Examples of how we achieve compelling design-to-site solutions with tensile fabric structures: Aesthetic, economical, and ecological.
1. Structurally optimal lightweight Tensile fabric structures:
Non-linear Structural Analysis methods that comply with building codes while ensuring the lightest material usage both above and below ground.
Textiles, aluminum and steel support structures, cable, ropes
Helical piles and other non-concrete bases earth anchoring systems
Where concrete is needed minimizing the volume of the materials through optimal force-oriented design
The roof's geometry and enclosures are optimized to withstand maximum loads
2. Thermally optimal lightweight fabric enclosures:
Passive and low energy comfort design strategies in thin envelop structures that account for energy code requirements fit for the site while applying unconventional technologies such as:
Solar and prevailing wind orientations
LOWe fabric architecture using radiation-influencing textiles in both visible and infrared spectrums
Continuous high-performance insulations
Operable screens
Earth tubes
Stack and cross-ventilation strategies
Low energy floor temperature regulation driven by heat pumps.
Exterior covered spaces cooled by misting
3. Optimal transport and portability
Compact flat pack design (kit-form assemblies) that ensures lowest volume shipping, ease of access to remote sites, efficient on-site storage space, and carry-by-hand versatility.
Precision off-site manufacturing for reliable and rapid on-site assembly
Talk to us about your next Tent Architecture project.