Entrance canopy for Tornascent care hospital

Description

In India it is quite normal for the whole family (and indeed sometimes a greater part of the village) to accompany an ill person to a hospital. This meant that there was a need for “holding area” near the hospital where relatives, friends and care-takers of the patients could wait and be protected from the hot blazing sun as well as the torrential rain that the area gets.
Further, the staging area needed to be iconic and glamorous so that the villagers are able to identify the structure from afar as well as establishing the brand as premier institute in the area.

It also had to be functional, hence the fabric had to be able to block as much UV as possible, while offering as much natural light and ventilation in the space so that the people could be waiting for long periods of time without experiencing discomfort.
This had to be achieved by having as less as columns as possible (it resulted in just two columns) and an area cover as big as the budget would offer. This meant that there were repeated iterations between the architect and the membrane designer to get to the magical number of the expected budget. Finally, from a structure of 30m x15m it came down to the final size of 24mx12m.

Having been a membrane manufacturer since 2002, SCHAFBOCK has been at the forefront of employing innovative materials for their projects, many times before they are formally launched to be able to give a technical feedback to the manufacturers about how the material behaves in the Indian context. Besides the general technical updates, which were verified by rigorous lab testing, this material showed exemplary characteristics over a period of installation and a year since the installation. Elongation of fabric due to creep, dirt behaviour, fungal attack scratch and crack resistance are some of the dominant issues that plague most membranes. This membrane showed exemplary behaviour, outperforming expectations. The membrane has a higher tensile strength up to 16% higher compared to a regular panama weave fabric, better resistance to the UV-rays thanks to the new lacquers, which has a major positive impact on the durability of the fabric and are whiter than conventional fabrics and have a beautiful shiny surface. The even surface of these high-quality fabrics ensures their elegant look and a homogeneous light transmission.

Description of the environmental conditions