Exactly 15 years ago, in February 2008, The Nomad Concept built a tensile structure over the courtyard of a former monastery in Tongeren, now a hotel.
Nowadays, 15 years later, the membrane still looks beautiful as new: white, clean, translucent, perfect. The membrane was built in Tenara PTFE of the first generation.
There is a huge difference in quality of membranes. Foremost the design is important. Is this a surprise? Membranes are form-active structures. That means that the form plays an active role in the stability of the thin membrane. The role of the form itself is more important to the stiffness of the structure than the E-modulus of the material. The form and curvature is thè key factor of a stable membrane! The architect / designer influences the stiffness literally in the form he creates. The better he creates, all the better will the structure behave for it. Longevity is directly connected to the form given by the designer. If a bad design is analysed and reinforced 50 times by a structural engineer, it will not change the quality of the project. Architecture and engineering are one!
The choice of materials, the design, the quality of engineering, the quality of execution and of installation, each of them are important to a successful membrane.

During the first years, all membranes look probably nice and clean. But after 15 years, there is an enormous difference.
We invite you to check this project in real, in Tongeren (Belgium) if you live in the neighbourhood. Or in our Portfolio Section on our new website. We made a footage “10 years after installation”. The membrane looked beautiful 10 years after installation, but now,15 years later, it still looks as beautiful 😍.

#design #architect #architecture #engineering #quality #tensilestructure #membranes