Navigation Park PVC Shade Structure
Project Details
Location: Newhaven by Tarneit, VIC
Completion Date: February 2019
Size: 60 sqm
Fabric: PVC FR900-958-N & FR900-N-HTL (High Translucency)
Client: Newhaven At Tarneit
Designed to inspire wonder and engage creativity in a planned community playground, the shade structure in the Navigation Park is a 60m2 PVC fabric shade structure featuring a unique flower design.
The 9m diameter shade structure is an inverted conical tensegrity structure and consists of fabric fixed to circular compression ring supported by cables.
The Brief
Tasked by the landscaping contractor with creating a bespoke shade structure for the Navigation Park in the Newhaven at Tarneit planned community in Victoria, a floating flower pattern shade canopy was proposed to provide both a unique and exciting feature element to the park, as well as offering a practical structure to protect the picnic and BBQ area from the sun and weather.
The Concept
The unique flower-shaped pattern was created on the fabric surface by overlapping multiple fabric layers to vary visible translucency.
The shade structure needed to provide resistance against rotation of the edge beam. The cables are fixed to the top of a column and cross-cross out to the edge, similar to spokes on a bicycle wheel.
The outer ring beam is only supported by cables; this required an extremely technical installation to ensure that cable lengths and tensions were set, monitored and adjusted through install so that the final beam position and fabric tensions were correct.
The Materials
By lap welding the two different translucency fabrics together, the flower shape can be seen from below the shade structure, with the overall effect further amplified by sunlight filtering through the fabric. The end result means that no shadow lines from steelwork above the fabric are present (as would traditionally be expected) which further accentuates the lightweight and creative design.
The Result
The PVC fabric shade structure in the BBQ and picnic area provides a perfect place for Newhaven at Tarneit residents to celebrate family birthdays, enjoy a picnic lunch, or simply take a break from all the fun!
See more about Navigation Park at Newhaven at Tarneit here.
The Navigation Park PVC Shade Structure was won the Small Structures Award of Excellence at the 2022 LSAA Design Awards.
