Materials and Their Benefits

Cost Efficiency

 Using the best tensile membrane technology available, Copelands & Pickers can provide the market place with a design solution at a fraction of the cost of using other translucent products such as either glass or poly carbonate. Due to the light weight nature of the fabric itself, along with symmetrical and modular design capabilities, installation is sufficiently easier, quicker and therefore more efficient than conventional methods.

Build Efficiency

  Design, fabrication and install times are significantly less when using tension membrane as compared to traditional building materials. The majority of projects undertaken by Copelands & Pickers, are completed in a relatively short space of time as opposed to long extended design and construct periods using current conventional building methods.

 Tension membrane due to its versatility and flexibility in design can be easily made to form fluent designs as well as covering large 'clear span' areas with no columns or posts needed within the span of the structure / building.

 
Sustainability

In the current ecologically sensitive climate, Copelands & Pickers can offer our clients the use of Ferrari Architectural Fabric which is a 100% recyclable tension membrane. The Ferrari group also obtained its first ISO 14001 Environmental Management certification in 2003 for its production facility in France. The use of tension membrane due to it's translucency also reduces the need for artificial lighting throughout the day and can be designed to take advantage of the external breezes by creating an outdoor/indoor ambience, thus reducing the need for artificial air conditioning or HVAC equipment.

 
Design creativity and versatility 

Not being restricted by conventional building parameters, tension membranes are able to be designed in many ways offering the client a wider variety of shapes and forms to choose from. Tension membrane also meets fire code requirements for virtually all types of construction and remains intact in temperatures that range from -73 degrees Celsius to 232 degrees Celsius. Releasing some traditional restrictions has allowed tension membrane to be used for many types of structures including covering car parks, building temporary or permanent buildings, indoor sports and recreation facilities, stadium roofing and amphitheatres, as well as many other simpler covering applications.

Some of the larger structures that we design, are made in a modular and relocatable format, so that the building or covering can be extended, added to or re-located at anytime in the future and then re-installed to suit the same or similar purpose elsewhere.

 
Self cleaning properties and longevity

Copelands & Pickers offer our clients through the use of Ferrari Preconstraint PVC fabrics, a superior nano-technology based coating which prevents dirt and grime sticking to the material. This coating allows the material to achieve greater longevity due to its protection of the fabric and by not allowing the membrane to be broken down over time by chemicals and pollutants in the atmosphere. Both in testing and in current structures around the world have proven that membrane structures provide up to 25 years of reliable service, at which point the fabric can be replaced at a fraction of the initial project cost for another 25 years of faithful service.

Architectural Ambience / Aesthetic

Tension membrane facilitates the construction of buildings with stunning architectural profiles, however the primary benefit is in its ability to transmit light. The use of tension membrane allows the internal environment to replicate the external environment by creating the open air feel and allowing colour correct light indoors, allowing it to fill even the largest of buildings or sporting stadia with natural diffused daylight. At night, lighting the membrane allows the structure to create an architectural statement by standing out on the skyline.