The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences in Charleston, West Virginia wanted to expand its facility with a new Sculpture Garden to attract and enhance the visitor experiences. The design team of GAI Consultants (landscape architects) with ZMM Architects focused on creating a variety of comfortable environments for educational, dining, landscaping and entertainment purposes. An iconic tensile fabric structure was the solution to provide weather protection and shade coverage over the main event space for outdoor concerts, weddings, parties, and other social events.

The Tension Structure division of Eide Industries were contacted directly to assist with the design-build of the new addition to the center. The successful collaboration of GAI, ZMM and Eide ultimately led to the follow-up project of a tension structure on the front grounds of the Mountain Health Arena in the neighboring city of Huntington, WV.

Sheerfill II PTFE fabric spans over the artistic frame layout, engineered for 115 MPH wind loads, to provide 2,424 square feet of coverage area. The custom pentagon-shaped tension structure has an approximate overall dimension of 72′ long by 53′ high with varying panel widths.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
-Project Name: Clay Center Sculpture Garden
-Project Location: Charleston, WV
-Membrane Type: White, Sheerfill II PTFE by Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics
-Wind Loads: 115 MPH, Category II, Wind Exposure C
-Project Size: Approximately 53′ High x 72′ Wide
-Coverage Area: 2,424 Square Feet