“Why do some tents have flat roofs and some curvy undulating shapes?

Hold a sheet of A4 paper in your hand by the short edge. Without holding it at the other end, it sags and won’t support its own weight. But if you put a crease down the middle of the long edge, from short end to short end, it will hold its shape. Although this is not a demonstration of how tented structures use doubly curved shapes to provide resistance to movement under load, it provides a graphic example of how you have changed the performance of the material by changing its shape. There are many, many shapes that can be used to form fabric structure roofs, but they are all based upon 3 basic shapes: the HYPAR, the CONE and the BARREL.

The easiest way to think of a membrane roof is to visualise a bubble. A bubble keeps its shape due to some form of internal pressure which stretches the surface into an even sphere. This is a form of minimal surface, which consists of the least area containing a given volume. In simple terms, the surface has equal pressure everywhere with no high-pressure points. The designer attempts to emulate this in membrane design. Using advanced specialist FEA (Finite Element Analysis) nonlinear software, not commonly available, the FORM (or shape) is arrived at mathematically. The designer needs to allow for this at every stage of the design.”

Extract from The Book of Tents by Rudi Enos

Approach

Rudi has dedicated his career to the study of long-span construction and the requirements of concept, design, analysis, detailing, manufacture and installation of these remarkable structures.

He always tries to keep to formulas simple, reduce component count, improve commonality of parts, minimalist design, using the same part in differing jobs etc. He elevates contemporary design concepts relevant to current desires and aspirations. This often results in rethinking traditional concepts and practices. Sometimes it is necessary to ‘unload baggage’ and start again.

Working on special structures requires the designer to provide 'out of the box' thinking if they are to produce stunning and iconic structures. Most of his designs reflect the relationship between space, weight, performance and the energy required to undertake the project, within a fully modern context. Pushing the envelope is often crucial to Rudi’s designs. At all times there is an awareness of environmental issues, project deadlines, costs and the ability to install and/or move the manufactured structure.