27/07/2011
Written by: Gill Sincock
One of our former grad students, Jo is now a well known tensile structures engineer based in our Bath office.
GRRR - so much more than just a big tent! Using a lightweight
material to construct a structure gives you endless creative
possibilities that are cheaper and more sustainable than using heavier
equivalents. And forget tents – the discipline has developed leaps and
bounds – the possibilities are almost endless, you can form some really
funky geometry that spans long distances with minimum support.
How far – reach for the moon?
Well without supporting cables about 40 metres depending on the type
of fabric used so the moon’s out but with supporting cables the options
are almost unlimited.
Easy – the obvious one is the Millennium Dome, now known as the O2
Arena, and a particular favourite of mine as I had the opportunity to
walk on top of it, unharnessed! How cool is that? It’s really amazing as
the top is a giant flat plane so quite safe, although very windy.
Just like a giant trampoline then?
Ha, almost! During the installation of fabric roofs you often see
people bouncing along them as if they are giant trampolines as it’s the
easiest way to walk from one end to the other. I actually got the chance
to do this on the canopy roof over St Bart’s School central courtyard
while on a visit with the fabric contractor – lots of fun!
Any more for any more?
Some other great examples of tensile structures are the roof of the
new 2012 London Olympic Stadium, Khan Shatyr in Kazakhstan and one of
the oldest but prettiest tensile structures – the Aga Khan award winning
Diplomatic Club in Riyadh or Tuwaiq Palace as it’s also known.
Who said engineering wasn’t fun. Can you make tensile structures more fun and a bit more colourful?
That’s one of my missions – to change people’s misperceptions of
tensile structures as white and bland, and to open their eyes to the
myriad of colours and shapes you can create now. In fact on my desk this
very minute I have a totally amazing piece of fabric that’s two tone
metallic purple and blue – imagine that on a stadium – it would look
like it was covered in a fabulous metal cladding! To be fair the sample
was made especially for me as purple and blue are my favourite colours
but I’m looking out for an opportunity to use it somewhere…
What else do you want to tell the world about tensile structures?
Well, another misconception is that it won’t last long. PTFE coated
glass fibre has a life of 30 years plus – and it could be a lot longer –
it just hasn’t been in use much longer than that for us to know.
Existing structures of that age still look amazing. And then people are
put off using it because they think it has no insulation properties but
there are excellent insulated fabrics on the market now, and there’s
always cushions...
So have tent(sile structure),will travel?
Actually yes, because there’s very few of us in the discipline – I do
get to travel around a bit. So far I’ve spent a week in Saudi, been to
Bulgaria, Dusseldorf, Lyon and spent 36 hours in San Diego. That was a
bit of a whistle stop trip – I left Bath at 6am Tuesday morning and was
back by midday Friday, although I did get to spend four hours shopping
in Santa Monica while waiting for a flight; got a lovely handbag!
So what’s the proudest moment of your career so far?
Easy. It was my job to look after the fabric roof of the 2012 London
Olympic Stadium and I was on site to see the installation of the first
few panels – it was a breathtaking moment – the pinnacle of my career so
far.
Your perfect job?
Yes – I really love it and I love the industry too. The tensile
structures world is really small; many of us are members of Tensinet, an
association for the design and construction of tensile membrane
structures, and we all know each other – so it feels like I’ve got
friends across the world. It’s great to meet up at conferences and see
what everybody’s up to.
So what do you do when you’re not creating funky structures?
I’m trying to get chartered this summer and having just got engaged, there’s the small matter of arranging a wedding…
Will the reception be held in the mother of all marquees then?
No – it’s going to be in the winter and marquees, wedding dresses,
heels and mud don’t really mix. However if anyone wants to offer me a
really good ‘mates rate’ deal…
Anything we’d be surprised to know about you?
I love to dance; I spent 13 years performing tap, modern and jazz in
competitions and shows; every Christmas I was involved in the pantomime
season. Sadly I don’t really have the time to do that now but would love
to get back in to it.
Also I owe my career to my mum; I wanted to become a hairdresser but
she was determined that I wouldn’t. Without her perseverance I’d be
creating mega-structures out of hairspray and hair extensions!
And finally – what’s the strangest thing that’s turned up on your desk?
A strange question that deserves a strange answer. Last year some
giant cable connection forks arrived in the post from Germany – each one
is so heavy I can barely lift it, a little unexpected but they provide
good ornaments!
