AIR SUPPORTED
STRUCTURES
Big Span Structures is a global leader in the air-supported structure market space, proudly providing the most rigid quality standards in the industry to our customers whose needs include the enclosure of commercial, industrial, and recreational facilities. Our highly specialized team of experts proudly brings over 30 years of continuous experience in the design, engineering, manufacturing, and installation of air domes to the table. Big Span’s extensive experience in this field is demonstrated by the successful installation of tens of millions of square feet of air-supported structures, for applications including, but not limited to: sports arenas, waste management / containment facilities, exhibition spaces, warehousing and storage buildings, mobile utility structures, emergency shelters, and industrial process enclosures.
Equipped with cutting-edge technologies, Big Span contractors combine innovative custom design with state-of-the art engineering to construct air-supported structures that offer tremendous cost savings, as well as significantly reduced construction lead times, when compared to steel or other traditional construction methods. Durable, long-lasting, rapidly deployable, and simple to maintain, all of our air-supported fabric structures are constructed from only the highest quality structural grade PVC fabric and always meet or exceed industry standards and building code requirements, including the California State Fire Marshal (CSFM) and NFPA-701 2 sec Flame Tests, 150 MPH wind loads, and 50 lb./ft2 snow loads.
End-to-end, in-house design, engineering, project management, fabrication, and installation allows Big Span to rise to the most extreme challenges associated with air-supported structures at all stages of the process. From the largest air-supported structure in the world, stretching more than 6.5 acres across a landfill to enclosing an entire existing petroleum refinery without halting operations, no test has ever proven too large or too difficult for Big Span’s elite team of air-supported engineering masters.
Get to know our
projects
Visit our Portfolio to view our completed air supported projects by Big Span Structures
Sports Facilities
The first installation of an air supported multi-sports facility took place at Harvard University in 1968. The size of the structure demanded the incorporation of a basic stress-relief strap system to add strength and flexibility to both the fabric and membrane. Polyester straps were eventually replaced with steel aircraft cables; and the configuration was re-designed into various degrees of bias grid patterns. This provides total encapsulation of the fabric membrane, eliminates the potential for tear propagation, and exponentially increases load-bearing capacity. With these and many other design advancements, the groundwork was set for air-supported structures as we know them today. Currently, Big Span utilizes state-of-the-art materials and mechanical components for levels of safety and structural integrity that are unmatched by any of our competitors. Proudly selected to provide the Seoul Olympic Tennis Center for the 2000 summer games, Big Span offers full heating, HVAC, insulation up to R-25, and 50-55 foot-candle LED lighting upon request for sports and myriad other applications. Call Big Span today to learn how we can customize a solution that guarantees no more rain-outs, weather delays, slip injuries from rainwater, or wind-blown missed field goals. Forget the weather. Just play your game.
Exhibition Halls and Conventions
Big Span air-supported structures are a natural fit for mobile or permanent exhibition, trade, and convention center facilities. There truly is no more cost-effective or time-efficient means of enclosing a large area and keeping hundreds or even thousands of people comfortable and engaged than a Big Span air-supported structure.
Construction Domes
Perhaps no one can better appreciate the costly nature of weather-related interruption and shutdowns on a working jobsite than a contractor. Whether pouring a residential concrete foundation or managing a large-scale commercial construction project, shut-downs erode profits quickly, create dissent among workers, contribute to late completion penalties, and are (thanks to Big Span’s air-supported structures) completely unnecessary and 100% avoidable now and for the future. Perhaps no one can better appreciate the costly nature of weather-related interruption and shutdowns on a working jobsite than a contractor.
Our air supported structures have become the product of choice and preferred solution for a growing number of construction and project management companies in a host of different countries. The savings generated by continuous operation more than off-set the investment in a Big Span construction dome, usually by the end of the first project. With our new flexible financing options, this is as true now as it has ever been. Big Span aspires to partner with you to ensure that issues with weather can never stand between you and your hard-earned, well-deserved profits again. Whether your needs involve pre-construction staging, on / off-site material and equipment storage, concrete pouring, soil remediation, cleanup, or historic restorations, let us customize the perfect solution to help you make your current and future jobs more successful.
REACH OUT
Our team at Big Span Structures are here to help you realize your next tensioned membrane structure.
Please contact us today for your upcoming project.