Location: Vancouver, BC
Fabric Type: PTFE
Project Size: 378,960 sqft
Architect: Stantec Architecture
Owner: BC Pavilion Corp (PAVCO)
Structural Engineer: Geiger Engineering | Schlaich Bergermann Partner
General Contractor: PCL Constructors Westcoast, Inc
Completion Date: 2011

Covertex Structures completed the installation of 36 outer and 36 inner fixed fabric panels as part of the integrated roof system at BC Place British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. The stadium reopened to the Canadian Football League (CFL) fans in the late fall of 2011 where the home team, the BC Lions, took on the Edmonton Eskimos in the season’s opener. The purpose of BC Place’s roof replacement – part of a 17-month revitalization project for the stadium – was to replace its previously air-supported dome roof with a modern retractable roof to reveal more than 25,000 square feet of blue sky. The retractable roof has turned BC Place into a year -round, open-air facility and serves as an architectural signature for the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Covertex Structures was awarded the tensile roof project back in December, 2009 reaching substantial completion of the job in November, 2011. The fixed fabric roof covering the stadium’s 54,500 seats, is comprised of 36 outer panels, each approximately 220 feet long and 10,000 square feet in surface area; and 36 liner panels, each approximately 120 feet long and 6,000 square feet in surface area. The outer membrane was Sheerfill I and the liner membrane was Fabrasorb as manufactured by St Gobain. The Covertex team was instrumental in the development and design of the flexible perimeter closure system that closes the area between the ETFE façade panels and the fixed fabric roof panels. This perimeter closure system is effectively an expansion joint between the membrane roof panels and the fixed steel framed façade that had to accommodate vertical deflections of 1.7 feet. The Covertex team developed a tensioned fabric hinge panel and utilized a Ferrari 1002S fabric for the construction of the 36 panels. The total surface are of the perimeter closure system was approximately 18,770 square feet. In order to meet the completion deadline of September 30th, 2011, the massive job required a Covertex field force of 80-85 experts per day, working up to 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. At the height of their efficiency, the Covertex crew installed a whopping 72 panels in just 44 calendar days.

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