FabriTec Structures has completed a tensile membrane structure designed to cover the arrival and departure areas of the Greater Rochester International Airport. The structure was a fast-track construction project built in just 15 months to ensure it would be substantially complete before midterm elections in November.
The tensile membrane structure, a series of intersecting canopies that will work like a porte-cochere, was built to offer travelers year-round weather protection. The structure also features solar panels to provide sustainable energy and a 40,000-gallon rainwater collection system to be used for irrigation and landscaping during in the summer.
The structure will be instrumental to the airport’s daily operations, not just for its shade and protection but also for surveillance. The canopy was designed with the plan to install various high-tech security cameras that will have the ability to detect faces, suspicious activity and objects of interest or restricted items before they enter the airport. Installing canopies at the entrance of airports for added surveillance is a new security measure that is expected to become the new standard.
Aesthetics were taken into consideration during the design process of the canopy. It has an energetic design that was made to resemble the waves of the ocean, curving up and down from an aerial and horizontal view. The structure is covered with a translucent PTFE membrane that is lined with led lights to turn the canopy into a light show every night.
The project is a part of the ROC Renovation initiative whose purpose is to transform and enhance the terminal thus creating a 21st Century, high-tech smart facility according to their website. With these advancements, the airport can better serve the business and economic needs of travelers and improve the overall passenger experience.
“As a major hub for travelers to and from our region, completion of this important modernization project ensures that the Greater Rochester International Airport will be a state-of-the-art facility and will meet the needs of the modern-day,” traveler Chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation Joseph E. Robach said of the project.
A press conference was held at the Rochester International Airport in April of this year to celebrate the installation of the first arch of “canopy A1”, kicking off the installation of the canopies. The installation was completed on time, and the project was announced as substantially complete at the end of October, just two years after the Governor first announced the project.
“To execute this very complicated $20 million project from start to finish (design, engineer, manufacture and install) in one year is a huge accomplishment,” said FabriTec‘s Chairman of the Board, Basil Haymann. “I sincerely believe that there is not another company in our industry, in the USA, who could have equaled our performance. We could never have achieved this success without all of the cooperation and efforts of our team.”