“Test the fabric with an independent third party. This is especially relevant with cheaper fabrics. Often, overseas suppliers will call their fabrics potable when they are only food grade. This can cause significant issues once your products are rolled out. Also, every single item that will go into the product, such as fittings, hoses and [...]

Cantine Chez Ben, a legendary café in Granby, Quebec, Canada, has been satisfying Canadians’ love of poutine (french fries with gravy and cheese) for more than 60 years. With an eye on expanding business, its third generation owners decided to provide a cover for its outdoor terrace. But not just any canopy would do; it [...]

The economy has not been the biggest problem for marine fabricators; it’s the lack of qualified workers to carry on the craft—this and the need to incorporate new equipment that can speed up the process and help small shops run more efficiently. “These are the two ‘evils’ of our industry that no one has been [...]

Inflatable buildings have their own unique advantages, especially portability and easy set-up. By Bruce Wright, AIA Inflatable buildings can have some special requirements-such as air pumps to fill the structural fabric tubes-unlike any other type of structure, but they also have advantages for relocatable buildings or rapid set-up for disaster relief structures. David Kelsall, technical [...]

PROBLEM: When you’re tensioning a fabric structure, it’s difficult to pull the fabric close enough to the attachment point to connect the permanent hardware. SOLUTION: A compactly built rigging block can pull the fabric closer than a come-along. “Say you have a 50-foot-by-50-foot fabric structure with four points,” says Charles Duvall, principal at Duvall Design, [...]

Most fabricators have one or two suppliers for hardware and finishing supplies, depending on the industries they work in most often. But sometimes connectors, trims, ties and tubing can come from unexpected places. Awning makers may find that for an unusual job, marine hardware fits the bill. Fabricators who do a lot of prototyping may [...]

By Sigrid Tornquist In 2003 Pottery Barn Kids approached Susan Shields of Airtex Design Group to produce a unique signature children’s chair. The product became the Anywhere Chair, a timeless product, which became the signature of the Pottery Barn Kids brand. “We were able to design, source and sell this product at $99 (opening price [...]

Digital graphics can make a strong and original statement, adding a focal point to a room, says Patrick Walker, president of Cleveland, Ohio-based 4walls®. “We are a boutique product design firm with digital printing, all under one roof—a full-service shop in order to best satisfy customers. We learned to get it right, start to finish, [...]

Design firms like Creation Baumann of Zurich, Switzerland, take the lead in using textiles to transform interiors, whether as opulent eye-catchers or quiet, understated backdrops. Its new Efalda opens out like a fan, thanks to ingenious fold technology that changes a curtain’s color via the viewing angle. The company’s panel curtains adjust to ambient light [...]

According to a Grand View Research report released in January, protection and military applications accounted for the largest market share (27.5 percent) for smart textiles in 2012. The rest of the pie was split between architecture (20.6 percent), sports/fitness (17.3 percent), transportation (14.8 percent), fashion and entertainment (12.4 percent), and medical (7.3 percent). But University [...]