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Shade fabric

Sauleda

Sauleda Fabric supplier

At Versatile Structures, we take great pride in partnering with industry leaders who share our commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. One such partner that stands out for its unwavering dedication to excellence is Sauleda. Constant Investment in Research, Development, and Innovation (RD&I) Sauleda’s remarkable journey in the solar protection and technical fabrics sector is a testament to their constant investment in Research, Development, and Innovation (RD&I). Their forward-thinking approach has positioned them as pioneers in exploring new fields of application for technical fabrics. Quality Assurance: A Hallmark of Sauleda’s Expertise Our confidence in Sauleda’s fabrics is built on their rigorous adherence to the strictest quality standards. Sauleda operates under an innovative continuous improvement policy, ensuring that their services and products consistently meet and exceed expectations. Their track record of meeting necessary parameters year after year gives us the confidence to trust in their offerings. Sauleda’s New Generation Collection: Setting the Bar for Design and Luminosity We are excited to showcase Sauleda’s exclusive New Generation collection in collaboration with Versatile Structures. These fabrics, including the renowned OPERA and SCOTLAND, redefine design and luminosity in the industry. With a selection of 28 new PLAIN COLOURS and the captivating ANIMALS collection, the choices are endless, allowing us to offer you the very best. Protection Against Heat and Cold with Climatic Fabrics Versatile Structures recognizes the importance of climatic fabrics that offer both breathability and protection. Sauleda’s climatic fabrics are engineered to block moisture and wind, providing relief from heat while delivering thermal comfort in cooler conditions. Versatile Structures is proud to stand alongside Sauleda in keeping you comfortable and safe, regardless of the weather. Experience Matters: Over a Century of Excellence with Sauleda With over 120 years of experience, Sauleda S.A. is a living testament to expertise in textile manufacturing. As one of Europe’s oldest and most respected manufacturers of high-grade acrylic fabrics, they bring a wealth of knowledge and tradition to our partnership. At Versatile Structures, we are honoured to collaborate with Sauleda as our trusted technical fabric supplier. Together, we are weaving a future of excellence, innovation, and unbeatable quality. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Sauleda for being a cornerstone of our success, and we eagerly anticipate the continued growth of our partnership.

Custom fabric shade structure installed for Commonwealth Games Village by Versatile Structures

Your One-Stop Shop for Custom Fabric Structures

Versatile Structures is a renowned industry leader, offering a diverse range of custom fabric structures to suit various applications. Our extensive line-up includes waterproof fabric structures, commercial shade structures, and industrial awning canopies, ensuring a comprehensive array of solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. Whether you seek a customized solution for your business or a residential project, our team possesses the expertise, experience, and resources to help you accomplish your goals. Understanding that every customer has unique needs, Versatile Structures provides a variety of options for waterproof fabric structures. Our team of experts collaborates closely with you to design a structure precisely tailored to your requirements, ensuring it offers the necessary protection and functionality. In addition to our exceptional waterproof fabric structures, we proudly offer commercial shade structures, which are perfect for businesses, schools, parks, and other public spaces. These structures serve as vital components, delivering shade and protection against the elements. Whether you desire a customized solution or a pre-designed structure, our expertise and resources enable us to assist you in finding the perfect fit. Moreover, we are delighted to present a range of custom fabric structures that cater to your specific needs, whether for commercial or residential purposes. Our dedicated team works closely with you to design a structure that perfectly aligns with your exact requirements. These structures are constructed using the highest quality materials, ensuring their durability, longevity, and ability to withstand harsh weather conditions. At Versatile Structures, our commitment to providing unparalleled service is unwavering. Our team of experts stands ready to assist you at every stage, from the initial design phase to the seamless installation of your custom fabric structure. We are devoted to ensuring that your project is completed on time and within budget, and we back our products with a comprehensive warranty for your peace of mind. To further expand our offerings, we are pleased to introduce our shade assist program, aimed at providing additional assistance and guidance to our customers. This program ensures that you receive comprehensive support in selecting the optimal shade solution for your specific needs. Furthermore, we offer a complimentary site audit service to assess your location and recommend the most suitable fabric structure for your requirements. Our team will thoroughly evaluate your site and provide expert advice to help you make an informed decision. In conclusion, when searching for a versatile and reliable provider of custom fabric structures, Versatile Structures stands out as the ideal choice. With a wide range of offerings, including waterproof fabric structures, commercial shade structures, and industrial awning canopies, we are equipped to address all your needs. Reach out to us today to discover how our dedicated team can assist you in achieving your goals.

Bond University PVC shade structure installed by Versatile Structures

The many plusses of PVC shade sails

Polyvinyl chloride, aka PVC, coated polyester has been around for over 50 years, and is probably the most used substrate in tensile membrane structures because of its excellent strength, flexibility, transparency, durability and waterproof properties. With a range of benefits for any commercial, industrial, or residential property, PVC is a highly cost-effective and versatile tensile fabric due to its excellent chemical endurance and elongation abilities. And there’s more – most PVC membranes are also mould and bacteria resistant, meets a large range of colour and application needs, both permanent and temporary, and can be treated to be stain, fire, and UV resistant. What type of PVC is strongest? Both schedule 40 and 80 PVC are used widely around the world. Each one has its benefits in different applications. Schedule 40 pipe has thinner walls, so it is best for applications involving relatively low water pressure. Schedule 80 pipe has thicker walls and can withstand higher PSI (pounds per square inch). Life span The approximate design life of PVC coasted polyester fabric is between 15 and 30 years, depending on grade of PVC selected, the location, exposure to environmental pollution and if has been regularly maintained. While PVC fabric warranties can range anywhere from 5 to 15 years, depending on the supplier and application. Solar Transmission PVC fabric reflects around 89% of solar energy and allowing around 9% visible transmission through the fabric. The rate of transmission is dependent on the colour of the fabric, printings, environment, and coatings. The coatings can contain anti-fungicides and therefore, the stronger the self-cleaning properties of the fabric, the less light transmission is interrupted by dirt adherence and aging of the fabric. Applications PVC polyester is used on structures all over the world and in every environment. Applications include: covered walkways, car park structures, entrance features, outdoor classrooms, play areas, sport court enclosures, swimming pool enclosures, and event spaces. Due to the fabric’s strength, PVC can be folded, which makes it ideal for retractable and temporary structures such as tents, warehouses, remediation, and mining structures, as they often need to be demounted and stored. With the ability to print on the fabric with ease, PVC is often used in projects where branding is required. Sound Absorption PVC can be altered to manipulate the sound absorption rate of the structure. Various coatings can be applied to PVC based on the requirements of the structure. For example, an indoor aquatic centre will use PVC that has been specifically treated to absorb as much sound as possible, while a small room or area can also benefit from strong acoustic retention. Maintenance PVC coated polyester is low maintenance, although it requires more frequent maintenance than self-cleaning PTFE and ETFE. Frequency of cleaning is dependent on the location of the structure, exposure to environmental pollutants, and the coating on the fabric. Lacquers and other coatings can be added to the fabric to significantly increase the lifespan and decrease the need for maintenance. Sustainability PVC is classed as a recyclable fabric and is therefore an increasingly popular choice for green building as an alternative to rigid roofing. Although there are many processes of recycling PVC, the most common practice involves melting down the fabric to be reproduced. The process does not affect the lifetime of the recycled PVC.

Custom shade sail for Sir Lew Edwards Park, Ipswich City Council by Versatile Structures.

Questions we’re often asked

Whether used for commercial, industrial, or residential purposes at entrances, entertaining areas, sports and recreation areas, schools, hospitality, retail or vehicles, a shade structure is defined as a freestanding or fixed roofed structure for the purpose of providing UVR protection, shade, and shelter from the weather. What sets Versatile Structures apart is our custom design shade solutions and here are answers to the questions we get asked most by customers who engage us for commercial and car park shade structures and shade sails in Brisbane, Noosa and surrounds. What are shade structures called? Shade structures are also known as pergolas, awnings, solid roof structures, blinds, pavilions, shade sails, screes and sunhoods, patio umbrellas. With so many shade structure solutions available, our article on shade structure styles covers it all. How tall should a shade structure be? A shade structure should be at least 2.4m from the ground on two of the sides. For maximum effectiveness, most shade structures are between 2.4m and 3m tall, and 3.6m for big structures, with the edge heights kept as low as possible to reduce the impacts of UVR being reflected from surrounding surfaces. There are also various Australian Standard protocols to follow regarding clearances playgrounds and car parks, as well as NCC (BCA) and other AS requirements, but a seasoned shade structure supplier will take care of it all for you. How far apart should posts be for shade sail? Posts sizes are determined by the size of the sail/s attached to it, what sides they are attached and the height they are attached. When it comes to custom designed shade sails, the shade structure supplier will take care of it all for you. What type of construction is a shade structure? The class of a building or structure is determined its purpose. According to the Queensland building standards, a shade cloth structure is considered a Class 10a building, while a metal or fibreglass roof structure is Class 1 building. What are the two types of shade? There are many types of shade, but it ultimately it comes down to is the structure a residential, industrial, or commercial waterproof shade structure or not, i.e., pervious roof material (shade cloth) or impervious (metal or fibreglass). Do shade sail posts need to be angled? For sure! The angle should be away from the shade sail and installed at a 10-degree angle for steel and a 20-degree angle for timber posts. How do you stop shade sails from sagging? Shade sails that are installed by professionals like Versatile Structures should never sag and includes a 10-year warranty on both fabric and stitching. However, the reason they sag is because the tension that is applied at each attachment point is not distributed evenly in the sail, creating areas of concentrated stress around the corners. Using quality hardware, especially corner hardware is the most important source of tension in a sail. And so is prevention. Proactive inspections are the best approach to ensure maximum life and minimal disruption, as they highlight potential issues before they occur that can be actioned proactively to keep costs down before a failure eventuates.

Tensile membrane structure installed by Versatile Structures

Fabrics used in tensile membrane structures

What fabrics are used in tensile membrane structures? Depending on who you talk to in the shade structure industry, the material used to cover the structure can be referenced as either fabric or cloth. Fabric is essentially a material produced by weaving multiple fibres together for strength. Architectural fabrics is a combination which uses a woven polymer fabric coated or laminated with a synthetic material layer to form a membrane. This membrane is then tensioned over a steel frame to produce a shade structure, umbrellas, facades, or art installation pieces. The advantages of using a tensile membrane structure created with woven polymer fabrics include Lightweight – meaning there is less structural support required which makes it is generally more cost effective Translucent – allowing natural light to filter through the material, which means spending less on artificial lighting Durable – the polymer fibres do not rust, corrode or breakdown in UVR light which means they have a long-life span Aesthetic – tensioned membranes form beautifully curved surfaces allowing architects and designers free range to create unique structures. The most common architectural fabrics used in tensile membrane structures are Vinyl-coated polyester which is a polyester base material laminated or coated with polyvinyl chloride Fiberglass, a woven fiberglass base is generally coated with polytetrafluoroethylene Transparent polymer films or foils Polyethylene mesh or a plastic mesh produced from a variety of base resins. Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) offer versatility at a reasonable cost, making them the two most popular resin choices for plastic netting. The inclusion of a translucent aerogel in the fabric composition adds insulating properties UVR considerations Australia is known for its high UV-radiation, which is especially true for areas like Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast. Dr Rick Tinker from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) said the December 2016 daily maximum UVR index average for Brisbane was 12.4. The highest ever recorded average was 12.5. Obtaining the right fabric with the best UVR rating is critical for a tensile membrane structure. Read more about UV and shade fabric. Fire considerations Along with considering UV radiation it is also important to consider how flame retardant material is, especially if the shade structure’s key purpose is to protect people. It is important that shade cloth be tested to AS1530 parts 2 and 3 that uses a fixed flame in contact with the fabric as specified by the Australian Standards. You can read more about shade structures and fire performance. Conclusion Essentially there are several elements to consider when choosing a fabric for a tensile membrane structure. It is advised that you speak to a shade sail expert like Versatile Structures, before making a final decision.

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