Birdair Receives Award for Outstanding Achievement in Facades at 75th Annual IFAI International Achievement Awards

Birdair sister companies Taiyo Europe and MakMax Australia also received awards.

Birdair, Inc., the world’s leading specialty contractor for custom tensile membrane structures for over 60 years, received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Facades at the 75th Annual International Achievement Awards (IAA), part of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) Expo, held Nov. 1-4 at the Music City Center in Nashville. Taiyo Europe and MakMax Australia, fellow Taiyo Kogyo Corporation companies and Birdair sister companies, each received awards as well.

Birdair received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Facades for its tensile façade panels at the Parmer Pond Grandstands, part of a new training complex for Major League Soccer’s Austin Football Club in Austin, Texas. Birdair has received over 20 International Achievement Awards over the years, along with many other awards within the Taiyo Group.

Birdair is honored to receive the award for Outstanding Achievement in Facades for our tensioned membrane façade panels at the Parmer Pond Grandstands,” said Michele Taylor, Director of Marketing, Birdair. “Our team worked hard to design and build PTFE mesh panels that would add protection and style to Austin FC’s world-class training facility, and we are proud of the end result.

“We would like to congratulate our sister companies Taiyo Europe and MakMax Australia on their well-deserved accolades, as well as all nominees and winners at this year’s International Achievement Awards.”

Birdair’s scope of work for the Parmer Pond Grandstands included design, engineering, fabrication and installation of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) mesh fabric, cables and hardware. The grandstands consist of eight large façade areas with 10 separate PTFE mesh membrane panels in each area, as well as two smaller tensile façade areas in the center of the grandstands with eight total PTFE mesh fabric panels, resulting in a total of 96 individual panels or a combined surface area of 1,500 square feet.

Taiyo Europe projects that received awards included Swatch Headquarters in Biel, Switzerland; Gare De Rennes in Rennes, France; and Estadio Ciudad de Valencia in Valencia, Spain. Home to the Swiss watch and jewelry company, Swatch Headquarters features 965 single cushions totaling 37,700 square feet of TensoSky® ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) film in a unique, three-dimensional design. The sinuous, wavy TensoSky® ETFE roof cushions at Gare De Rennes resembles fog and adds to the train station’s rebuilt landscape, while the new 97,000-square-foot PVC (polyvinyl chloride) membrane roof at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia covers all 26,000 seats, with 28 membrane panels supported in two arches and fixed in the cable net structure.

MakMax Australia project winners included St. Margaret’s Pool Variable Shade System in Brisbane – the first project to use the MakMax Velarium Variable Shade System. The pool at St. Margaret’s features a series of motorized PVC mesh fabric panels that open and close at the push of a button. The second MakMax award winner, The Link in Chadstone, features a beautiful 330-foot arched walkway covered with high-translucency THV-coated PTFE fabric tensile roof system.

A family-owned company with nearly 100 years of industry experience, Taiyo Kogyo Corporation is the world’s leading tensile membrane contractor, helping to design and construct over 20,000 structures. Taiyo Kogyo products, applied in diverse fields ranging from architecture, civil engineering and environmental products, all contribute to providing a sustainable future. With 29 companies and over 2,100 employees on all seven continents, Taiyo Kogyo Corporation pursues limitless possibilities of membranes to build lasting impressions for structures around the world.

For 75 years, IAA has recognized excellence in design and innovation, highlighting truly spectacular work in the specialty fabrics and technical textiles industry. Winners at this year’s competition were selected based on complexity, design, workmanship, uniqueness and function. Judges included industry experts, editors, architects, educators and design professionals who were chosen for their knowledge in a particular field of study or product area.

The IFAI Expo is North America’s largest specialty, industrial and advanced textiles event, hosting more than 200 exhibiting companies annually for an average of over 3,000 verified participants from over 60 countries. The expo provides attendees access to the industry’s leading companies, live product demonstrations on the show floor, the latest innovations in technology and textiles as well as valuable education and insight into current and future trends.

IFAI is a member-owned, member-driven trade association representing the global industrial fabrics industry since 1912. IFAI provides members with relevant information, sourcing solutions and networking opportunities to sustain and grow their business. For more information, visit IFAI.com.

A full-service design-build contractor for tensile architecture, Birdair features a comprehensive range of pre-construction services including design assistance, budgeting, construction methodologies and project schedule development. Birdair’s in-house capabilities include design development, engineering, fabrication, construction (installation) and service and warranty services.

For more information on Birdair’s innovative roofing systems, canopies and skylights, visit Birdair.com and follow Birdair on Facebook and LinkedIn.

About Birdair
Birdair, Inc., is the leading specialty design build contractor of custom tensile structures around the world. In addition to pre-construction services such as design assistance, budgeting, construction methodologies and project scheduling, Birdair provides design-build solutions in all aspects of project design, fabrication, installation and maintenance. The company offers a selection of architectural fabric membranes, including PTFE fiberglass, ETFE film, PVC and Tensotherm™, an insulated tensioned membrane system. Birdair, based in Buffalo, NY, is a member of the Taiyo Kogyo Group, with operations serving North and South America and other international locations. For more information about Birdair, call 1-800-622-2246 or visit Birdair.com.

Contacts:

Pipitone Group

Chris Hayes

Content Specialist

chayes@pipitonegroup.com | 412.321.0879

Birdair

Michele R. Taylor

Director of Marketing

micheleT@birdair.com | 716.633.9500