TEXTILES.ORG
With the U.S. Open Championships beginning Aug. 29, Birdair Inc. announces the completion of a series of renovations to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in Queens, N.Y.
The enhancements include Arthur Ashe Stadium’s new retractable roofing system with 210,000 square feet of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane, as well as the completion of the new Grandstand Stadium, which features a façade flanked with 27,000 square feet of PTFE-coated mesh and a 23,000-square-foot solid PTFE-coated, fiberglass membrane, cantilevered roof system. The recent renovations also include a new 3,900-square-foot PTFE fabric canopy for the Mojito Bar & Restaurant, fabricated and built by Birdair.
The new roof, the size of 17 Olympic swimming pools and expected to be used only for rain, opens at a top speed of 25 feet a minute. It also features a chilled water ventilation system to control humidity when closed. The roof also features some 360 LED sports lights to illuminate the facility when closed.
Based in Williamsville, N.Y., Birdair is a design-build contractor of custom tensile structures throughout the world. In addition to pre-construction services such as design assistance, budgeting, construction methodologies and project scheduling, the company provides design-build solutions in all aspects of project design, fabrication, installation and maintenance.