TEXTILES.ORG
Buffalo, N.Y.-based Birdair Inc. has completed the new Ford Amphitheater at Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Coney Island. The 5,000-seat entertainment venue is part of New York City’s Seaside Park and Community Arts Center—a new community development that aims to bring a mix of year-round entertainment, new businesses and publicly accessible open space along the western portion of Coney Island’s famous Riegelmann Boardwalk.
The new venue—covered by a canopy featuring a PVC polyester membrane exterior and liner from Birdair—was built out from the dilapidated structure of the historic Childs Restaurant. The restaurant space itself has been renovated and converted into a backstage, VIP and restaurant areas for the concert facility.
The new roof on the Ford Amphitheater, designed and installed by Birdair, features some 40,900 square feet of PVC exterior and 32,565 square feet ofPVC exterior , with two acoustical curtains. The curtains are supported by two pairs of structural steel leaning arches that define smaller scaled fabric fields, allowing for demountable functionality to make the venue hospitable year-round. The structure’s clear span arches also extend for more than 100 feet, providing infrastructure support for sound and lighting fixtures and creating uninterrupted sight lines.
The $53 million project was completed in June 2016 as a collaborative effort among FTL Design & Engineering Studio (as the tensile-roofing consultant), GKV Architects, Birdair (design and fabric installation), structural engineering firm WSP USA, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers and general contractor Hunter Roberts Construction Group.
Birdair a specialty design-build contractor of custom tensile structures. 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.