While fabric as a building material is ancient, starting with bedouin tents and teepees, our Tension Structure industry is relatively young and on the cutting edge of building technology. The detailed form-engineering and technological accomplishments find roots in Frie Otto’s work in the 1960s. Rapid advances in technology and materials science now enable us to build at extraordinary scale structures never before imagined.
GuildWorks was founded with a vision for creating shelter with the fewest material resources, using Design from Nature’s Principles and the elegant geometries of tension fabric structures. The organic shapes of our installations allow us to be creative with airflow, water collection, and stormwater management.
We create structures with a fraction of the materials used for similar functions in traditional building styles; we also take responsibility for repurposing, recycling, and carbon offset, making every part of our building process more sustainable. There is less raw weight in the material produced, lower transport needs, less heavy equipment and machinery required, higher efficiency in design, production, and installation, and a company that cares to do the right thing guiding every step.
Reducing heat island effects, collecting water, filtering pollution, providing shade, and regulating temperatures and light are all issues of our time that must be solved. Our temporary and permanent structures offer a viable solution to architectural issues that are becoming vastly more important as the weather becomes more extreme and as access to resources change.
Tension structures provide protection from the elements with minimal impact on the planet.
From the recyclable materials we use to the low carbon impact of shipping and construction, every design takes the health of our ecosystems into consideration.
We can’t wait to learn about your vision and space, and to imagine your project with you.
