Champions Aquatics Academy, Bahadurgarh Tensile Structure

A competitive pool is a difficult space to leave uncovered. Direct sun causes glare that makes lane markings and race finishes hard to judge; rain and wind-blown leaves foul the water and drive up filtration load; and swimmers and spectators at a gala need shade and shelter for hours at a stretch. The academy needed a roof over the deck and stands that solved all of that without darkening the hall.

Ekra Decor delivered the structure as a package — survey, 3D structural and membrane design, fabrication of the galvanised steel frame and the welded fabric, and on-site erection and tensioning — over about two months, on a site that was still under construction.

The pool and its deck are long and rectangular, and a barrel-vault roof matches that shape economically: a curved membrane spans across the poolside between two lines of support and repeats bay by bay along the length. Carrying the arch on columns set behind the deck and the seating keeps the poolside itself clear.

The curvature pre-stresses the fabric so it stays taut and stable under wind uplift and sheds rain to the eaves rather than pooling. A translucent membrane also diffuses daylight, which is exactly what a pool wants — even, shadow-free light with the glare taken out. Ekra Decor designs the steel to IS 800 and checks the roof for wind, rain and seismic loads to the applicable Indian codes.

The pool environment drives the material choices. Warm, humid, chlorinated air is aggressive, so the steel is hot-dip galvanised and the membrane is a coated architectural fabric with a durable, cleanable surface.

The arched steel frames are cut, welded and galvanised in the workshop and the membrane panels are cut and high-frequency welded off-site, so on-site work is limited to casting the footings, erecting the repeating frames, and running and tensioning the membrane over them.

Because the academy was still being built, the canopy work was sequenced with the pool tanking, the deck finishes and the seating construction, with lifts and deliveries planned around the other trades. The roof was completed in about two months.

The academy came away with a covered pool deck and spectator stand: the water is protected from sun, rain and debris, the light on the pool is even and glare-free, and crowds at a meet are sheltered. It is a practical, low-maintenance structure for a venue that trains and competes year round.

Ekra Decor builds swimming-pool tensile roofs and spectator and auditorium canopies. There is more finished work on the projects page, and background on tensile structures in Bahadurgarh.