G.D. Goenka School, Vasant Kunj Tensile Structure

Space is tight on an urban school campus, so the outdoor areas have to work hard — the same ground is assembly in the morning, a games court in the afternoon and an event space in the evening. That only holds up if the space is covered; otherwise it is lost to the summer sun and the monsoon for months at a time.

Ekra Decor delivered the canopy as a turnkey job: survey and setting-out, 3D structural and membrane design, fabrication of the galvanised steel frame and the welded fabric, and installation and tensioning, over about 1,500 m² in roughly six weeks.

A multi-use space needs a completely clear floor, so the canopy is designed as a clear span — membrane and supporting steel crossing the whole area to columns set outside it — with the clear height set high enough for court sports and events beneath.

The membrane is form-found in 3D and pre-stressed into double curvature, which keeps a lightweight roof stable under the wind uplift that governs it and drains the monsoon to defined points. Ekra Decor designs the steelwork to IS 800 and checks the structure for wind, rain and seismic loading to the applicable Indian codes, with the foundations sized against uplift. On a constrained urban site, the column positions are also set to keep circulation and existing services clear.

A translucent fabric keeps the space bright enough to use as a daytime environment, not just a shelter.

The steel is cut, welded and hot-dip galvanised in the workshop and the membrane is cut and high-frequency welded into panels off-site, so on-site work is limited to casting the foundations, erecting the frame and running and tensioning the membrane.

On a running city campus with limited access, deliveries and lifts are planned tightly around the school day, and the space is handed back as a finished, tensioned canopy in about six weeks.

The school gained a covered central space that carries assembly, sport and events through every season — a lot of usable facility for the area and the budget. It needs only periodic cleaning and a routine check of the frame and cable tensions.

Ekra Decor builds assembly and multi-use canopies for schools across Delhi-NCR and beyond. See more finished work on the projects page, or read about tensile structures in Delhi.