Port Blair Tensile Structure

A public waterfront needs shade where people stop — at seating, at a jetty forecourt, at a viewpoint — without anything that blocks the sea view or the breeze that makes the spot pleasant. A set of small conical canopies delivers exactly that: targeted cover at each point, open on all sides.

Ekra Decor delivered the structures as a complete job: survey, 3D design of the conical units and their frames, fabrication, and installation and tensioning, over about 121 m² in 15 days.

Each canopy is a small cone — the membrane pulled up to a central high point and down to perimeter anchors, forming a steep radial double curvature that pre-stresses the fabric so it stays taut and sheds rain straight off its slope. A cluster of them covers the seating and gathering points while keeping the spaces between open.

On an island the specification is what matters. The steel is hot-dip galvanised, exposed fittings are stainless, and the membrane is a PVDF- or PTFE-coated fabric chosen for its resistance to relentless UV and salt. Ekra Decor designs the steel to IS 800 and checks the canopies for wind loading to the applicable Indian codes — the Andamans are exposed to strong maritime winds — with the anchor foundations sized for uplift.

Each cone is cut as radial panels and welded into a finished piece, and the masts, rings and fittings are fabricated and galvanised, so what ships to the islands is a set of prepared units rather than raw material — important given the logistics of building far from the mainland.

On site the crew casts the small foundations, erects and plumbs each mast, and spreads and tensions each cone. With prefabricated units and minimal groundworks, the set went up in 15 days.

Port Blair’s waterfront gained a set of small shade canopies at its seating and gathering points — shelter from the sun and the island rain, with the sea view and the breeze intact. Built to a marine specification, they need only cleaning and periodic checks.

Ekra Decor builds conical canopies and pavilions for public and waterfront projects. See more finished work on the projects page, or read about tensile structures in Port Blair.