




The design of these enclosures varies depending on the time frame that the facility will be in use. A building that needs to be up for one day is a very different design exercise than one which will remain in place for months or even a few years. Short-duration structures need to be deployable, while longer duration ones tend to be relocatable. Technologies for these types of deployable facilities include truck-based hydraulic systems, circus-based self-erecting tent systems, and pneumatic-inflated structures. Demountable facilities suggest an erector set approach where elements are bolted together and later dismantled.
The Lightweight Structures Group has extensive experience with all the above-mentioned systems. Over the past thirty years we have designed and engineered portable buildings for special events, from the four-hour setup of a portable concert hall for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to the year-long installation of Skyscape at the Millennium Dome site in London.