Wahroonga Adventist School TensoSport
Project Details
Location: Wahroonga, NSW
Completion Date: October 2023
Size: 35m x 42m (1495sqm)
Fabric: PTFE - FGT800
Client: Wahroonga Adventist School
Photography: © Al Morris
The Wahroonga Adventist School TensoSport canopy is a double-court sports canopy / COLA (covered outdoor learning area), located in the picturesque hills of this Northern Sydney school.
The Brief
The basic design brief for Wahroonga Adventist School TensoSport Canopy was to design, construct and install a TensoSport canopy over double basketball courts.
MakMax was presented with a number of restrictions and challenges as part of our design brief for the Wahroonga COLA. The court surfaces had been laid some-time previously, and fortunately, the school had been proactive at the time and had footings pre-installed as part of the court surface construction. This meant that our design had to engineered backwards from the footings (as opposed to our normal method of designing the structure first and working out the required footing size based on loading requirement).
Another challenge presented was the picturesque bushland location of the school. Initially proposed as a double court sports court canopy covered in architectural PVC, the proximity to native bushland and a proposed nearby housing development necessitated an upgrade to a PTFE canopy. PTFE offers much better fire-performance properties and this was deemed to satisfy the development application.
The Concept
The TensoSport Canopy was designed a side-by-side double court canopy.
The Materials
The PTFE canopy on the Wahroonga Adventist School TensoSport is the same material used on large stadiums (such as Sydney Football Stadium and Optus Stadium), and is a premium-quality fabric for large-span structures such as sports courts.
The high-translucency of PTFE means that the canopy feels bright underneath, even on cloudy days.
The steel is HDG (hot dipped galvanized), which is a robust, durable and low-maintenance surface coating, ideal for high-use structures such as school sports courts.
A central gutter in between the canopies is connected to downpipes, which connect into pre-existing retention tanks.
The Result
The Wahroonga Adventist School TensoSport Canopy is fantastic example of what can be achieved through great collaboration. Working directly with the school, MakMax was able to propose solutions to any and all challenges on the project and the outcome is a fantastic addition to the school’s campus.
“We had been delighted with every step of the way. MakMax were very professional and also very timely. They were able to work within the restrictions that we had and constraints, and the actual construction time was very short. I would highly recommend Mack Max if you are considering something like this for your school.”
Julia Heise, Principal
