Snapshot: Learning curves

By Sigrid Tornquist

Taking on the more challenging projects is one of the things John Conroy enjoys about running House of Canvas. “Often we get jobs other companies have passed on because they’re just too difficult,” Conroy says. One such project Conroy and his team took on was designing and installing a canopy for outdoor seating at a restaurant in Ottawa called Chances R.

The challenging aspect of the job was that the 90-by-18-foot canopy needed to be mounted on a curved wall—with a radius that was not uniform. “The inconsistent angles meant a lot of trips back and forth between the shop and the site to check measurements,” Conroy says. “But it was fun. It’s those kinds of challenges that give you energy.” House of Canvas fabricated the canopy with Precontraint® 502 from Serge Ferrari. The underlying framework needed to appear lightweight, yet have enough strength and integrity to support additional hardware such as lighting and heaters. Conroy and his team designed the frame in nine unique sections, which were not assembled until the final site inspection.

The project won second place in the Commercial Canopies division of the 2010 IFAI Canada Honours Program.

Sigrid Tornquist is a freelance author and editor based in St. Paul, Minn. She is also the associate editor of InTents magazine, a publication of the Industrial Fabrics Association International.