TEXTILES.ORG
The best place for a manufacturer of outdoor canvas products to show off is its showroom; shade sails positioned over the main entrance should be—entrancing! Transport and Marine (TM) Covers Ltd., Nelson, New Zealand, houses its factory and showroom in an edgy, modern building featuring two shade sails in bright green and blue, one emerging from a hole in the other. “The team [was] very skeptical when I told them I wanted a shade sail with a hole in it and another shooting through,” says Christine Clark, TM Covers’ managing director. “It took a bit of convincing to get their heads around it.”
TM Covers’ cosmic shade sail consists of more than 150 square feet of Z16 shade cloth, made by Rainbow Shade Products NZ Ltd., Hastings, New Zealand, a supplier of shade and outdoor screen systems. The Z16 fabric has a 20-year performance track record, strong UV protection, good water runoff and special Z-construction for elasticity and tension memory. The dimensions of the two shade sails had to be just right to ensure the long blue sail could shoot through the hole in the larger green sail without touching.
“These shade sails are show pieces for our company,” says Clark. “They … make a statement so that people notice our building and realize that shade sails are not just little square pieces of cloth on some poles.” Color-coordinated with TM Covers’ brand, the shade sail enhances the eclectic building façade and invites potential customers to see what else the company can do.
