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“Shade Sails 2.0” was one of the opening presentations Sept. 26 at IFAI Expo 2017. The presentation featured Tim Koehler, Lawrence Fabric and Metal Structures Inc., and Tim Akes, MPanel Software Solutions, who discussed two projects that could handle wind and snow loads.
The first project at Southwest Illinois Community College was an outside study area, placed above the first floor. Using the MPanel software, the designer could see how the shadows from the shading would look at different times of the day as the seasons change. Ultimately the software design helped sell the project to donors who would fund the creation.
The second project, Clayton on the Park, was added to the 24 floor for rooftop shading. The project used a ladder truss framework with fabric added. This project presented a special challenge because the only way to get materials on the rooftop was to load the materials on top of the elevator, which required 52 trips.