Aquinas College

The existing fabric structure at Aquinas College had problematic ‘waterproof’ shade fabric. The fabric had the weight and tension of shade cloth and had been treated with a waterproof coating. The cover had been sewn, which meant it had holes in the seams (causing leaks). The cover had been installed in a particular way to avoid UV damage to the laminated coating. Unfortunately, this resulted in water being trapped in the shade cloth and led to a very rapid mould build-up.

The college needed a design and construction partner who could remove the existing structure and replace it with a correctly engineered waterproof structure.

As the existing structure had been engineered for shade fabric only (not waterproof PVC), it needed to be removed. However, the structure was located in a courtyard surrounded by buildings, and this meant very tight access for machinery, and limited working space. On top of this, the footings hit rock and larger equipment was needed to drill through.