The largest stretch ceiling dome in Europe
In 2003, a large old building of the mail terminal at the Kiev's (Ukraine) rail station was turned into a prestigious high-end business center. It was a very ambitious project. One of the more important sections of the center a large conference hall destined to house meetings conducted by political and business leaders of the country.
The conference hall was situated at the top floor of the building. A huge (36 m=118 ft. in diameter) glass dome overlapped the hall. The architects decided to use a dome-like stretch ceiling for this project. Let us see why. The dome had been erected in the 70s. It consisted of large hexagonal elements bounded by aluminum framing. Aging and some defects in the original design became the cause of the roof's leakage. Also, the dome didn't have an attractive look on the inside. Standard double doors were the only way to access the hall. It was impossible to bring any type of machinery inside the room. That has added yet another challenge to the project. The architect's task was not easy. Here are some qualities of the stretch ceiling technology which made it the best solution for this situation:
Easy to transport, install.
Water and humidity resistant.
Capable to take a form of dome.
Aesthetically attractive.
Doesn't require finishing or further decorating .
Safe.
Doesn't accumulate dust, because cleaning would be a hard task
Excellent light dispensing properties
The new ceiling was stretched over a hemispherical structure made of 40 arc-like metal trusses. 41 petal-shaped pieces of membrane fixed with invisible double rails created a hemisphere. The diameter of the inner dome was 28 m (92 ft). 18 m high mobile scaffolds were erected inside of the dome. They were moving clockwise as the installation unfolded. The entire work took two weeks to execute! This is one of many examples where the stretch ceiling was the only effective solution for the architectural task.
