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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReport from Salt Lake City - 092324Report from Salt Lake City My wife and I were given a tour of the North American headquarters and fabrication facility of Sprung Structures in West Jordan,UT.This is a very attractive,modern building with lovely offices and impressive atrium.The offices,engineers’carrels and main conference room are on two floors,yet there remains soaring space and light above.I learned about Falkbuilt,another way to achieve large savings in building out a Sprung Structure or any kind of building.Falk has digitized interior construction similar to what Sprung and Myrtha have done with their product lines.Inside the Sprung West Jordan headquarters I saw only a single,relatively small hand-built drywall wall.Sprung built out its offices without two-by-fours and drywall and on-site painting by using Falk’s office walls,doors,ceilings,etc.This aspect of construction was almost literally a snap.It saves large amounts of “soft costs,”labor and construction time,simplifies the critical path and delivery channels and avoids construction waste.The materials had high-end finishes and created the feel of a place in which much attention was paid to quality,attractive design. We sat in the same conference room chairs that had held representatives of Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’Blue Origin.More recently,MrBeast was there and has ordered large Sprung Structures for their new production stages and headquarter offices in North Carolina. The production facility contained much proprietary machinery and computerized equipment which I was prohibited from filming.I saw a huge image of Bryce Canyon that had been “printed”onto the membrane (the colors are actually part of the membrane,not a surface application).The factory had been in a Sprung structure for over two decades and received a new “skin”as part of the remodel and expansion completed last year.It has a mosaic showing all the many colors possible for Sprung structures. I specifically inquired about the issue of vandalism as some people continue to speculate that a Sprung building could be severely damaged by a malicious knife attack.We learned that prisons and homeless shelters use Sprung Structures without issue.Sprung buildings are in Watts and New York City and some very rough third-world cities.There have been instances where someone has taken a blade to the membrane.But I now understand how simple the repair is. Instead of patching (as they must do in the tensioning process to access purlins),an entire section of the panel between the arches is cut out.It could be one-foot,six-feet high,whatever. The material is easily “field welded”to achieve a nearly invisible seam and the repair is done with minimal trouble.The Kedlar is a tough rip-stop material,another feature that limits damage. The more serious issue for all buildings is spray-paint graffiti,which cannot be completely removed from wood,masonry and even some metallic surfaces.Sprung’s Kedlar is a Teflon material to which spray paint will not adhere.Graffiti can be simply wiped off. As for security issues,Sprung has developed a “Sprung Guard”that is a hard,impenetrable stiff material that can replace the membrane.Despite the wide use of Sprung structures in many applications,conditions and locations,including casinos and medical facilities,they have only sold one section of Sprung Guard.It was requested by Native American tribe for its cannabis operation money room.They also offer a wire mesh fabric that can encircle the building at ground level,but which they do not feel is really necessary.They don’t seem to be pushing it to customers.They point out that,as in traditional buildings,burglars want the quickest way in and out.That is not through walls.It is the doors and windows they target.All buildings have those points of vulnerability. We also got to see the Kearns Oquirrih 50-meter pool that received a Sprung enclosure about 13 years ago.This was originally an outdoor pool and they added the enclosure so it could be used year-round.It was done at ⅓the cost of traditional construction in a matter of months.I saw no damage to the membrane nor any corrosion on exposed metal.The aluminum arches are encased in vinyl (as they are in Boise).Our tour guide from Sprung knew of no claims on the 50-year warranty against corrosion for any of Sprung’s 12,000 buildings. Kearns has an older,concrete pool,much different than the Myrtha pools we enjoyed in Boise. The HVAC is not up to the level of the Boise facility.There are no huge fans pushing chloramines down so they can be suctioned away.Yet,there was barely a whiff of chlorine.I think the high peak and huge volume of air in a Sprung Structure (unattainable with traditional construction methods except at exorbitant cost)may have something to do with the superior air quality. I learned that firefighters love Sprung Structures,and are using them for firehouses.For an aquatic center,a fire suppression system is unnecessary.There is nothing to burn except the small office space (and maybe not even that with Falkbuilt interiors).The DuPont Kedlar used in the membrane does not burn.It melts when touched by open flame or exposed to intense heat, creating an opening out of which toxic gasses and heat vents.This allows firefighters to safely enter at ground level to extinguish flames.I would guess these properties might reduce insurance costs in addition to saving the cost of a fire suppression system. The Kearns pool is part of a sprawling recreational complex that includes the venue from the SLC Olympics for speed skating.These people know what they are doing.Other communities are looking at Sprung to make possible projects they could not afford with expensive old school approaches.The city of Mountain Home,Idaho is nearing completion of its Sprung-built aquatic facility.Richfield City,Utah recently put out an RFP for architects that specifies use of a Sprung Structure for their future aquatic center.Maclean Sprung has told me they have about a dozen other aquatic center projects on their plate. Did I mention that the R-30 insulation in a Sprung Structure does not contain any formaldehyde and is largely plant-based?It does not bedevil installers with prickly fiberglass fibers that penetrate shirts and lungs.(If you have ever crawled around in a tight space wearing heavy clothing,goggles and a ventilator and wrestling with insulation batts you will appreciate this hugely). They recycle all aluminum shavings and membrane scraps.The arches are manufactured from recycled aluminum,if you will recall. Lastly,I saw photos of some of their many projects,from ice hockey rinks and hospitals to churches and performing arts centers.Photos of two projects stuck with me:the huge Sprung Structure they donated and erected at Ground Zero in Manhattan for those recovering bodies and sifting through the Twin Towers debris,and the medical and morgue complex they donated and built during the genocide in Rwanda.Every year they go somewhere in the world and build something for communities in need.This is a very fine company run by very good people.