Big top wins big honor

A 40-meter circus big top built for the 2012 Australian Circus Tour by Baytex Manufacturing Co. Ltd. won an Outstanding Achievement Award in tent manufacturing and design for the 2012 International Achievement Awards (IAA).

Designed to complement the tour’s existing 24-meter foyer tent, the new big top needed to make a statement, stand out from the crowd and create a sense of excitement. Featuring extra high peaks and enhanced by striking graphics, the new tent has proven a magnet for circusgoers wherever it is set up.

Made from Ferrari Big Top fabric, the tent features striking graphic elements cut from Ferrari 502 PVC and block welded to the surface of the tent membrane. This technique, while laborious, ensures the integrity of the graphics over the lifetime of the tent. Designed three-dimentionally, the tent is as much a design exercise as it is a fabrication challenge, according to Baytex.

The client was extremely satisfied, saying the tent was set up easily, with everything in the right place, and that everything looked great upon completion. In its first week of set-up, the tent withstood winds up to 30 knots yet experienced hardly any movement according to the client.

The IAA is a program of the Industrial Fabrics Association International.