What are Sprung structures and why does Ottawa want to use them

Many key people have given their input on Sprung structures, but one of the players we’ve heard little from is Sprung Structures, the Canadian company which makes the membrane facilities. So the Lookout decided to connect with them to learn more. 

Jim Avery, the vice president of Sprung Structures based in Calgary Alberta, wanted to start off by saying this is not new infrastructure. He said 12,000 structures in 100 countries have used their invention, including Tesla for its model production facility in Fremont, California, and Amazon’s head office in Seattle for 15,000 Blue Origin engineers. In that case, it was built in 11 months compared to a conventional development which would take over three years. 

Avery said the tent-like facilities are ideal for Ottawa given how quickly they can be built compared to a permanent structure. 

• “We saw that in the pandemic scenario. We did hospitals across Canada. They needed solutions right away for distancing, for more space because the hospitals were overcrowded,” said Avery. “We’ve had several up in Toronto right now as respite centres. Those are a bit more transitional. Ottawa’s plan is to have a little bit more individual rooms.”

One of those facilities is the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital which has a Sprung structure attached to its emergency department. One resident who stayed in that facility recently penned a letter to the Ottawa Citizen supporting the project. 

How they can be set up: The structures are air-conditioned and heated, and have all the necessary features and options you’d have in any conventional building. 

• “What would that be from a service point of view? You’d have offices, you’d have administration, you’d have recreation, you could have individual housing pods, you could have consulting or even medical facilities, food services, dental, we’ve even seen a couple that supplied podiatry in a homeless navigation centre,” said Avery. 

They can be moved: Avery said some cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles have borrowed land for three to five years to house the homeless, but when it’s no longer needed, the structures are easy to move. That could theoretically happen in Ottawa if the need for asylum seekers is no longer there.

That could soon become a possibility if pollsters are correct and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party wins a majority government and drastically changes the country's immigration policy. But, moving the structures elsewhere does cost additional money and can vary based on the complexity of the inside infrastructure. 

The Sprung structures are also somewhat of a LEGO set that can be built again and again in different ways. 

• “We’ve done several where we might take some pieces down and add on more sections to something else, divide a structure into four smaller structures, we will put connecting corridors in, things like that,” said Avery. 

They aren’t tents: Avery said one of their biggest struggles as a company is explaining to people that Sprung structures are different from tents. 

“At first glance they might look like a tent, but the real difference is the shape, it doesn’t shed snow, and it’s how we tension the membrane,” he said. “Some people think it’s a single membrane and then you just add heat inside. No, there are two layers of membrane with fibre glass insulation between the two. Depending on the area we put various kinds of insulation in to meet the various codes. ”

Other uses: Avery said universities, the Canadian military, museums, the oil sector and airports have all built Sprung structures for various uses. He said First Nations communities love them because they can be built in secluded areas, and churches regularly prefer them due to the acoustics.