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The nTelos Pavilion at Harbor Center
Portsmouth, Virginia
The City of Portsmouth, VA
 The nTelos Pavilion at Harbor Center was completed in June of 2004 and has become one of Span Systems' most impressive fabric structures built to date. A very open and complex design creates an extraordinary environment for people to enjoy a variety of concerts. Located in downtown Portsmouth, VA, this state-of-the-art amphitheatre hosts a variety of well-known entertainers whose music ranges from rock to country to jazz, as well as rhythm and blues. The facility seats approximately 6500, with unobstructed seats located under the large translucent fabric structure. With cable-supported spans of 200+ feet, the roof provides a harmonic integration with its surroundings and purpose.
 This permanent year-round structure, nestled on the waterfront, was designed to resemble a ship's billowing sails. Realization of this concept required extremely solid engineering, careful detailing and construction implementation, which proved beyond the ability of notable industry competitors. The Span Systems design team stepped up to the challenge, doing extensive computer modeling and structural testing, as well as performing exacting wind tunnel modeling and testing of numerous roof shapes to help minimize the cable suspended roof's movement under load and handle the high wind loads. The structure has a main two-part mast that is 137 ft tall. The fabric panels spread out from, and are supported by, alternating ridge and valley cables connected to the center mast in a radial fan pattern. The roof is supported around the perimeter by a complex series of plates, masts, and tensioning cables. The roof is anchored to massive caisson foundations with capacities exceeding as much as 1,000,000 lbs of uplift. The nTelos Pavilion roof skin is constructed of Sheerfill Teflon® coated fiberglass.
Span Systems designers, fabricators and installation professionals kept a demanding schedule and completed the project in six months from design to opening day. Another example of why Span Systems is the premier source for tensile fabric amphitheatre structures.
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