Geiger Engineers consulting to Birdair, Inc., provided the structural and envelope engineering for the Talisman Centre's design-build roof replacement. The Talisman Centre is one of the largest multi-purpose, enclosed sports and recreational facilities in North America. Its original Teflon-coated fiberglass roof, designed by Geiger Associates, was the world's first translucent insulated fabric roof.
The new design maintains the original roof's striking appearance, while delivering much better performance through the use of Tensotherm™, a composite material with Lumira™ aerogel insulation sandwiched between layers of PTFE-coated fabric. The highly translucent, thermally and acoustically insulating Tensotherm™ fabric has self-cleaning properties and provides an especially dramatic appearance at night when the white fabric roof is illuminated from within by its interior lights. Tensotherm™ was developed by a team made up of Geiger Engineers, Birdair, Inc., and Cabot Corporation.