Overview

 
Cummins Inc, an international corporation that designs, manufactures, distributes and services engines and related technologies.  Cummins has now expanded in the Middle East by opening a new regional headquarters in Dubai.
 
Fabric Architecture Middle East was contacted by the Cummin’s Design Consultant to come up with a design lead solution to an inherent problem with many glazed structures – solar glare. The design dilemma was how to create an architectural feature to an existing glass atrium that would be both functional and visually striking.
 
The result is a series of Skytes. Skytes, part of the Fabric Interiors Signiture Series of Products, take inspiration from one of our most popular forms – the hypar. This dynamic and 3-dimensional sculptural fabric shape, tensioned to a lightweight stainless steel frame offers an ideal cost-effective alternative to a bespoke feature, and a superior version to standard soffit designs.  In glass atriums, Skytes help with solar reduction by reducing direct sunlight and at Cummins, further adding to their LEEDS criteria.
 
It was important to ensure the Skytes were colour matched to the Cummins Logo which encompasses grey and red.  Using a Ferrari Mesh Batty Line HM fabric, the red and grey colours were an exact match.  The particular fabric used is a specialty interior fabric that is lightweight yet very effective. Attaching it to steel support frames that were locally sourced also complied with LEEDS regulations.
 
Local installation engineers from Gebal installed and attached 4 no 3m grey Skytes and 2 no 3m red Skytes to the atrium’s steel framework.  Working around block lights and a massive glass ceiling was a challenge at such heights. The result is dramatic.
 
As the 120 employees at the new Cummins Middle East Headquarters in Dubai enter their new office, they will immediately notice the beautiful colourful patterns formed in the glass atrium.  In the direct sun, they glow with ambiance and at night, up-lights bring the shapes back to life.