Festival of Arts

Structure Type: Canopies
Project Scope:  Design, Engineer, Fabricate and Installation of Membrane Structures
Project Size: 28,000 SQFT Surface Area
Material: PTFE Membrane
Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Completion Date: 2017
Market Segment: Event & Entertainment Facilities
Owner: Festival of Arts
General Contractor: Turner Construction
Architect: Bauer Architects
Structural Engineer: Fuscoe Engineering

ETS partnered with Bauer Architects and the Festival of Arts board members to bring their vision for a reimagined $10.5 million exhibition grounds to life.

The renovated Festival of Arts site consists of nine individual PTFE-covered tensile membrane structures supported by AESS compound radiused steel.  Seven of the structures combine to create a pair of overlapping canopies to cover the art exhibit area. A series of HDPE structures were built to cover the dining and entertainment areas of the site.

The renovations to the Festival of Arts exhibit grounds were ongoing, beginning with Bauer Architects’ construction of the Festival’s new façade in 2014. The Laguna Beach City Council approved the project in July of 2015, but construction was delayed by a year in anticipation of El Niño conditions. However, the rain waited a year until the project began and then hit with a vengeance. Flooding at the festival grounds resulted in significant site and foundation work delays. That required creative adjustments to the project’s work schedule for Turner Construction Company to reach the project deadline.

Photo credits: Tom Lamb & Gary Taylor

On behalf of the Board of Directors and Senior Staff of the Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach, I want to express our appreciation to you and the entire FabriTec team for a job well done. FabriTec’s contribution to the design and realization of a totally new and reimagined art exhibit area and entertainment space was essential. The Festival now enjoys a beautiful and functional set of roof and shade structures that will last for decades.

We most appreciated FabriTec’s “can do” attitude and dedication to the project. There were several challenges all of the players who worked on this project faced which included:

• A tight demolition and construction time frame: The entire project had to be completed within an eight and one-half month window.
• A constrained construction site: The site size required several subs to simultaneously work in the same areas and show creativity in the selection of “lay-down” areas.
• An abnormally wet/rainy winter which delayed work: The winter of 2016-17 was one of the wettest in years and set the project back four to five weeks.

These constraints required each and every one of the several subcontractors to perform according to a well-orchestrated plan which FabriTec certainly did. Additionally, we appreciated how accessible FabriTec senior management was throughout the project to resolve those issues that invariably occur.

We are pleased that FabriTec played its part in this elaborate dance which allowed the Festival to open on schedule for its 2017 summer season and permit the 140 artists and several hundred thousand patrons to enjoy the redesigned venue.

Fredric L. Sattler
President

Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach

2018 Outstanding Historical Project of the Year
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

2016 Design Awards
Citation Award – Commercial – Festival of Arts Grounds
AIA Orange County Design Awards