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Which temporary structure to cover an outdoor sports arena?

Ideas of Indoor Sports Court Structures

As we all know, despite the fact that traditional sports stadium is permanent and extreme weather resisted. But with a framework of Reinforced Concrete, it requires long construction time, high material and labor cost.
Therefore, roofing an outdoor sports court with the temporary structure seems to be more common. While the air supported inflatable structure and the clear span tent structure are two of the most popular options among all.
So what do we need to know about those two temporary sports arena structures? And which one is the more suitable to cover your outdoor sports field? Let’s find out through comparing their pros and cons.

Pros and Cons of the two indoor sports structures

Clear span fabric tent VS. Inflatable Membrane Tent

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Are the temporary structures easily and rapidly installed?

No matter the inflatable dome structures or the clear span sports tents court are the prefabricated structure that can be rapidly erected within couple hours or days. Both are saving labor and material cost in a good way. Those two structures are also removable and relocatable.

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Whether width and height are customizable.

Both temporary structures are customizable.
Inflatable membrane structures can be custom made to be any width and height according to clients’ needs.
Temporary sports structure from SHELTER can also be custom made in unlimited width and length. And the height is also expandable. The height of an “A” frame structure and polygon tent can be custom made in the range of 4-8m, while the tensile fabric sports structure (tfs) is 6-13m.

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What appearance designs are available.

Comparing to an inflatable structure that can be made in many shapes, the clear span sports tents structures usually come in specific structural appearance.
The most popular temporary structures to cover a sports court are as follow, the polygon equestrian tent, the tfs football field covers, and the “A” frame indoor swimming pool.

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Which structure is more durable and cost less in maintenance.

The tent building structure is framed with hard-pressed aluminum alloy and being completed with special treatment to make it 100 km/h to 120 km/h wind withstand and snow load. And the roofing tarpaulin is also waterproof, sun blocking and anti-tearing. Such a reinforced framework makes the sports court cover durable for over 20+ years.
As for the inflatable sports court, it also has the function of wind withstand and rainproof, but the follow-up maintenance costs caused by the replacement, repair and refill a leaky tarpaulin is continuous and expansive. And its lifespan is also shorter than the frame structure.

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Which temporary structure provides better indoor sports experience.

One of the biggest disadvantages of an air-supported structure is the problem of 24 7 continuous inflating. As a result, the indoor sports venues are always sealed and blocking the air circulation.
On the contrary, a frame tent building is clad with openable PVC tarp, ventilation windows and air conditioner to provide a more comfortable indoors sports environment.

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Which structure is easier for sports court facilities installation.

The two structures are both covered with sun-blocking membranes, but what makes them different is the air supported structure requires the integration and no crack of the internal membrane wall, making the lighting installation also a problem.
While the temporary fabric tent structure does not have such a problem at all. First of all, the roofing tarp can be choose between translucent and block out PVC. The lighting facilities can also be hung on the aluminum framework to ensure adequate indoors light.

All in all, an air-supported inflatable structure might be the better solution to meet your budget for building temporary sports court that will only be used for multiple times.
As for a temporary or semi-permanent sports structure that will stand for years, a modular clear span structure will absolutely be the better option.
It is the most popular tent structure being used as campus sports building, public gym center and sports complex tent to cover outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, equestrian and dressage training, football field, basketball court, indoor ice rink and etc.