Ali Tamimi Sons, the Riyadh-based manufacturer of tensile fabric structures, has been in designing, manufacturing and erecting tent and shade structures for over 50 years.

In the last decade, Tamimi Tensile Structures combined steelwork, cables and tensile membranes to form covers for stadiums, shopping malls, car parking shades, railway stations, private palaces, desert tents, beach tents, exhibition halls, entrance sails and school playgrounds.
The business that started with goat-hair tents has diversified over the years to produce covering solutions using tensile fabric material ranging from traditional woven fabrics to synthetic fabrics such as PVC and Teflon-coated fibreglass.

Says Roger Westbrook, project director for Ali Tamimi: 'Shoppers will be experiencing the lightness and airiness of a fabric covered atrium at The Al Nakheel Mall in Riyadh City Centre. Once complete by the end of the year, the fabric cover - over an oval measuring 8 m long and 50 m wide - will be the largest tensile membrane tent in the Gulf.'

Tamimi has provided solutions using varying combinations of materials for several prestigious projects in the region. The Tripoli Stadium in Lebanon, constructed by Tamimi, shows the intricate interaction possible between steelwork cables and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride). For the Sahara Mall extension roof, Riyadh, Tamimi has provided a solution using PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) fabric on the mast-supported shade. On the same roof are two impressive arched covers in PTFE fabric supported by triangular trusses spanning over 30 m.

The number of car shades, of different designs, constructed over the years in Saudi Arabia and in the other GCC runs into several thousands. Tamimi's clients include public and private companies, major international companies, and individuals. Materials vary from stretched knitted fabrics to PVC, PTFE and PVDF membranes, with shapes varying from folded triangles to conical arrangements. Tamimi has also used the pyramid shape to great advantage on railway stations at Riyadh and Madinah.

Owners of private palaces and luxury villas require shaded sitting areas both in courtyards and in open gardens. Desert tents show the PVC and PTFE fabric off to their best qualities. The tents can be constructed with or without internal supports.

The Riyadh Mayoralty Exhibition tent, done by Tamimi, has a PVC-covered space 50 m long by 20 m wide, totaling 1,000 sq m. Tamimi says that similar tents can be constructed with or without sides to incorporate tennis and squash courts. Many of the tents can be internally lined. One of the most elegant tensile structures designed by the company that can also be used at public places, is the sail structure that has been featured at the main entrance of the Khobar Corniche. Tamimi has also been setting up school playground shades, at any height up to 10 m, that can ensure cover from the sun's rays.

Tamimi has ensured that the latest developments in the technology of tensile fabric structures are reflected in quality details and connections, both within the structure and in other structures. The company also leads in providing solutions in the environmental field and has provided covers in the shape of domes over clarifier tanks at Riyadh city sewage works, designed to collect and filter gases.

'Quality control is uppermost in the minds of all Tamimi staff, in the fabric factory, painting workshop and steelwork fabrication workshop. Quality engineering can be undertaken on any architect's or prospective client's enquiry, and we ensure that the requirements of the client are practical and buildable, and price offers are made in a professional and swift manner,' he adds.