- Bonaire 2023 © DutchPanna
- Bonaire 2023 © Polyned
- Bonaire 2023 © DutchPanna
- Bonaire 2023 © DutchPanna
- Bonaire 2023 © LB Times
Bonaire sports court
The Bonaire sports court project features a tensile structure designed to provide year-round protection for Liseo Boneriano, a secondary school in Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. Commissioned by Polyned Export and engineered by Summum Engineering, the project showcases a membrane roof supported by arched steel trusses.
Liseo Boneriano is a key educational institution in Bonaire, offering MAVO, HAVO, and VWO education levels to students aged 12 to 18. The school plays a vital role in the community, providing comprehensive education in a warm, tropical climate. The intense sun and occasional strong winds necessitate effective and performant shading solutions to ensure a comfortable environment for outdoor activities. To address this, the school introduced a tensile structure to cover a newly built sports court, providing essential protection and improving the usability of the space for various athletic and non-athletic activities.

Design and materials
The tensile structure spans a sports court measuring 16 by 24 meters, covering an area of approximately 380 square meters. The structure reaches a clear height of 6 meters at the center, with a total height of 6.7 meters. The high-strength technical textile spans five steel arches with tension cables along the edges. The steel framework, consisting of tubular sections with varying diameters and thicknesses, provides robust support for the tensile fabric. The performant type III membrane used for this project guarantees diverse mechanical behavior in its two directions, allowing better control during form-finding to reduce the inward pull of the outermost arches. The company DutchPanna provided and installed the sports flooring for the court, an all-weather, eco-friendly floor, made from recycled sports shoes.

Engineering
We were tasked with the engineering and form-finding of the membrane structure. Given the Caribbean’s significant wind loads, the primary focus was on ensuring stability and structural integrity under these conditions. A parametric workflow was employed to optimize the dimensions of the steel elements, ensuring minimal material use without compromising on strength. This process also involved providing Polyned Export with detailed reaction forces at connections and foundations, as well as necessary values for biaxial tests on the membrane to verify its ability to maintain its shape and structural integrity under repeated cycles of stress and relaxation.
Initially, the design considered using pre-fabricated arched steel trusses available from commercial suppliers. However, we refined this concept to achieve a more optimal shape tailored to the project’s specific requirements. The strategic placement of longitudinal struts and the precise dimensioning of steel elements were crucial, coupled with the form-finding process, to avoid excessive deformations and ensure that the membrane did not clash with the underlying structure. This approach enhanced the efficiency of the structure while also taking into account the client’s preferences for aesthetics and ease of installation.

Conclusion
Liseo Boneriano’s new tensile structure provides a versatile and weather-resistant sports court, allowing students to make the most of their physical education classes and extracurricular activities. Our flexible approach to form-finding and structural design has enriched the school environment, creating a practical and inviting space for students’ activities. The new canopy gives students a great space to stay active and have fun, no matter what the weather brings, fostering a stronger sense of community.

Team
Client
Polyned Export
Engineering
Alessio Vigorito, Diederik Veenendaal | Summum Engineering
Construction
DutchPanna (floor installation)
Location: Kralendijk, Bonaire
Time: 2022-2023
Status: Completed in 2023
Size: 380 m²
Services: Structural design and engineering