Clouds

The CLOUD is a new and exciting concept in shading and comfort technology. The CLOUD can be easily adapted to any site or situation. The CLOUD concept was a response to an everyday need; providing shade in the heat of the day. Unlike the process for most of our projects, the CLOUD began with the specific and then moved to the conceptual.

Our client’s site has a lap pool surrounded by stone walls, planting, and fencing and looks to open fields and forest beyond. Our client values the openness of the location and wanted a shading solution that would be a compliment to the natural and open elements of the site.

During our initial visit to the site we immediately began to explore and discuss traditional solutions to the shading challenge; a wooden structure of posts and beams covered with vines for shading; a cantilevered aluminum frame covered in fabric, etc. Because of the large area needing to be covered we conceptualized designing furniture fitted with personalized umbrellas that would move when the furniture and the people moved. These solutions all had a similar, unsatisfying feel and they didn’t really address the fundamental design challenge; providing shade while preserving openness.

We found ourselves feeling constrained and boxed in by conventional thinking and so we took a different approach to the project. “Maybe the shade or umbrella needs to be really high up in the air so the immediate surroundings and the view aren’t cluttered with structure” As soon as we approached it this way, the true challenge, and the true goal crystallized; We needed a solution that provided shade not structure. We wanted the SHADE of an umbrella, not the supporting structure of the umbrella.

Immediately the idea for the CLOUD was clear; we didn’t want or need any structure within the pool enclosure itself. We would put support poles outside the fence and beyond the immediate view and then suspend a shade form from tensioned cables strung between the poles. We wondered, “Can we place the poles really far away in the woods so all you’ll see is a shade on the cables with no visible means of support?” How high should the CLOUD be? Will we need more than one to provide enough shade? Where will the poles be placed? How big do the poles and cable need to be?

The idea was really clear but it was very conceptual so we began to study the individual elements of the CLOUD. We made a quick massing model of the site in SketchUp to study how the CLOUD SHADOW would move over the course of the day and whether the shade would be provided in the desired location. We quickly realized that due to the path of the sun, we would need more than one CLOUD in order to provide our client with enough flexibility to always get shade where they wanted it. If the clouds needed to move independently then we’d need to provide multiple support structures and the CLOUDS would need to be at different heights. We needed the CLOUDS to move along the cables but we didn’t want them moving haphazardly so we’d need hardware to hold them in place. And then there was the wind. How would the CLOUD and suspension cables respond to gusts of wind?

Because the CLOUD was a relatively simple and manageable object we decided to make a full-size mock-up at the clients site. One way to proceed with the mock-up was to engage an engineer to size the cable and tell us how the CLOUD might behave on a windy day. This seemed expensive and unnecessary and we decided the empirical approach was faster, better, and less expensive. If the client liked the mock-up, we would work with an engineer to size all the final components. We wanted to keep costs down as much as possible so we used construction grade 2x4s for the posts and painted, rigid insulation for the CLOUD itself. We did a quick study of tension, sag and cable diameter in our office and ended up ordering a strong military-grade stainless steel cable from a rigging company just to be safe.


Our first attempt at hanging the CLOUD on the mocked up cable pointed out an important fact; the CLOUD had to be as light as possible. We eliminated the wood stiffeners on the back in favor of lighter, packing tape. Much better, stronger, and lighter. We reduced the weight by 60% so the sag on the cables was much less and the CLOUD remained at the right height above the ground. We used simple steel eye bolts to attach the CLOUD so we could slide it along the cables to adjust for the movement of the sun during the day. It was cloudy when we cinched the cables to the right tension but soon after the sun broke through and we experienced what we had hoped for; shade without structure.

Not only did we achieve shade without structure but we discovered unexpected bonus features. The sun reflected the waves of the water onto the CLOUD surface so the CLOUD appeared as an animated surface. The hard surface of the CLOUD reflected the sound of splashes and conversation from the pool to those seated in the shade of it. Since we mocked up only one CLOUD, we realized the seating needed to be moved to unexpected areas to remain in the shade. It was pleasant to sit in different areas surrounding the pool and the new seating areas provided new views within the pool area and beyond.

The CLOUD was more successful than we had imagined and the client was pleased. We’re now working on the challenge of the support posts – Should they be minimal or a statement?