Entrance canopy SERVICE STATION OF THE FUTURE

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In the beginning of 2021, Enoc Group, the official Integrated Energy Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, opened the ‘Service Station of the Future’. This is the first project where ETFE is combined with carbon fibre structure. The interaction with carbon fibre was very demanding in terms of design approach, but we successfully arrived at a great solution. The whole station’s design is shaped to resemble the stature of the UAE’s national tree, Ghaf. Eight trunks support the station’s canopy and are built from 22,500 m² of carbon fibre. A ninth trunk supports the electric charging station’s canopy, which stands apart from the main canopy. 140 two-layer ETFE cushions form these incredible canopies. More than 3,800 LED light modules illuminate the ETFE canopy, providing multiple colors. This is a great way that ETFE can help create a unique atmosphere and recognizability for a building. ETFE has material properties that make it more flexible as a construction material, and as a medium for dynamic illumination. In the evening, the white pigmented foil enhances the colors of the integrated LED illumination and highlights the service station building. The Service Station of the Future at Expo 2020 in Dubai is the world’s first LEED platinum-certified service station. Several sustainability efforts were accounted for, to achieve this certification, ETFE being one of them. Two great examples: Texlon® ETFE technology has an extremely low energy consumption during the manufacturing process, and the foil can be fully recycled. With an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration), the Texlon® ETFE system assists in the most important project phase: the design phase.