May 11th, 2011
Saint-Gobain received lots of attention as pedestrians walked along the entrance walkways of major pavilions at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo park.
Referred to as "Expo Boulevard" is a 1km long channel which connected the entrances of major pavilions of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Park and also the elevated pedestrian walkway. Consisting of 2 floors underground and 2 floors above the ground, the Boulevard is a large-scale, multi-functional combination of transportation, commercial activities, catering, entertainment and exhibition services. The six 40m high horn-shaped structures of the "Sunny Valleys" divert sunlight into underground levels of the Expo Boulevard and collect rainwater for use after recycling. In these six valleys there are about 10,000 joints and every joint has a different angle and position, so construction had to be very precise.
Saint Gobain Performance Plastics supplied more than 100.000m2 PTFE Sheerfill® Architectural Membrane for the roofing tensile membrane structure covering the whole Boulevard to create an innovative, spectacular spatial visual effect. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics also supplied FEP and PFA for welding PTFE fabric membranes and ETFE for film membrane construction.
The Expo Boulevard project is not only a landmark project in the Expo district, but is a beautiful city landscape in Shanghai.