The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) announced the winners of this year’s International Achievement Awards (IAA) at IFAI Expo in Charlotte, NC this past month.
The IAA recognizes excellence in design and innovation, highlighting truly spectacular work in the specialty fabrics and technical textiles industry. The IFAI received a total of 296 entries in 42 categories in this year’s competition. Winners were selected based on complexity, design, workmanship, uniqueness and function. Judges included industry experts, editors, architects, educators and design professionals.
Rainier does work in almost every division of the industry, from awnings and other shading products, to tents, marine windows, and fabric graphics. This year, we were acknowledged by our industry peers for some very cool projects in several different categories.
The 6-foot-tall hockey pucks we built for the NHL’s all-star game in Nashville were given an Award of Excellence in the Fabric Arts category, and best in category of all Fabric Environment projects that were submitted.
The printed panels that we made for the discovery portal at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, an interactive part of their exhibit which light up as visitors walk past, were given an Outstanding Achievement award in the category of Fabric Graphics.
The custom designed wave awnings and “tulips” we manufactured and installed at Olympia’s Capital Mall outdoor promenade were given an Award of Excellence in the Commercial Awnings & Canopies less than 1,000 square feet category.
A 24′ x 16′ x 8′ custom outdoor dry diving pit containment vessel that we built for Stanford’s diving team, which was also used by the US Olympic team, was given an Award of Excellence in the category of Advanced Textiles, Technical Miscellaneous.
We were also delighted to see that our customer, Canvasworks Inc., was recognized with an Award of Excellence in the Sailboat enclosures for the Spirit of Massachussetts project, a sailboat that was converted to a restaurant. We partnered with them to fabricate the semi-rigid windows that make up the enclosure.
Rainier has been a member of the IFAI since 1977, and we’ve been recognized by the IAA many times over the years. Each award is meaningful recognition for the sometimes complex, but always innovative projects that we are proud to have in our portfolio.
See all the winners on http://iaa.ifai.com/