Sprung Structures

Sprung traces its family business to 1887, when Western Tent & Mattress Co. opened in Calgary, and says it invented the stressed membrane structure its buildings use today. The company reports more than 12,000 structures erected in over 100 countries. Its contact page lists offices in Calgary, Alberta, and Allentown, Pennsylvania, among others, but the site does not label either one as headquarters. Aviation is one of many markets alongside industrial, sports, church and office buildings.

A Sprung aircraft hangar is a tensioned membrane over an aluminum frame, giving a clear-span bay without interior columns. The company sells permanent and temporary hangars, says most go up in weeks rather than months because fabrication happens off site and foundations are light, and says buildings can be lengthened, reconfigured or taken down and moved. Telescoping, sliding and rolling hangar doors can be built in, and insulated versions are offered for climate-controlled storage and maintenance. Its aviation project pages include a Life Flight Network hangar, a hangar in Lincoln, Nebraska, and work for Marshall Aerospace.

Sprung sells directly to owners and builders through its regional offices and engineers each building to the building and aviation codes that apply at the site. It does not publish pricing. For an FBO or airport the decision is speed and the option to relocate or expand, set against the conventional framing and door details of a steel hangar; Sprung's own FAQ argues that the fabric approach cuts construction time and foundation work.