Rubb Fabric Building News

Rubb Buildings Ltd has bid a fond farewell to a man who helped lay the foundations and build the international company into the success it is today. Sales Manager Ray Colby has retired from Rubb’s UK plant after 32 years of service. Staff from the business based in Gateshead had all the celebrations covered at Ray’s retirement party at Pan Haggerty Restaurant in Newcastle on Friday, March 26. Colleagues paid tribute to Ray’s loyalty, dedication and pride in his work over the years.

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Ray began working for Rubb in 1978 and has been instrumental in helping turn the company into a world leader in the design and manufacture of relocatable fabric structures. Among Ray’s greatest achievements was securing the Ministry of Defence as one of Rubb’s regular clients. “I have worked with some great people over the years,” said Ray. “Rubb is like a family and has grown up like a family – every single person is 100 percent for the company. Without every vital cog the engine simply wouldn’t work.”

Managing Director Bill Wood thanked Ray for all his hard work, adding: “We have worked very well together over the years and I am sad to see him leave. Everyone wishes him well in his retirement.” The married father of two sons is now looking forward to a life of leisure after his dynamic sales career with Rubb.

In Spring 2010 Rubb, Inc. will move into its expanded U.S. steel fabrication facility in Sanford, Maine.  This expansion will effectively triple the usable area for steel fabrication at the Rubb plant thereby significantly increasing production capacity.

This project utilizes a 110′ span Rubb BVE range structure engineered to code standards for the high 70 pound per square foot snow loads present in Maine.  This expansion includes significant improvements to Rubb’s 16 acre site with paved storage and handling areas increased to 4 acres.  The new facility is fully insulated and equipped with radiant in-floor heating and a state of the art air filtration system that will clean and recycle heated air, generating substantial energy savings.  The facility has an architectural masonry and glass front and is provided with offices and mechanical rooms, an employee breakroom, a training room, locker rooms and a 5,000 square foot mezzanine.

Company President David Nickerson commented that, “The cooperation of local and state officials and the excellent work of local subcontractors and Rubb’s own staff have resulted in a very successful project.  This facility will provide a better and more productive work environment for our employees and will enable us to better serve our customer requirements for the large span structures that form an important part of our growing business.”

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Lillebø Sand & Transport is a company based in Oltedalen, Ålgård in Gjesdal Kommune in Norway. Rubb Hall AS have supplied a Rubbhall (type NV) which is 12m wide x 26m long with 4m side wall. Rubb supplied two 5m x 5m doors, one in each end. These are standard steel “Rubb doors” which we have designed and manufactured. These are robust folding doors that require very little maintenance. Lilleby Sand & Transport supply large quantities of sand and stone to the concrete industry in Rogaland (South West coast of Norway). They have a further two such facilities in the area. The Rubb building is used to dry sand before it is used for making concrete.

PV Flexibles on PTFE membranes

I recently came across this interesting article about thin-film photovoltaic cells and how they could be applied to fabric structures.  While it appears they are still in early stages of development, preliminary results look promising.  We are currently working with a research group at the University of Virginia School of Architecture on real-world application of this technology.  Perhaps one day a fabric building will generate power for its owners?

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Rubb Hall AS has manufactured several of its THAB range of shelters to UNHCR over the year. These shelters have been lent by UNHCR to GTZ. GTZ is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. GTZ promotes complex reforms and change processes, often working under difficult conditions. Its corporate objective is to improve people’s living conditions on a sustainable basis. The Rubb shelters are located in Juba, South Sudan and are used for general storage. They are standard UN size measuring 10m wide x 24m long with 3.35m sidewall.

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Rubb has supplied a NV type Rubbhall 15m wide x 26m long with 4m side wall to Alutec AS in Os, just outside Bergen, Norway. Alutec AS is a large producer of floating docks and JAMAX scaffolding for the building industry. The JAMAX system is one of the most used scaffolding systems in Norway. The Rubb building was supplied with 2 4m x 5m overhead doors and one personnel door. Rubb also supplied (5) 400 watt light fittings and (2) Relivent internal fans. This is to reduce any condensation in the building.