COCOON-ARCHITECTURE.COM:IN IRELAND, the weather is a frequently unco-operative element when planning outside events. Lisburn architect, Michael Brady, attended an open-air concert held at a GAA ground a number of years ago which was a disaster thanks to torrential midsummer rain. "It was a pay-at-the-door event and the club lost out badly."

Standing in the rain among a tiny number of other sodden souls he thought that what was needed was a temporary covering that could have been erected as soon as the weather turned. He “just toyed with the idea for a long time” before discussing it with friend and mechanical design engineer Jonathan Scott about three years ago.

Brady then drew up plans for a prototype and spoke with Invest Northern Ireland who helped them establish the company, Cocoon (Europe).

Brady is now patenting his mobile retractable canopy, or Cocoon. Based on feedback from Invest NI’s Transform programme he amended the scale. “The original concept was for a permanent structure, a large retractable enclosure, housed under the ground in basement chambers.” It would be installed at sporting and festival sites. “We realised that to create a prototype would be too expensive and decided to concentrate on another product, the mobile Cocoon. Our key design criteria were last-minute deployment and ease of deployment.”

The structure covers 10m by 30m and is transported on a trailer. Brady says the main difference between the Cocoon and a standard marquee is that the latter is built from multiple components. “It takes two people, two to three hours to set up a Cocoon compared to taking up to eight people up to a day and a half to set up a similarly-sized marquee.”

Cocoon has signed with marquee manufacturer Tectonics UK. As well as sport and festival applications, it could also be use by relief agencies. The mobile Cocoon costs €33,417, including trailer. “You can use it as many times as you want and can share it with other groups or clubs,” says Brady.