Flexiscreen protects open building envelope, keeping biopharma construction project on schedule

Temporary weather protection for a live life sciences jobsite

Biopharmaceutical construction is booming across the US, from New Jersey’s pharma corridor to North Carolina’s Research Triangle and the growing Boston/Cambridge biotech cluster. Pressure to keep these projects on seschdule is intense. Environmental control, cleanroom construction, and equipment installation all depend on dry, stable, contamination-free conditions long before the permanent building envelope is complete.

That was exactly the challenge facing Democo, one of Belgium’s leading contractors. With the permanent building envelope still months from completion, Democo’s project team needed to protect the open facade from wind and rain without slowing down the jobsite.

Democo brought in Westgate Global, who installed Flexiscreen, a tensioned-fabric enclosure system, along the open elevations. The temporary barrier sealed the building against the weather while exterior envelope work continued around it, keeping the site fully operational and letting Democo bring early interior fit-out activities forward with confidence.

Why weather protection matters on a biopharma schedule

For any construction project, delays to the facade or cladding package can quickly impact the schedule. Early fit-out work depends on dry, protected interior space. In life sciences construction, that risk is even higher: environmental control, cleanroom buildout, and equipment installation all require stable, contamination-free conditions from day one.

Protecting progress before cladding installation

Without an effective barrier, weather exposure risked disrupting interior work, damaging materials, and delaying the fit-out phase. The open elevations created a direct route for wind and rain into the building. Democo needed a weather protection solution that could be installed quickly, span the open facades, and hold up to active jobsite conditions without blocking access routes, sightlines, or ongoing work. On a project where every week of schedule slip has a real dollar cost, waiting wasn’t an option. 

Traditional temporary sheeting wasn’t practical for the scale and shape of the openings and wouldn’t have met the site’s wind-load demands. Following a full survey, including wind-load calculations, Westgate Global used Flexiscreen’s suspended, modular system to form a large-scale barrier across the exposed facade areas, shielding the interior environment while construction continued on schedule.

A flexible temporary weather protection system for complex openings

Designed for large, awkward, or temporary separation needs, Flexiscreen is built for situations where a conventional wall isn’t practical. The system installs to virtually any height and length (subject to survey), with panels suspended from the building’s existing steel using clips and S-hooks, with no additional supporting framework or scaffold required. On this project, the system was fitted around the structural layout and temporary works, with sheeting secured to cover multiple large openings.

The panels were joined using V-overlap connections, delivering a 99%+ air- and dust-tight seal that shielded the open building from weather, helped regulate temperature and humidity, and kept dust from spreading into operational areas. Roll-up sections were built in for easy access without compromising the seal.

“The challenge on this project was to protect large facade openings before the permanent cladding was installed, without slowing the site down. Flexiscreen gave Democo a fast, adaptable way to do exactly that — keeping the site operational and allowing early fit-out works to begin with greater confidence.” — John Becher, Technical Executive, Westgate Global

Supporting early fit-out and schedule continuity

With interior areas protected, the project team could pull forward key follow-on and fit-out activities instead of waiting for the exterior envelope to finish. The jobsite stayed fully operational, interior working conditions were safer and more practical, and early fit-out could begin with far less dependency on the cladding schedule.

Protecting the work area at this early stage gave the team a practical way to protect momentum and protect the bottom line.

Learn more about Flexiscreen