CIRQUE DU SOLEIL – The Pavilion
 TORONTO, ONTARIO

Client: Cirque du Soleil

Dubbed the world’s largest free-standing venue, The Pavilion is a marvel of modern engineering and imagination. Measuring 60 metres wide, 75 metres long, and 25 metres high, it’s the size of 40 shipping containers and built from 4,480 pieces of hardware, including 756 wall panels and 128 massive anchors set 3.5 metres into the ground.

To ensure compliance with the Ontario Building Code (OBC) requirements for a tent, CHM developed an Alternative Solution addressing the flammability of the Pavilion’s hard sidewall panels. Given the unique scale and design of the venue, the solution provided a performance-based approach to fire safety that achieves the intent of the OBC provisions for tents.

The approach ensures that the Pavilion remains not only a marvel of engineering and entertainment, but also a safe and compliant space for all occupants.