In a hot humid climate a small single span house has an advantage over a large block: the side walls open down the whole length, so the air change is driven by the opening rather than by fans. This kit uses that, with roll up sides standing 1.5 metres high and vents at the ridge, and it arrives complete so the frame, the film and the hardware all match the span they were quoted against. Film thickness and vent placement are set against the site rather than fixed.
The reason a kit is worth buying as a set is that every part has to agree with the span. A clamp sized for one hoop does not fit another, a film cut for one length will not cover the next one, and the roll up hardware has to match the height of the side wall it is lifting. Buying the house as one package removes those mismatches.
The set is the frame, the film, the clamps, the roll up hardware and an assembly manual. It is supplied as a complete house rather than as a frame with the covering to be sourced separately, which matters on a site where the local supply of greenhouse fittings is limited and each missing part becomes a delay.
The house is sized at 30 by 100 feet, which is about 3000 square feet of floor. That is a working size for commercial vegetable production and small enough that the crop is still managed from the aisles rather than by machine, so it suits a grower covering a first block or adding a house to an existing run. Houses of this family are grouped on the tunnel greenhouse range page on this site.
The side walls roll up and stand 1.5 metres high when they are open, and the ridge carries vents.Together they give the house a stack effect: warm air leaves at the top and cooler air enters low downacross the crop, so the house flushes through rather than heating up under a closed cover.
On a tropical site that is the difference between a crop that keeps working through the middle ofthe day and one that stalls. The opening runs the whole length of the house, so the exchange is evenalong the bay, and because it is a single span house the side wall is the full height of the coveredspace rather than a bay wall between two gutters.
The frame is hot dip galvanized steel hoops, and the film is a three layer co-extruded cover with UVprotection rated to around four seasons. The galvanizing is what carries the house through a climatethat runs humid for most of the year, and the UV treatment on the film is what keeps it from goingbrittle before the cover is due.
Film thickness and vent placement are set on the order, so the same kit is specified for a coastalsite and an inland one without changing the frame. Both of those are decisions made at the quotationstage, because film thickness sets the service life and vent placement sets how the house behaves on astill day.
The table below is the standard kit. Span, length, film and the vent arrangement are set to the site and to the crop.
| House type | Single span arch greenhouse, supplied as a complete kit |
| Standard size | 30 ft by 100 ft, about 3000 square feet |
| Structure material | Hot dip galvanized steel hoops |
| Cover | Three layer co-extruded film with UV protection |
| Film service life | About four seasons |
| Side walls | Roll up, 1.5 m high when open |
| Ventilation | Ridge vents with roll up sides, passive |
| Kit contents | Frame, film, clamps, roll up hardware and assembly manual |
| Packing | Flat packed into standard containers |
| Crops | Tomato, pepper, leafy greens, vegetables and flowers |
| Customisation | Film thickness and vent placement set on the order |
The base goes in first and is levelled, because a tunnel carries its load down the two side linesand the film tension depends on the house being square. The arches are raised bay by bay against thesupplied manual, the purlins and bracing follow, the end walls are framed, and the film is pulled overlast. The roll up sides are adjusted once the cover is on, since the hardware is set against thefinished film height.
Maintenance is the cover, the roll up mechanism and the fixings. The film is checked at the eave andthe gable ends where it takes the wind, and the roll up sides are cleared and tested at the start ofeach season, because a vent that sticks costs the crop more than it costs to fix. Fixings are gone overat the same time and any slack in the cover is taken up before the windy season.
Kits of this type are used for commercial vegetable production in hot humid climates, for tomato,pepper and leafy green crops on a short cycle, and for a first covered block on a farm that has grownin the open. They suit a grower who wants the house supplied complete rather than assembled from partssourced locally, an operation building a block one house at a time, and projects that need the kitshipped flat in containers. A single span kit built for tomato is described in the single span greenhouse kit with film cover page.
Standards for structures and components are published by DIN. Business and technology reporting on agtech and controlled environment production is published by AgFunderNews. A multi span house built for tropical ventilation is described in the gothic multi span greenhouse with tropical ventilation page.
The frame, the film, the clamps, the roll up hardware and an assembly manual. It is supplied as acomplete house rather than a frame with the covering to be sourced separately, which keeps a build fromstalling on a missing part.
Because they do the cooling. At 1.5 metres high and running the whole length of the house, they letthe warm air leave at the ridge and cooler air come in at crop height, so the house flushes throughwithout fans.
The galvanized steel frame is rated for 15 to 20 years under normal growing conditions. The threelayer film runs at around four seasons, and the roll up hardware and fixings are checked each season.
We provide a 10 year structural warranty and a 5 year anti-corrosion warranty on the galvanized steelwork. Details are set out in the contract for each project.
Send your site dimensions, the crop you plan to run and your local wind and rainfall data. We reply with a layout drawing and a full quotation.
