Enterprise

How it all started

While working on a contract to create stage equipment for the Cirque du Soleil's 1997 show Quidam, Paul-André Bouchard, inventor of the Top Tent™, had the opportunity
to meet the show's production team. As an industrial engineer, he was intrigued by the way the big top was set up and what organizational challenges (re: time, staff, equipment, common problems) were involved.

One day, he took a look inside the structure and imagined it opening like a huge umbrella, an umbrella with a vast undisturbed space, if only the central mast could
be eliminated.

Five years later, he finally came up with his original idea of a clearspan tent with
a retractable mast. In 2002, he applied for a patent and thus began an arduous
period of R & D during which, the initial project of a 50 m (160 ft) tent, was scaled down to more realistic proportions. In 2004, the first 15 m (50 ft) prototype was
built and the rest is history!

How it all started - The company - Experience behind the innovation - Previous