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# Curved Pergolas and Curved Colonnades ## Overview A curved pergola is Baldwin's most architecturally ambitious product — and the one that most clearly demonstrates what fiberglass and aluminum construction makes possible that traditional materials cannot. Where a straight-beam pergola defines a rectangular outdoor room, a curved pergola creates something sculptural: a structure that draws the eye, anchors the landscape, and signals design intention in a way that no rectangular form can achieve. Baldwin Pergolas has designed and installed curved pergolas and curved colonnades for residential estates, luxury multifamily communities, and master-planned neighborhoods. The Village of Idlewild in Fredericksburg, Virginia commissioned twelve curved pergolas from Baldwin over four years. AvalonBay Communities has specified Baldwin curved structures across multiple luxury residential developments. Each project is engineered from first principles — structural analysis, wind load design, connection detailing — and manufactured with the same CNC precision that defines all Baldwin work. ## Key Concepts - Curved beams are aluminum — 6061 or 6063 alloy, annealed and stretch-formed at a specialty fabricator - Twin 2×8 aluminum box-girder achieves L/576 deflection at 254" span — code limit is L/180 — more than 3× the stiffness margin - Curvature stress penalty is only 2–4% for typical radii (8–20 ft) — structurally, the curved beam behaves nearly identically to a straight beam - The full pergola frame acts as a 3D space frame against torsional rolling — notched rafters spanning 10–16 ft between twin beams provide the resistance - The horseshoe keystone — a Baldwin-engineered connection — converts beam-end uplift from screws in tension to screws in shear, multiplying connection capacity by more than 5× - Columns are fiberglass — same nine profile options as straight pergolas - Rafters are aluminum — CNC-notched to the beam curvature, fastened with stainless steel screws - Every curved project is custom-engineered — radius, span, column spacing, and load conditions are all project-specific --- ## The Curved Beam — Materials and Fabrication ### Why Aluminum Curved beams in Baldwin pergolas are aluminum rather than fiberglass. Fiberglass is a pultruded product — the manufacturing process produces only straight members. Aluminum extrusions can be annealed and stretch-formed to precise radii, making them the correct material for curved structural elements. ### Alloy and Temper The most common alloys for stretch-formed structural curved beams are 6061 and 6063. Both are annealed before forming — brought from their as-extruded T5 or T6 temper to the fully soft O temper — which reduces yield strength temporarily but dramatically increases ductility and formability. **6063** — the architectural alloy. Excellent surface finish, very smooth, highly formable, low cracking tendency, predictable springback. Preferred fo
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