Canopies & Shelters

MAKING USE OF OUTDOOR SPACE WITH CANOPIES

Overcrowding in UK schools isn’t a new issue. Over the past six years, average class sizes have increased and there are now one million school children in classes of 31 to 35 pupils. The need for extra space has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Larger classroom sizes bring many challenges, including physically finding the room to cater for everybody during the school day. Lack of space is particularly noticeable at lunchtimes, with pupils struggling to sit and eat, and canteen queues spilling outside and into corridors.

Extending space for learning and dining

Schools and colleges across the UK are looking to make it easier for students to eat their lunch outdoors and get fresh air at break times, even when the weather is poor. Canopy systems protect from the wind, rain, snow and UV rays. Outdoor canopies are an affordable way to provide shelter wherever it’s needed. Creating shelter for outdoor dining is useful beyond lunchtimes, with areas being used for lessons, studying, events and socially-distanced meetings.

Shelter for The Heathland School during breaktimes

The Heathland School in London wanted to create more shelter for students during break times. With the challenges of social distancing and the unpredictable British weather, the secondary school had outgrown its existing dining space. The school had already worked with Canopies UK in the past. It wanted to add to the existing canopies it had on site to provide more shelter for students. Canopies UK started by identifying new areas where shelter could be created without hindrance.

The canopy specialist chose a disused car park as one location. The car park was reserved for events such as parents’ evening and sat empty most of the time. Canopies UK installed its Connekt canopy, creating shelter for students to gather under in poor weather. The canopy has no obstructing posts and can still be used for overflow parking when necessary.

Another canopy was designed to run alongside the building to provide shelter for students queuing for the dining areas. The final canopy was installed over grass and is freestanding, away from the school building. The back-to-back Connekt canopy keeps the grass dry and enables students to enjoy outdoor lunches, whatever the weather is doing. Safely installing the canopies during the school day

Canopies UK completed the work with minimal impact on the school day. The locations were barriered to create safe working areas and the work was successfully completed during term time. The canopies were colour-matched to those on the existing building and the school was very pleased with the extra space created.

Why are schools installing canopies?

Outdoor canopies are less than half the cost of building extensions. Canopies UK can install a school’s canopy over a series of days or weeks and the process causes minimal disruption.

An outdoor canopy provides a practical solution where space is limited. Each canopy is designed using site-specific calculations, which test the system against wind and snow loads. Installing a canopy is a fast and simple way to extend a school building.  www.canopiesuk.co.uk