New Canopies For Old
The owners of Natureland Seal Sanctuary at Skegness called Twinfix in when they wanted to replace their tired and dark canopy structures. Situated throughout their site these were old, mismatched and uneven, with dark roofing that cast lots of shadows everywhere. They were hardly inviting for visitors!
Twinfix designed a series of matching aluminium powder coated canopies and walkways roofed with lightweight opal multiwall polycarbonate. The Sanctuary now looks much more harmonious and attractive as the result is light, bright and coordinated, and is appreciated by staff, visitors and, we hope, the animals as well.
Vertical glazing was fitted to some areas in order to provide additional protection from the weather. This was a mixture of solid ‘glass-like’ polycarbonate that floods the area with light and opal multiwall polycarbonate that helps to shelter the outside eating area from passers by.
Aluminium is a great material to use near to the sea as it will not rust if scratched and both it and the polycarbonate used for the roof glazing are unaffected by the salt in the air. The aluminium was powder coated in blue to match the existing Sanctuary colour scheme. Polycarbonate is an ideal product to use in any roofing situation as it allows in natural light but also protects those underneath from the harmful effects of UV.
The design consisted of a range of different shaped structures, some of which have large roofing and wall panels. Standard practice for Twinfix when manufacturing structures of this complexity is to carry out dry run assembly on their own premises in Cheshire prior to powder coating the aluminium. This is done to ensure that everything slots together easily and quickly on site. This was of paramount importance on this project. It was important that the work was completed quickly in order for the Sanctuary to open to paying visitors as this is their main revenue stream. In addition, Twinfix also carried out as much assembly as possible off-site in order to avoid disturbing the animals whose home it is.
The installation was completed on schedule and Twinfix were delighted to be asked back to help in the release of a seal named ‘Grumpy’ back into the sea!