Inside the huge play area with the roller shutter doors down
St Mary Magdalene School were so impressed with the first canopy that Twinfix designed, built and installed for them that they very quickly requested another! You can just see the first one, in a shade of pale green, peeking out on the left hand side near the top of the blue canopy.
Like many schools, the staff had some particular requirements to be accommodated for their canopies. For the second one they wanted to include a pathway adjacent to the school at one end and they were keen for the children to be able to use the canopy whatever the weather. With some 24 years’ experience the Twinfix Technical Team had no problems designing a canopy to suit both their needs and their budget.
An obstruction-free footpath was created by offsetting the uprights nearest to the building some 1.3 metres in from the roof edge. The pathway was then defined by installing a colourful fence with a gate access, creating a secure area for play.
One end of the canopy is against a wall so a full height vertical screen was installed at the opposite gable end, constructed from clear 16mm multiwall glazing, with a door accessing the footpath. The screen not only let in lots of light but protects pupils and staff from the prevailing wind. The last element that helped to create an enclosed waterproof play space was to fit five electrically operated roller shutter doors along the 20 metre run. These can be left up when the sun shines and be closed, with the touch of a button, if it is wet or windy. Closing them at the end of the school day also enables the play equipment to be safely locked away.
The 3.5 metre wide duo-pitch canopy is nearly 20 metres long and is glazed with 16mm opal multiwall polycarbonate glazed into the Twinfix Multi-Link-Panel NF. The opal tint was chosen in order to help reduce solar heat build-up and maintain a comfortable temperature within the canopy whilst the blue powder coated aluminium frame will not rust should it get the odd scratch and it should never require repainting.
But, it didn’t end there. The third canopy that the school required was a walkway to join two buildings, enabling staff and pupils to move round the site whatever the weather. This structure starts off as a duo-pitched free-standing canopy and then morphs into an elegant curved roof walkway. This snakes across the paved area and then changes height to cover and protect the disabled access to the nearby classroom.
All three structures installed at St Mary Magdalene are manufactured from powder coated aluminium that will not rust, and glazed with tough, UV resistant, opal multiwall roofing that conforms to the ACR[M]001:2011 drop test as outlined by the HSE in HSG33, so not only will they look good for many years to come, but they are designed and built with safety in mind – just what is required for school use.
