A dining canopy is becoming a popular way of adding extra space at home or at schools, colleges and universities, providing an all-weather space perfect for socialising, dining and learning.
They can be adapted to any space and configured to suit your budget and needs. For example, they can be enclosed or partially open and come in a variety of colours.
Best of all, unlike other dining canopies on the market, our Spaceshade canopies can be fitted with solar panels at the time of construction or at a later date, and provide you with cheaper energy costs over the long term.
What about hard to access spaces?
Our modular range of designs mean they are tailor made to meet your exact requirements, helping to use the space you have as efficiently as possible, even if that space is awkward.
As such there’s no need for heavy machinery such as cranes to install them in difficult-to-reach areas such as courtyards and other tight spaces.
Sounds great, but how much does a dining canopy cost?
A dining canopy can set you back anything from £350 to £1000 plus per square metre depending on the size and accessories you choose.
In fact, this is up to three times cheaper than building a traditional building extension in a fraction of the time.
And the larger the canopy, the more cost-effective it will be, as you can take advantage of economies of scale. A large canopy is especially recommended if you’re planning to have solar panels integrated because it will obviously produce more solar energy than a smaller canopy, reducing costs and yielding greater returns in the long term.
When considering if a dining canopy is right for your organisation, you need to take into account any accessories to make the extra room weatherproof.
What accessories might we need for a dining canopy?
Side walls
A popular choice providing an extra warm and secure space whatever the weather throws at you. You can choose between glass, polycarbonate or aluminium side walls to create an all-weather space perfect for dining and socialising.
Solar Panels
These provide a great way of helping to reduce energy bills over the long term and help set your organisation on its way to net zero. The advantage of Solspan’s dining canopies is they are designed to fit solar panels, which can be attached either at installation or retrospectively.
Motorised retractable blinds or shutters
Motorised blinds or shutters increase the flexibility of your space; they can provide protection from the weather and the sun’s rays, and can be rolled up out of the way when they’re not needed.
LED lighting
A popular choice, LED lighting can easily be added underneath your dining canopy to increase comfort and light levels, especially in winter months.
Infrared heaters
Another common accessory, infrared heaters can be installed to make your dining canopy cosy in the winter, helping it to feel more like an extension to the building.
Furnishings
We can source picnic tables, benches and other furniture to suit your needs.
What about planning permission for a dining canopy?
It depends on the size of the canopy and where it’s being installed. For schools and other institutions and businesses, all structures which are over 30 metres squared in size and more than 50 per cent enclosed must comply with building regulations. Planning permission usually takes about eight weeks.
You can read more advice about the requirements from our experts in our article Do I Need Planning Permission For a Dining Canopy? and will need to consider any associated costs in applying for planning permission.
The good news is that Kensington Systems can help you with the process as part of its full project management service, including installation, surfacing and any electrical work required.
Every project is unique, which is why we can only provide approximate figures. Get in touch today for a bespoke quote and visualisation for your project.
