Playground Canopies & Shelters - Outdoor Learning

Playground Canopies & Shelters for Schools

Enjoy the benefits of outdoor learning, with our playground canopies, suitable for students to play and work outside in all weather conditions.

Offering fast installation and low maintenance, our Spaceshade playground canopies can be designed according to your needs, with side walls, post protectors, a coloured roof or solar panels.

Safe, Smart Design

Spaceshade® canopies' modern, minimal design featuring built-in downpipes and guttering looks great alongside modern and traditional school buildings, and built-in safety features such as a non-fragile roof and concealed fixings help to protect pupils, giving peace of mind.

All Groundworks Included

We offer a turnkey, end-to-end solution, including all groundworks, installation and final clean-up, giving you a single point of contact throughout and making the process easy and stress free.

Customised to Your Needs

The modular design of our Spaceshade® canopy range makes it compatible with a wide range of extra features, including glass or polycarbonate side walls, built-in lighting or solar panels.

Wide Range of Colours and Fabrics

Our Spaceshade® range has been designed to be compatible with solar panels, allowing you to cut your energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint while enjoying a new covered outdoor space.

Case Study

Sunshine Every Day at Castle Primary School

The new teaching block at Castle Primary School was designed with two playground canopies featuring coloured roofs. Red, orange and yellow were selected to provide 'sunshine on any day' as well as a valuable covered outdoor learning area.

Primary School playground with playground canopies

Side Walls

Choose between clear glass or tough polycarbonate side walls to provide weather protection and add extra flexibility to your space year round.

Built-in Gutters & Downpipes

Protect your drainage channels from flying balls with our built-in gutters and downpipes. The smooth post surface with no protroding parts also discourages climbing.

Standing underneath a school canopy with a red, orange and yellow roof

Coloured Roofs

Add rainbows to your playground every day by choosing a vibrant coloured roof for your canopy. Our canopy frames are also available in a wide range of colours.

Heating & Lighting

Make your canopy more comfortable in the winter with our safe, built-in LED lighting and heater options.

Solar Compatible

With the option to fit solar panels during the initial installation or retrofit later, a Spaceshade canopy offers the opportunity to cut energy costs while also reducing your school's carbon footprint.

Post Protectors

Add colour and additional protection to your playground by installing foam padded post protectors to the legs of your canopy.

Outdoor Learning Canopies to Improve Learning Skills

Outdoor learning canopies significantly enhance students' engagement and creativity by providing a versatile space that encourages exploration and hands-on activities in a natural environment. These canopies not only shield students from inclement weather but also foster social skills and emotional well-being by promoting collaborative learning experiences outside the traditional classroom setting.

Case Study

Playground Canopies Protect Equipment for Disabled Students at Royal Docks Academy

Spaceshade canopies provide useful covered space in the playground as well as protecting the wheelchair swing and other equipment at Royal Docks Academy, London. The canopies enable disabled children to continue to enjoy using the equipment regardless of weather conditions.

Protection from the Elements: Canopies shield children from rain, snow, and harmful UV rays, enabling year-round outdoor play and learning.
Enhanced Outdoor Learning: They create an ideal environment for outdoor classrooms, encouraging engagement and creativity through hands-on activities.
Multi-Functional Use: Playground canopies can serve as social areas, dining spaces, or storage for playground equipment, maximising the utility of outdoor spaces.

'Couldn't have been more impressed'

'We appointed Kensington Systems to install a Spaceshade canopy at Cotham School and couldn't have been more impressed.

From the initial design meeting all the way through to the end of the project Kensington have been great.

Our students really enjoy this new covered space that can be used all year around.'

Ed Carpenter

Cotham School

'A very special place'

'Our canopy is still looking fabulous, solid structure, the great roof colours create a very special place when the sun shines.'

Paul Piontecki

OSG Swansea Campus

'Very nice'

'Very nice, sturdy, aesthetically pleasing and fits well into the area it was planned to go, also well fitted & finished.'

Helen Fielder

St Marks CE Junior School

Let's transform your outdoor space

Get in touch

What is an outdoor learning canopy?

An outdoor learning canopy is a freestanding canopy installed in a school playground, usually adjacent to a classroom. It's intended to provide a natural connection from the classroom to the outdoors.

Outdoor learning canopies can be used for play and equipment storage as well as outdoor learning, making them versatile spaces that allow children to enjoy being outdoors regardless of weather.

Do you need planning permission for a playground canopy?

It is always best to check with your local authority whether planning permission is required.

The playground canopy may fall under Permitted Development guidelines if it is less than 5m from the school boundary and is less than 25% of the total footprint of the building or less than 100 sqm (whichever is less) and has a total height of less than 5m. In most cases, however, playground canopies do not exceed these dimensions and therefore are not likely to need planning.

Kensington Systems can provide you with bespoke CGI visualisations to help you apply for planning.

What are your lead times for playground canopies?

From order and deposit to groundworks and installation our lead times are generally between 6-10 weeks.

The lead time can be dependent on colour choice and other bespoke items; a non-standard colour choice will add a couple of weeks to the lead time.

How much does a playground canopy cost?

The price of a playground canopy can be dependent on the chosen size, colour, and any additional customisation.

Prices start at £10,000 ex VAT (including foundations); get in touch for a bespoke quote.

Do you have DBS accreditation?

Yes, our installation teams hold enhanced-DBS accreditation, enabling them to work onsite unsupervised if required.