Timber Canopies for Schools

Enhance your playground with a bespoke timber canopy customised to your needs.

Outdoor learning has proven benefits to children's physical health, mental wellbeing and social skills as well as improved overall development. Our timber canopies support this by providing a sheltered environment for learning and play to take place all year round.

Natural Materials

Installing a timber canopy enables you to introduce a natural tactile material into your playground. Wooden structures may also help to create a calming environment, decreasing stress and promoting focus.

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.

Environmentally Friendly

Wood is the ultimate renewable resource, especially softwood which is fast-growing and easily replaced. Furthermore, timber stores carbon which might otherwise be released into the atmosphere, helping to reduce carbon footprint.

Customised to Your Needs

Infinitely flexible, timber canopies can be designed bespoke to your needs, including features such as built-in seating, planters, retractable blinds and more.

Case Study

Flexible Social Space at Forge Wood Primary School

A new timber playground shelter was installed at Forge Wood Primary School overlooking the sports pitch.

The 5m x 5m shelter has built-in seating with room for up to 20 children to sit comfortable either inside or outside the shelter. This encourages outdoor teaching sessions, socialising and play whilst providing protection from the sun.

Side Walls

Wooden side walls can provide weather protection and encourage year-round use of the shelter.

Retractable Blinds

Install retractable blinds with clear vision panels to raise and lower depending on weather conditions.

Bespoke Seating

Choose built-in bespoke seating to add more flexibility and encourage socialising.

Glulam or Softwood Options

We also offer glulam structures as well as canopies manufactured from softwood. Glulam is immensely strong, making it ideal for larger structures like dining canopies.

Built-In Planters

Teach children about plants and create a space to grow things with built-in planters designed into your canopy.

Post Protectors

Add colour and additional protection for children with our range of colourful foam post protectors, made to measure and available in a huge choice of colours.

Case Study

Bespoke Outdoor Learning Pod for Wickwar Nursery

Wickwar Nursery wanted an outdoor learning area that they could use throughout the year without worrying about weather conditions. They chose an aluminium framed Spaceshade canopy with side walls clad with western red cedar cladding and crank-operated exterior blinds.

The blinds can be raised and lowered with a crank handle depending on the weather, and allows children to enjoy outdoor learning and play regardless of weather.

'Very robust, look fantastic

'The Spaceshade canopies installed at our new school are very robust, look fantastic, we are very impressed by the ongoing service levels received by Kensington Systems Ltd.

We would recommend them to any school or academy trust looking for a new covered space or shaded area.'

Craig Davis

Perry Court School

'Great price, great product'

'Great price, great product and a very personal service. The only company out of a lot I contacted that took the time to come to site and measure up, discuss etc before submitting a quotation.'

Steve Cooke

Downsview Primary School

'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

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 8-10 weeks.

The lead time can be dependent on the design; standard designs are usually quicker to manufacture, while bespoke designs require more time.

How much does a playground canopy cost?

The price of a playground canopy can be dependent on the chosen design, size, 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.