Shading and screening make spaces useable all year round and in all weather conditions.
Shading offering Sun and Rain protection
The first example is a bespoke sail-shade for a client who had a newly built studio space in a beautiful and sensitive location in the heart of Dartmoor. The room was built to a very high standard using locally sourced cedar beams and cladding whilst the studio had a reasonably deep overhang it was insufficient to provide protection from rain. The studio has a highly polished hardwood timber floor which the client wanted protecting from external foot ware so a protected area to remove shoes and leave in confidence they would not get affected by rain was needed. The covered area would also provide a breakout area for those using the studio.
The client’s representative suggested a sail in two parts overlapping at the corner and approached Sam at Exesails to manufacture and install, whilst happy to make Sam did not want to install so he contacted Exeter Garden Rooms and Verandas to take on the project including the client liaison and installation with Exesails delivering to EGRAV.
The brief from the client was clear they wanted a robust sail-shade that would withstand most conditions but be demountable if weather became extreme. The sail-shade had to complement the studio and be of high quality, they did not particularly want the post tied back with guy wires as that would impede the grass cutting and become a trip hazard. The client liaised directly with Sam on the selection of material finally selecting Flexlight Lodge 6002 by Serge Ferrari in dual colours, this product comes with a 7-year manufacturer’s warranty.
A completed sail shading installation
In the meantime, we set about designing the sail and fixings, the first change and most major was coming up with a one-piece design. This came with several challenges as the sail-shade had a 7-degree fall and traversed through 90 degrees at the corner, the dimensions to achieve that were determined by EGRAV using a 3D computer model and were able to pass exact dimensions for Sam and his team at Exe Sails to work to. The drawings passed to Exe Sails included all the dimensions and fixing points, from which Sam designed the sail with all the reinforcing and fixing points.
An intermediate sail shade fixing
The sail was just one component of the sail-shading which had to be held firmly in the 3 meters above the ground, five heavy-duty legs were required. These were sourced locally from Projexe in Marsh Barton Exeter, we often use Projexe for fabrication work and get sound advice and a good product, in this case, the poles were cut to length and galvanised, drilled for fixings, also a steel sleeve with a fixing nut and locating bar welded in place before galvanising. The sleeve would be cast into concrete with the post slotting in, thus the post being retractable if needed. Plastic caps were provided to keep water out of the posts.
All fixings were made of stainless steel to avoid rusting and deterioration over time, most of the fixings were supplied by Westward Rope and Wire again a local company in Exeter, whilst they should supply the majority of the fixings however some more specialist items had to be imported from Maanta in Italy, Exeter Garden Rooms & Verandas have a trade agreement and relationship with them, Maanta specialise in external shading.
A corner post connection
Five large concrete bases were cast to receive the posts and heavy-duty stainless steel screws were used to fix to the studio structure and the tension was controlled with stainless steel bottle fixings.
The design and specification delivered on the client’s brief, with the project manager telling us the client commented it far exceeded her expectations.
High winds and Rain Protection
This second project came from a client we had installed a free-standing veranda, being at the top of an exposed hill the location had beautiful views but equally suffered from high winds. The client was keen to keep all his furniture out and enjoy sitting in it even when it rained and the winds came up.
The weather predominately came from two sides so the requirement was to provide protection on those sides. The standard blinds we offer for our verandas were not suitable so we contacted Sam and Exe Sails to come up with a bespoke solution.
Installed side screens
The client brief primarily required wind and rain protection Sam suggested Flexlight Lodge 6002 by Serge Ferrari with plastic window sections so we were able to offer visibility to maintain the view. The Flexlight Lodge can deal with heavy winds, is very stable and provides good support for the less stable plastic windows.
Each of the two screens has zip sides so the screen can be rolled up and held in place rather than completely removing the screens enabling quick and easy opening up when weather improves. Whilst a simple cost-effective solution it delivered the shelter required to make the area under the veranda usable all year round.
Side screens rolled up
