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After
Dining Area Canopies
Widest range of outdoor dining and covered seating solutions
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Dining Area Canopies -
St Wilfrid's School Dining Area Canopy -
Rushcliffe School Dining Area Canopy -
Thistley Hough Academy Dining Canopy -
Sheltered seating area we designed for Avon Valley School
“I had no hesitation going back to A&S for another canopy, because I knew I was going to get value for money.”
Business Manager, Our Lady’s RC High School
“The way in which A&S work is really superb. I am very pleased with the quality of the design and the construction.”
Deputy Principal, Blackpool Aspire Academy
“A&S Landscape gave us the care and attention that we required. The team’s communication was excellent.”
Assistant Headteacher, Claremont High School
Dining Area Canopy Ideas
Look through some of our dining area canopy projects we have completed
Dining Area Canopy Installed at St Wilfrid’s RC College in West Yorkshire
The cost of an extension can be prohibitive to a stretched school budget. This was the challenge facing St Wilfrid’s RC College in Featherstone, West Yorkshire. Guaranteeing the health and wellbeing of their students during lunchtimes was a priority that they needed to address. The school’s existing facilities could only accommodate half of the required student capacity. This is where A&S Landscape came in. They designed an alternative structure to support the required dining capacity. Using the features of the curved roof canopy of the Motiva Duo range as the basis for a new dining area canopy, A&S Landscape then added glass panelling and a door to enclose the facility so that it could be used all-year-round. With the addition of heating and lighting, the space became a comfortable eating area. As an additional bespoke flourish, A&S Landscape added St Wilfrid’s logo to the glass panelling. To read more about the dining area canopy at St Wilfrid’s RC College, click here.
Outside Dining Canopy Installed at Rhymney Comprehensive School in Tredegar, South Wales
Rhymney Comprehensive School in Tredegar is surrounded by rolling green fields. Even on the rainiest days, there’s nothing better than taking in the fresh air and the views. So when the school decided that an outside canopy would enable their pupils to be outside more, A&S Landscape knew that there’d be an option to suit. Initially spoilt for choice, the school eventually settled on the Motiva Duo model, adding an opal effect roof and finished in Squirrel Grey. This created a space that the students immediately embraced, and the shelter is in demand even on the rainier days. The school now plans to add seating and tables so the space can be used for outside dining. The benefit of an outside dining canopy is that the space will be used even more, and we’re sure that there’ll be plenty of competition from the students to grab a seat at lunchtime! See why the students at Rhymney Comprehensive School will be flocking to use this canopied outside dining space here.
Fabric Outdoor Dining Area Canopy Installed The Perse School in Cambridge
Wellbeing is at the heart of the values of The Perse School in Cambridge. A lot of thought went into how they could complement their existing external areas by providing an outside dining area canopy that would blend with the lovely surroundings. The school’s chosen option was for two Maxima StarSail canopies. The real beauty of the canopied outside dining area that the school created was not just the aesthetic effect of the elegant sail-shaped awnings, but the shade that was achieved from the sun in summer. Not only that, but with the use of waterproof fabric, the area is also the perfect shelter from the rain. The ability to configure this particular type of dining area canopy to suit the space available also meant that the school was able to create a bespoke look that fits perfectly into its grounds. This project is a great example of the versatility of outdoor dining canopies for schools. To read more about The Perse School’s outdoor dining area and its lovely fabric shade sail canopy, click here.
Curved Roof Dining Area Canopy Project Completed at Rushcliffe School in Nottingham
This was a real makeover project for A&S Landscape! From an ugly duckling in a sorry state to a swan sitting pride of place in the former quad area of the school. When Rushcliffe School in Nottingham approached us for a solution, they already knew that they wanted to revamp the area which was unused. The aim of the project was to increase the amount of dining space for students, and the school was keen to create an outside eating area, protected by a dining area canopy. As the school had grown, they needed to bring in to use areas of the building that were not adding value. The Motiva Duo dining area canopy range was perfect for this refurbishment project. The area was turned quickly and efficiently into a usable space that provided students with a quality outside eating area. Find out about the dining area canopy we installed at Rushcliffe School.
Meole Brace Secondary School in Shropshire Install a Blue Outside Dining Shelter
It’s a mealtime double-whammy at Meole Brace Secondary School in Shropshire! Not only have they created a fabulous canopied outside dining area, but they also decided to add a dining pod to alleviate pressure on the main dining hall. The school had wanted to create an outside seating area that would allow the students to use the space year-round. But the addition of this all-weather resource doesn’t just give students an outside dining shelter, it also offers an opportunity for teachers to use the space to deliver lessons outside. What set out as a canopied outside dining area has become an all-purpose space that has added value to the school on many levels. This shows the creative ways that additional dining area canopies can be used. Better still, it’s easy to show to governors the cost-benefit analysis of a school dining area canopy because the popularity amongst the students speaks for itself. Read more about Meole Brace Secondary School’s outside dining shelter here.
Dining Area Canopy Design Options
The ‘Linear’ is our monopitch (asymmetric) straight roof variant – this is where one side is higher than the other, the standard configuration for canopies located against building elevations but also used for many applications including walkways and outdoor dining areas. Widths of 10000mm are easily achieved and wider still with additional design features.
Motiva Linear™ Click for more info
The ‘Duo™’ is our duopitch (symmetric) curved roof variant - this is where both sides are at the same height, the most common configuration for standalone structures or structures against low roofline buildings. Ideal for covered walkways, playgrounds and outdoor dining areas.
Motiva Duo™ Click for more info
The ‘Mono’ is our monopitch (asymmetric) curved roof variant – this is where one side is higher than the other, the standard configuration for canopies located against building elevations. Widths of 10000mm are easily achieved and wider still with additional design features. Popular applications include covered walkways, play area canopies and outdoor dining areas.
Motiva Mono™ Click for more info
Ideal as a standalone structure the Maxima Tepee™ is available in standard modular sizes from 3 metres up to a massive 15 metres and with many multiple unit possibilities. These colourful units are manufactured in galvanised and PPC steel and boast integral gutter system and waterproof, UV resistant and fire retardant fabric.
Maxima Tepee™ Click for more info
The StarSail™ from Maxima is a spectacular combination of a Shade Sail and Umbrella design around a centre post, a trendy, new and innovative design the StarSail™ promotes a cool and breezy look.
Maxima StarSail™ Click for more info
The ‘Maxima Plaza™ ’ is our widespan barrel vault fabric canopy structure typically in duopitch (symmetric) curved roof variant - this is where both sides are at the same height, the most common configuration for standalone structures. Widths of 10000mm are easily achieved and wider still with additional design features. Ideal for covered dining areas, social spaces, sporting or play areas.
Maxima Plaza™ Click for more info
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Wolverley CE Secondary School
View ProjectThe school was happy to have the work done done in term time because A&S Landscape planned their...
Antony Derrer, Business Manager - Wolverley CE Secondary School
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Tewkesbury School
View ProjectA&S Landscape staff who were carrying out the work were very amenable to our request for access ...
Paul Baker, Estates Manager - Tewkesbury School
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Cirencester College
View ProjectStudents are using it all the time as a social and dining space!
- Cirencester College
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The Earls School
View ProjectWe were really impressed with the quality of the canopies, they look great, much appreciated by stud...
Senior Admin Officer - The Earls School
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Our Lady’s RC High School
View ProjectA&S Landscape were brilliant from day one, they fitted around the school’s requirements and ev...
Ian Gosling, Business Manager - Our Lady's RC High School
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Poynton High School
While the children were at school, they worked with us. They fenced certain areas off as they got to...
Dave Horne, Site Manager - Poynton High School
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Rushcliffe School
View ProjectOn site they were excellent, they always signed in and always followed the health and safety remit o...
Chris Sanderson, Site Manager - Rushcliffe School
Featured Dining Area Canopy Project
Our Lady’s RC High School in Manchester add Large Outdoor Dining Canopy
What was the project brief?
Our Lady’s RC High School in Blackley, Manchester recognise the key part a comfortable environment plays for the well-being of their students. While a large amount of a child’s school day is usually spent within the confines of the classroom, the school wanted to ensure that their students had access to outdoor space in their breaks – all year round. It was important to Our Lady’s RC High School that the children were able to appreciate the fresh air, while also enjoying a good dining experience.
They realised that the best way to achieve this was to transform their unused outdoor space, into an outdoor covered dining area – complete with all the dining facilities such as tables, chairs and rubbish bins. As the school canopy expert, A&S Landscape was called in to help them with the entire process. This meant discussing the wide range of canopies on offer, how the canopy could be designed to better suit their needs, and once the school were happy – the manufacturer and design.
What was our outdoor dining canopy solution?
The school canopy that was selected as the best solution was the Motiva Duo™. Measuring at 12000mm x 8000mm, this was to be a large dining area canopy. The Motiva Duo™ has a genuine polycarbonate roof, and a Dura-coat™ finish, offering excellent quality weather protection at all times of the year. The addition of side panels formed an enclosed area and created the much-loved outside eating area for the students of Our Lady’s RC High School.
What was the result of outdoor dining canopy?
The new dining area canopy has gone down a treat with the children, who are happy they can now enjoy the large outdoor dining area – eating outside and socialising with their friends. The staff and teachers are also much happier now that dining capacity has increased, and the area is essentially used as the over-flow canteen. Now with the additional dining space, there is less pressure on the canteen and other indoor eating areas. No longer are children using valuable time during their lunch break waiting for dining tables to become free, nor are they having to rush their food to ensure they are back to their classes on time. This means the children are using their lunch break for what they should be used for – to relax!
Testimonial / Client Feedback
“I’d heartily recommend A&S Landscape to any other school or any other potential customer and we have done so. I’d very gladly work with them again.”
-Ian Gosling, Headteacher at Our Lady’s RC High School
About the client
Our Lady’s RC High School is a catholic school located in the suburban area Blackley, within the city of Manchester. The school is made up of a lovely team of individuals who were friendly throughout the process and were extremely helpful when it came to discussing the options with them. They certainly made our job easier by being so efficient with communication. We are so pleased we could help them create their outdoor dining area.
Why invest in a dining area canopy?
Outdoor dining canopies are beneficial to you whether you are a school, University, commercial business, or a public attraction, or any other business or organisation that requires to accommodate eating
. Also exquisitely named outdoor dining and social canopies, they can be a hugely valuable investment. Here are a few reasons why they are worth investing in:
- The benefits of eating outside have long been documented, and so it’s no wonder we are all turning to outdoor dining rooms. Research has suggested that food can even taste and digest better.
- As long as there is space available, a large outdoor dining area is in your reach. It’s a cost-effective solution that provides weather protection, gives room for outdoor entertaining and eases congestion on indoor areas. Additional features to outdoor dining canopies include heaters, lighting and power.
- Generally being outdoors is great for physical and mental health, it lowers rates of anxiety and depression, and increases concentration levels. Absorption of Vitamin D from the sunlight increases, which can help alleviate the chances of strokes, heart disease and other health problems.
- Outdoor dining canopies can bring use to unloved spaces. Providing your customers or students with a place to eat is always a good option – seeing as it’s something we do every day!
- Many of us are opting to take the ‘good dining experience’ to the next level. A dining area canopy is a great way to achieve this – just add your dining tables or picnic benches, and you’re good to go!
Why choose A&S Landscape?
We offer a whole range of canopies that can suit your needs. Whatever space you have available, and whether it’s a dining area canopy, or a playground canopy – at A&S Landscape, we have you covered!
We have been helping our customers to find the canopy that is special and unique to them for over 44 years. In this time, we have developed a wealth of knowledge, but have continued to offer a friendly, reliable and trustworthy service as part of our family-run business. If you need some inspiration, feel free to look through our product gallery, and at our other completed canopy and shelter projects.
We’re always happy to help find your ideal solution to your outdoor cover – so please get in touch with our friendly team on 01743 444100 or at [email protected].
Our Lady's RC High School Before and After
The Condensed Guide To Outdoor Dining Area Design in Schools
When you’re designing (or re-designing) your dining areas to meet the changing needs of your school, there’s a lot to take into account. From the statutory minimum dining area you need to provide, to the welfare and happiness of the children, the challenge of balancing your responsibilities with your budget is not going to be easy.
The Department for Education provides a technical document for project managers (Area Guidelines for Mainstream Schools, Building Bulletin 103, June 2014), which, for those of you with a technical mind, you can access here.
We’ve looked at the whole thing and extracted the relevant information on outdoor dining areas. So whether you’re doing the planning yourself or overseeing your main contractor while they complete the process, you’ll remain informed and assured that your plans are fit for purpose and will meet the needs of your school.
You’ll see that even outdoor dining spaces need to meet strict guidance on accessibility, space, capacity, H&S and other regulations.
Dining Area Space Allocation
The total area of spaces used for dining should allow an amount per cover, or dining place. The number of covers should be based on the predicted number of pupils who would eat lunch on site (including packed lunches) divided by the number of ‘sittings’ or equivalent (if continuous flow) in the lunch break. Crucially, the number of sittings will depend on the time available for lunch.
You can request our graph which shows the range of area needed, depending on the time available and therefore the number of sittings possible. It is important to note that the lower recommended area for dining is only sufficient if the lunchtime available is at least an hour. This may be achieved by a single lunch break for all pupils or by a ‘split lunch’ break.
Remember
“A good dining experience gives schools a happier and calmer population of children, supports an increased uptake of school meals, and makes a significant contribution to your Health and Wellbeing inspection”
Department of Education, Northern Ireland
Dining Area Design
When designing your dining room facilities whether indoors or outdoors, you need to ensure:
- There are sufficient tables and seating for dining ‘covers’ and space to access them
- You have allowed adequate space for the number of pupils, taking into account the length of meal breaks and number of servings (the statutory minimum requirement is covered in this document)
- There is sufficient queueing space up to and in front of any servery if relevant
- There are adequate clearance areas and waste disposal
- Where required, there are satellite or temporary servery areas
- Wheelchair/disabled access is available to all areas
- There are sufficient bins and recycling points where appropriate
- Where you are planning outdoor spaces, that the plans meet the relevant construction regulations (e.g. CDM 2015)
- That the environment you are creating is conducive to a good dining experience
In secondary schools, there can also be opportunities to create a much wider range of eating spaces within the dining area allocation, such as cafés and buffet areas that also become social spaces. The area may include further provision for cold meals or snacks, for instance from vending machines.
Social spaces specifically for sixth form pupils may be used for eating cold food, from vending machines or a satellite servery.
In addition to these specific requirements for dining areas, the Department for Education document also outlines the minimum space required for the area designated for ‘Halls, Dining and PE’, regardless of pupil numbers. You can request this here.
Output Specification Generic Design Brief
Away from the ‘Area Guidelines’ document, the Government’s ‘Output Specifications Generic Design Brief’ document also contains instructions for the design and build of dining areas. Our Condensed Guide Number 4 contains general advice for the use of this document, or you can request the whole thing here.
Specific to dining spaces, it states the following:
2.3.12 Dining and Kitchen Suite (including main halls in Primary Special and AP)
2.3.12.1 The Contractor shall ensure that the areas of any dining space(s) provided are as identified in the School-Specific SoA and ADS and are designed to accommodate any catering arrangements of the School set out in the SSB. Specific requirements, including whether dining will be dispersed around the School, rather than in a single location or, may be given in the SSB. Where required, the dining area shall be designed to allow other functions to take place, with the internal environment designed to cater for any different activities specified in the SSB
2.3.12.3 As well as responding to any specific requirements in the SSB, the Contractor shall ensure that any area provided for use as a dining space shall:
- in a Whole School Project, be easily accessible from all areas, conveniently positioned in relation to the kitchen and/ or serving areas, and be designed so that the space can be used during timetabled lessons without disturbing pupils who are working nearby
- have sufficient circulation or other space next to the dining area for queuing and circulation at mealtimes, including for those using Mobility Equipment, without impinging on the dining tables
- have an efficient layout with adequate seating capacity
2.3.12.4 Where a specific dining area is required in the School-Specific SoA and ADS, the contractor shall ensure that it is designed so that there is adequate space for till points, where required, and serving areas to service the number of diners in any sitting, as given in the School-Specific SoA and ADS or SSB. Where required in the SSB or the School-Specific SoA and ADS, the Contractor shall also design the space to facilitate the requirements for distribution of food to dining areas in other areas of the School
3.4.1.8 In dining areas, the Contractor shall ensure that the FF&E [Fittings, Furniture and Equipment] used, and the associated FF&E layout meets the following requirements.
- There is a logical flow of pupils round the dining space from arrival, queuing to collect food (both hot and cold) eating and self-clearing, based on the number of lunch sessions, the number of pay stations (where relevant) and the hot/cold split, as outlined in the School- Specific SoA and ADS and SSB.
- Space is provided for food vending trolleys and dirty/waste collection points.
- There is sufficient circulation space for pupils to move between dining tables and to allow a wheelchair user to access some tables and dine alongside other pupils.
- The servery has a tray slide and supports to ensure an efficient service and pupils’ safety
- There is adequate seating capacity for the allocated amount of time and the number of pupils, as specified in the SSB.
- Provision of storage furniture with sufficient space around it, as defined in the SSB.
Read more of our featured dining canopy projects
West Hatch High School in Essex at Freestanding, Curved Roof Shelter
West Hatch High School needed to find a solution to their cramped dining hall which wouldn’t break the bank. A&S Landscape had the perfect option in mind, which came in the form of an outdoor dining shelter. Our installation team added a Motiva Duo™ curved roof canopy to the school, complete with Brown Red coloured steelwork. The covered space can now be used as additional seating for the students during lunchtimes, relieving pressure from the existing facilities. As a cost-effective alternative to a formal building extension, it’s no surprise that more and more schools are choosing to install a dining shelter. Click here to see more about the dining shelter we made for West Hatch High School.
Purple Framed Dining Canopy at Thistley Hough Academy in Staffordshire
Located in Stoke-on-Trent, Thistley Hough Academy had just added a food pod to their site and were looking for a covered seating solution to complete the area. A&S Landscape was chosen to supply and install a Motiva Duo™ dining area canopy at the school, to an overall size of 10000mm x 5000mm. With Signal Violet coloured steelwork, the shelter not only matches the school’s logo but adds a pop of colour to the area. Now the students can get their food from the pod and find a seat outside, no matter the weather conditions – what a great solution to a busy dining hall! You can see more about the dining shelter we designed for Thistley Hough Academy here.
Sale High School Add Curved Roof Shelter in Greater Manchester
An underused decking area was the focus for this project at Sale High School. The school needed to create more space for the students during lunchtime and decided to revamp an unloved area on campus. Our design and installation team completely transformed the space into an outdoor dining area, complete with a newly tarmacked surface and curved roof canopy. With the simple addition of a few benches, the area can be used by the students who are looking for an alfresco lunch experience. Covering an overall area of 10000mm x 6000mm, there is plenty of room for many students to enjoy the space. Head over to our project page to see more about the dining shelter at Sale High School.
The Avon Valley School in Warwickshire Add Straight Roof Dining Canopy
Our design team thoroughly enjoyed creating a dining area shelter for The Avon Valley School. Complete with Gentian Blue steelwork, opal polycarbonate roofing and side panels, the area has been completely transformed. The students can order their food at the wooden hut next to the shelter and then choose a place to sit from the many benches under the roof. Even it is pouring with rain, the sheltered space can be used. Keep reading about the dining shelter at The Avon Valley School here.
Semi-enclosed Dining Shelter Made for The Chantry School in Worcester
The Chantry School had decided that it was time to create a new outdoor dining space for its students to enjoy. The area in question was exposed to the elements and so a shelter was needed to make it useable throughout the year. A&S Landscape installed a Motiva Mono™ curved roof shelter, complete with side panels along a section of the structure. Because we are all about the attention to detail, we even added the school’s logo to the panels. We are thrilled with the finished product, it has created a welcoming area for the students to enjoy their lunch outside. Click here to visit our project page and learn more about the dining shelter at The Chantry School.
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