Some things to consider to make your shade structure a show stopping investment improvement to your residential or commercial space.

While installing shade may seem simple at first, there are actually many important factors to consider as well as many architectural options. At Shade To Order, we believe shade should not just be an addition to your property, but rather a show stopping investment improvement to your residential or commercial space.

Environmental factors:

Shade structures serve many purposes including, protecting cars and vehicles, shading patios, pools, restaurants, and cafes. Additionally, they can also protect areas from other elements such as wind and rain. Therefore, it is extremely important to take into consideration the climate around you and what weather conditions your shade structure will be exposed to year-round. This means that effective run-off, reflective material, structural strength and wind aerodynamics are all vital considerations for a permanent shade structure.

 

Properly installed, shade structures can even be a cost saver by reducing the cost of air condition through blocking solar heat that comes through windows.

Attached or free-standing shade: 

An architectural option you might want to consider is whether you want your shade structure to be free standing or joined to a pre-existing building.

A fantastic free-standing design option we specialise in are cantilever shade structures. By definition, a cantilever simply refers to “a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end.” This then allows for overhang without additional support.

These elegant designs are ideal for owners looking to provide effective and versatile protection from the elements, while also taking up minimal space. As three whole sides can be left open, cantilevers don’t impinge on their surrounding environment and create a look of spaciousness.

Materials:

Possibly the most important factor when designing shade structures is fabric. Shade to Order proudly specialise in Architectural grade specialised PVC fabric for tension shade structures.

Our superior products are designed with the structural loads in mind for tension shade structures. These fabrics can be fully waterproof or a pvc mesh fabric. Architectural shade fabrics are not stitched but high frequency welded in the case of pvc and pressure sealed in the case of teflon coated glass fabric (ptfe). This results in the seam being as strong as the fabric surface and in the case of waterproof fabric no leakage through the seam… guaranteed!

A shade professional can help you:

If you are ever in doubt about an architectural shade structure, contact Shade To Order to speak to a shade professional who can help.

Shade to Order are multi award winning designers and manufacturers of high tensile shade structures. Based in Newcastle you have seen their structures everywhere; from the airport to Belmont 16″, most of Australia and overseas.

Give us a call if you would like more information. Phone  (+61) 2 4942 5793