Don’t Let Autumn Weather Close Your Outdoor Space

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Don’t Let Autumn Weather Close Your Outdoor Space

Summer may be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean your outdoor spaces need to close for the season.

As September brings cooler temperatures, shorter days and more unpredictable weather, outdoor areas that were heavily used throughout summer can quickly become overlooked. With the right preparation and weather protection, however, these valuable spaces can continue to support everyday activities throughout autumn, winter and beyond.

Make Outdoor Learning a Year-Round Activity

For schools and nurseries, outdoor learning shouldn’t have to stop when the summer term ends. Autumn can actually provide some fantastic opportunities for learning outside, from exploring seasonal changes and wildlife to Forest School activities and creative lessons.

A permanent covered area provides pupils and teachers with somewhere sheltered to continue activities when the weather changes. It can also provide a useful base for storing resources, examining items collected outdoors or simply taking shelter during a sudden shower.

Create More Space for Breaktimes and Dining

When wet weather arrives, pupils and staff can quickly become concentrated within indoor areas, particularly during breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Providing covered outdoor spaces gives people more choice. Schools can create sheltered areas for dining, socialising and play, while workplaces can provide comfortable outdoor breakout spaces where employees can enjoy some fresh air without being completely exposed to the weather.

By extending the usability of external areas beyond summer, organisations can effectively gain additional functional space without constructing another room or building.

Keep Entrances and Walkways Sheltered

Autumn also brings increased rainfall, making entrances, pathways and routes between buildings important areas to consider.

Covered walkways can provide protection as pupils, staff, patients or visitors move around a site, while entrance canopies create a sheltered transition between indoors and outdoors.

For schools, a larger covered area around an entrance can also provide valuable shelter for parents and pupils during busy drop-off and collection times.

Prepare Your Outdoor Spaces for Winter

September is a useful time to look at how your outdoor areas performed during the previous year. Were there entrances where people regularly gathered in the rain? Did outdoor learning stop whenever the weather changed? Were certain routes between buildings particularly exposed?

Identifying these areas now can help you understand where permanent weather protection could make the biggest difference.

It is also worth inspecting existing canopies and shelters before autumn and winter weather sets in. Clearing debris, checking drainage and keeping the surrounding area tidy can all help ensure your outdoor structures are ready for the months ahead.

From Seasonal Space to Year-Round Space

A well-designed outdoor area shouldn’t only be useful when the sun is shining. Permanent commercial canopies can help transform previously seasonal spaces into practical environments that support everyday activities throughout the year.

From outdoor classrooms and dining areas to covered walkways, entrances and waiting areas, the right shelter can help schools, healthcare settings and commercial organisations make much greater use of the space they already have.

So, as summer draws to a close, now is the perfect opportunity to consider whether your outdoor areas are ready for autumn – and how they could continue working harder throughout every season.

Able Canopies Ltd. design, manufacture and install canopies and shade structures at schools, nurseries and educational settings to enable year-round Free Flow Outdoor Play and Outdoor Learning.
For more information please contact us

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