Workington Academy – Double Coniston Freestanding Canopy Case Study

Workington Academy – Workington, Cumbria
Client: Cumbria Education Trust
Product: Double Coniston Freestanding Canopy
Size: 22m x 6m & 22m x 4m
Frame Colour: Anthracite Grey RAL 7016
Installation Date: December 2023

The Brief

In January 2023, the Site Operations Manager at Workington Academy sent an enquiry via email to us as they required a shelter at the rear of their school that was around 30m x 5m. They were looking for the best value canopy that would stand up to the rigours of a secondary school environment.

The Solution

Initially, we suggested the Coniston Wall Mounted Canopy which is our most popular canopy within the education sector. It has a strong and robust frame which is made from aluminium and is covered with vandal and shatter resistant polycarbonate roof panels. This makes it perfect for Workington Academy and due to its unlimited length and huge projection capabilities, it would easily cover the area provided.

Once a survey was completed, our surveyor suggested a Welford Dome Free Standing Canopy as he noticed a wall mounted canopy would cause an obstruction when it comes to contractors cleaning the windows on the main building.

While the school agreed, they preferred the design and specification of the Coniston. They also asked us to quote the largest canopy we could offer for their budget. We therefore reassessed the required specification and upon discovering they require a canopy to cover an outdoor dining area, we suggested the two Coniston freestanding canopies back-to-back to create one much larger canopy with the total dimensions of 10m x 22m which would cover a whopping 220 square meters.

This ensures that there would be ample distance between the canopy and the building for window cleaning and various other maintenance duties and the school would have their preferred canopy.

The Academy were over the moon that a much larger canopy would fit within their budget and that they could still have the Coniston canopy.

The Installation

Occasionally, planning permission is required for canopies and on this occasion, Workington Academy’s local authority did indeed require planning permission. While we offer free planning assistance, the academy was happy to submit the planning application themselves however, we were still able to help by sending them the canopy technical specification, proposal drawing and a super imposed image from our design team, to assist with the planning requirements.

Once the planning was approved, the academy placed an order for the 10m x 22m Coniston Freestanding Canopy and requested that the prices doesn’t go over the quote provided. We explained that there are no hidden costs within our quotations, and it therefore will not increase.

We arrived on site and began installing the canopy towards the end of November 2023 and completed it in December 2023, with the installation taking two weeks in total.

Above: Before the canopy installation

Above: After the canopy installation

If you have any existing or up-coming projects similar to the project at Workington Academy, or a completely different design, call us on 0800 389 9072 or email: sales@ablecanopies.co.uk