Technically, there’s a difference between an awning and a canopy, but you often hear the names used interchangeably. While a canopy may be attached to a building on one side – often with support posts at the outside edge – it can also be free-standing. An awning is never a stand-alone structure. But whichever word you use, awning and canopy designs have a great deal in common.
Choosing the right canopy designs can be a complex process, because there are many things to consider. But it’s also interesting and fun.
Canopy designs offer more than coverage that protects people and things from the elements. Like their awning cousins, canopies can add a distinctive finishing touch to your building, emphasize doorways and other entrances, identify your building or business by name and address and perk up your entire block. There’s really no other architectural element that can do all that.
Canopy designs are versatile.
Because canopies can be almost any size or shape, architects and building owners use canopy designs to cover:
- Walkways, sidewalks, alleyways.
- Parking areas or entrances to parking garages.
- Porticoes for hotel or hospital entrances that are large enough to accommodate both pedestrians and vehicles.
- Seating or gathering areas.
- Children’s play space.
- Individual dining tables (think umbrellas).
Your canopy’s purpose affects the materials you choose.
Canopy designs can be fabricated in all metal, or they can have metal framing with a fabric covering. Fabric canopies usually have aluminum frames, because aluminum is far lighter than steel and offers a number of other benefits, too. Sometimes steel may be the best choice, if your canopy will have to withstand extreme conditions.
Fabrics used for canopy designs come in a tremendous range of colors and stripe variations. You can even use any-image-anywhere digital printing to create your own custom-designed fabric. Frequently, canopy designs include imprinting your business name, logo or street address.
Depending on the materials you choose, your canopy designs can be simple and sleek to provide a minimalist industrial or ultra-modern appearance, they can present a traditional awning-style look or add an ethereal aspect to your landscape. They can be flat on top like a shelf, have a sloped or peaked roofline or be designed with any sort of arched or domed shape. They can be boxed in on the ends, and you can add a valance, also called a skirt.
A few caveats.
Your location affects the type of canopy designs that will be most appropriate , in terms of strength and durability. Today’s commercial-grade awning and canopy designs are all stronger and longer-lasting than products available even a decade or two ago. But if your canopy will have to endure particularly strong winds, excessive grime from street traffic, salty beach air or other special conditions, you’ll need to take that into consideration.
You’ll also need to know the municipal building codes, landlord requirements or other rules that apply to canopy designs in your area, so you don’t inadvertently plan something that doesn’t meet those standards.
You can add accessories to canopy designs, to make them even more useful and extend their seasonal value. One common addition many businesses like is walls, or curtains, that can instantly turn your canopy into a room instead of just an overhead cover. Curtains can have windows or even be constructed almost entirely of clear fabric, or they can have screens. Canopy designs with walls are ideal if you’re hosting large gatherings or for creating a weather-proof vestibule outside an entrance.
Whether your goal is to cover a stadium or an outdoor café, outfit an entire shopping center or a dime-size pastry shop, consulting with a full-service commercial awning company will help you choose canopy design s that are just-right for your intended use and an aesthetic enhancement for your building.
