01 Aug The Benefits Of Having An Outdoor Canopy

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An outdoor canopy is a cost-effective way for businesses to make the most of their outdoor spaces. They can be made in a range of designs and sizes and can enhance the outdoor area for a range of businesses in different sectors including retail, schools and universities, and offices.

Canopy benefits include providing shelter from the harsh elements and creating large spaces for outdoor play and learning for school children. Miko Engineering offers a variety of different types of outdoor canopies that can be designed and adapted to fit the needs of your business, helping to make your outdoor space usable all year round.

This blog post will look at the different ways canopies can enhance your patio area or outdoor space and highlight some of the key benefits.

Outdoor Canopies

Different Uses and Types Of Outdoor Canopies

The bespoke nature of outdoor canopies means they are suitable for a wide range of uses. Miko Engineering is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of outdoor canopies, offering a variety of unique bespoke designs and styles that will enhance your building and make the most of its outdoor space.

Their flexibility means you could add a door to change it from a sheltered area to a safe and enclosed outdoor space. We have a wide range of doors including sliding doors which are the most popular type of canopy door with our customers.

Benefits	Type Of Canopy
Provides all types of commercial and public buildings with a space between the outside and indoors to wipe feet, remove coats etc.	Entrance canopies
Protecting users from the weather as they walk between different sections of the building.	Covered walkways
Provides additional space allowing students or employees to eat and learn outdoors and get the benefit of fresh air.	Dining and teaching canopies
Allows children to play outside in all weathers	Playground canopies
Provides protection from UV rays allowing younger children to play safely outside	Shade sail canopies
Allows people to be protected from the weather as they move between buildings whilst being socially distanced from others.	Social distancing covered walkways

What Are The Main Benefits Of Having An Outdoor Canopy?

An outdoor canopy can completely transform any outdoor space, making it a usable and safe area regardless of the season. Our range of canopies incorporates everything you need to create a usable, sheltered, and aesthetic outdoor space that can provide shade from the sun or protection from sudden downpours from the Great British weather. The benefits of outdoor canopies are numerous and Miko Engineering can work with you to create the best one for your building.

We’ve pulled together the top ten canopy benefits to highlight their value for your business which includes:

Protection From Harmful UV Rays

Installing an outdoor canopy will help to provide protection and shade from harmful UV rays for anyone using the outdoor area of your building. This will enable staff, customers, or students to enjoy the benefit of being outdoors in the sunshine without any concerns about harm from the sun, especially in the summer months.

Weather Protection

Another benefit of outdoor canopies is that they are water resistant and protect users from bad weather conditions such as sudden downpours which enables the outdoor spaces to be used all year round. For example, outdoor canopies are very popular in schools as they allow children to be outside in all weathers, whether it’s for play or outdoor learning.

Canopies can enhance a school building and use all of the available space to its full capacity. They can be used to create a protected, nurturing environment that can help to enhance a child’s learning experience without being limited to only using the space in good weather.

For offices or hospitals, an outdoor canopy can be used in a range of ways, for example, to enable staff to travel between buildings whilst remaining protected from the weather, keeping both them and their equipment and documents dry. This can help to create a more comfortable environment to work in, especially when the weather is as unpredictable as it is in the UK.

Creates An Outdoor Shelter

A key benefit of having an outdoor shelter for organisations such as nurseries, schools, and colleges is that it provides more usable space and allows children to spread out as they learn, play, or eat. This provides benefits to the organisation during the summer months such as reducing the need for air conditioning which helps to save energy, lower fuel bills, and reduce your carbon footprint.

The space could also be used as a safe and covered designated waiting area for pupils, customers, staff, and any visitors so that they stay dry while they wait to enter the building. An outdoor canopy has multiple uses and can also be used for outdoor storage for things like outdoor toys and furniture which saves time at the end of each day and precious space inside the building.

In a post-COVID environment, outdoor canopies provide a safe designated area for customers, clients, students, and employees to form socially distanced queues at busy times of the day.

Adds Value To Building

An outdoor canopy can increase the value of a commercial building without the hefty price of a traditional type of extension. An outdoor canopy extends a building and its usable space, creating a larger area that can be used for dining, learning, working, and socialising.

Outdoor structures aren’t just limited to adding value to commercial buildings. Residential garden canopies are particularly popular as they allow people to fully utilise their space outdoors whilst being protected from harmful UV rays, rain, and snow.

Allows For Outdoor Learning In Schools

Being outside has several benefits in a learning setting such as feeling energised and uplifted and can help to improve the mood and well-being of children. Having an outdoor learning space helps to provide students with more inclusive and engaging ways to learn. It also allows them to understand and learn about nature in a way they wouldn’t get, sitting in a classroom.

An outdoor canopy can also provide much-needed space. Many schools and college buildings are too small for the number of children they serve, and so creating an outdoor space that can be used throughout most of the year which has a much lower price tag than a traditional extension, is a huge bonus.

Branding Opportunities

Installing an awning or canopy at your commercial building is not only a functional and eye-catching addition, but it also provides an opportunity to promote your brand. It’s the ideal place to highlight your company’s branding so that passers-by as well as clients can see it.

Adding your logo or brand colours on your canopy, or promotional material such as details of your services can help potential new customers get a feel for your business and encourage them to find out more.

Energy Efficiency

An outdoor canopy that provides shade and protects from the sun during the summer months creates a usable space that is naturally ventilated and cool. This can help to reduce energy bills as there’s no need to use air conditioning or other cooling devices such as electric fans to keep the space cool, which in turn improves energy efficiency and reduces your organisation’s carbon footprint.

Aesthetic Appeal

Awnings, covered walkways, and other types of canopies that offer protection from the elements are not only a functional addition to your building. They can also enhance its appearance. Innovative and bespoke design opportunities mean that your canopy can improve the look of the outside of your building, transforming an underused or drab area into a functional, eye-catching structure.

Health and Wellbeing

We all know how much it can feel to be outdoors in the fresh air. Having a space where your employees or students can relax and unwind during their breaks can help them to feel invigorated and energised when they get back to work.

A canopy that creates an outdoor learning area can have many benefits for school children such as improving their development and mental health. There are also benefits for adults in having an outdoor working space. As well as the obvious benefits of improving mood and energy, working outdoors for part of the day can give your eyes a rest from staring at a computer screen.

Holding meetings outside with notes and ideas being taken with a pen and paper can help to improve creativity and enhance your memory. Installing an outdoor canopy allows your employees to do this even if it’s raining or blazing sunshine.

Creates Event Hosting Opportunities

A large outdoor canopy can provide you with the space to host events in an open space with lots of fresh air to create an energised and relaxed atmosphere. Hosting an event in this way creates less disruption to your office space and will encourage people to engage and connect away from screens and electronic devices.

Having your branding on the canopy will showcase your business and help to communicate your messaging to everyone who attends, leaving a lasting, positive impression.

Find Out More About Outdoor Canopies

Miko Engineering offers a range of outdoor canopies with stunning designs. We can also design and manufacture bespoke products that suit your setting perfectly. Our most popular designs include our Mono-pitched Canopy and Wave Canopy which can be created as either covered walkways, or entrance canopies.

All of our covered walkways and entrance canopies are manufactured from certified British Steel and adhere to the highest quality control and safety measures. Our steelwork is galvanized and then powder coated with any standard RAL colour, giving us the ability to offer a much wider range of options compared to our competitors.