Using Canopies To Upgrade Your School Campus

Blog

School systems nationwide work hard to provide a safe, healthy environment for students and teachers alike, whether through policies or structures like entrance guard booths. The COVID-19 pandemic made us all aware that disease is still a threat schools should prepare for.

Incorporating open spaces into a school provide a natural way to help students spread out, lowering the risk of disease transmission and improving mental health. Prefabricated canopy systems offer a way for school campuses to expand their usable areas into these green spaces, creating a safer, more comfortable environment. See how canopies can help schools build a healthier environment.

Creating Open-Air Leisure Areas For Students and Staff

In a school system, many spaces see heavy traffic throughout the day, like classrooms, lunchrooms, and hallways. Providing more open-air areas allows students to be in a less transmittable environment and helps reduce traffic in congested environments. For example, cafeterias are one of the most crowded rooms in any school system, with hundreds of students inside at a time. However, adding a prefabricated canopy system opens your cafeteria, creating a new dining space for your students and faculty. The open-air location makes for a less transmittable environment and provides a nice escape for those stuck inside seemingly forever.

Schools can offer these same benefits to students while they are actively learning as well.  Prefab canopy systems can quickly create a comfortable, shaded space outside for teachers to hold outdoor classes.  Besides outdoor classes being a favorite among students, the external environment also reduces the threat of virus transmission. 

Beyond COVID - Safer, More Convenient Outdoor Spaces

Because most school campuses require multiple buildings stretched over a relatively large area, canopy systems have been incorporated into school designs long before our current pandemic.  The primary function of the canopy system is to offer protection to the space or things below.  For a school campus, walkways and bus loading zones will see a large amount of traffic throughout the day.  Covering these zones with a canopy system reduces the precipitation, reducing ice build-up and potential accidents in the colder months. Plus, the students will not have to wait on a bus for an extended period while wet on rainy days.

 Similarly, many schools employ small canopy systems at the entrance to their buildings and exterior elevators.  Like on pathways, the canopy prevents harsh weather from accumulating at the opening of the school.  This covering not only helps keep rain from coming in while the door is open but will likely reduce the amount of water carried in as well. 

Prefabricated Canopies Offers Convenience & Speed For Quick Projects

The primary feature of prefab canopies is the efficiency in which they are manufactured and installed. With most of the fabrication taking place off-site, the project site can be prepped for canopy installation.  With both phases occurring concurrently, schools can install the system in less time.   Once delivered to the school campus, the canopy components can quickly be erected by one of the many professional installation teams operating across the United States.

Although prefabricated, the metal canopy structures are designed 100% to customer specifications, providing practically limitless layout possibilities. With high flexibility and heavy-duty steel components, these systems are suitable for a wide range of harsh outdoor environments.  Finally, the canopy designs can be adapted to meet state and local building codes, especially those requiring minimum snow and wind loads

Panel Built, Inc. has operated in the modular construction industry for over 27 years and has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry. Modular offices, mezzanines, cleanrooms, guardhouses, ballistic buildings, canopies, and more are designed, engineered, manufactured, and installed by the Panel Built team. For each project, Panel Built performs with one mission, "To Solve Our Customers' Space Needs With Excellence and Great Customer Service."