Mangere Central School

The COLA project at Mangere Central School began in late 2013, when we were approached by the architect to offer assistance with a project they were planning. The project aimed to include new classrooms and cover one of the school’s netball courts. By the end of the year, a number of quotes had been submitted for a variety of design options. In the end, it was the traditional dome design COLA canopy which the school decided to run with, having seen a number of our other similar projects in various locations around the country.

Working in with Teak Construction, the Shade Systems installation team began work on-site. They soon found that the ground conditions meant that specially designed footings were required for the framework to prevent it from sinking . As a part of this procedure, the top slab of the court was completed in a single pour – which had the added benefit of eliminating ugly cut-outs in the concrete.

A huge success

One of the main features of the Mangere School COLA is the panels of PVC which make up the canopy. Standard white PVC alternates with SAC – a fabric with an even higher level of translucency that still provides 100% UV protection for the students playing underneath. Other features included a spouting and storm water management system that was integrated within the legs of the structure to ensure the structure looked clean and visually appealing.

With the canopy completed, there was only one thing left to do and that was delivering 400+ soccer balls to the school as our way of saying thanks for the opportunity. The kids certainly looked delighted with the giveaway – making it a huge success in our book!