Before You Buy: Expert Advice on Choosing the Best Commercial Awning
Before You Buy: Expert Advice on Choosing the Best Commercial Awning
October 27, 2025
Investing in a commercial awning is more than just adding shade, it is about enhancing your business kerb appeal and function. However, with so many different styles, fabrics, and technical possibilities available, selecting the best one can be.....
Investing in a commercial awning is more than just adding shade, it is about enhancing your business kerb appeal and function. However, with so many different styles, fabrics, and technical possibilities available, selecting the best one can be difficult. This article will provide you with the information you need to know before purchasing a commercial awning, allowing you to make an informed decision that fits both your business and budget.
The main cover fabric for a commercial awning has to be of a minimum standard to withstand the inevitable times where it is left out in not ideal and unsuitable weather conditions. Also in buildings where there are multiple storeys above the awnings it may be a requirement to use fire resistant fabrics for obvious reasons of safety.
In some cases, there may be a requirement for the UV protection to be as high as possible. We can provide up to 99% UV protection awnings, making them an excellent choice for environments where superior sun protection is required such as educational facilities, including nurseries, schools, and similar settings.
Waterproof fabrics are also possible, but most good quality awning fabrics have high levels of water resistance as standard and water should not be sitting on the fabric cover anyway, ideally rolling off as fast as possible with a steep angle of pitch when used for rain protection.
Of course many commercial awnings require company logos, straplines and information wording printing on the fabric cover or the front valance. This provides great advertising for the business and shows clearly when the premises are open if the awning is extended.
Retractable awnings are generally made as a one piece unit up to a width of around 7m wide, with a maximum projection of 4m at any size. Over 7m width the awnings are 'coupled', which means there are effectively 2 awnings which can share the same motor drive unit and either use 2 fabric covers or one large one. Maximum width is around 14m wide. Of course at these larger sizes there are multiple folding arms are used and many more brackets for the fixing to the wall.
Many awnings used in commercial applications have issues with fixing to the building. Most shops have limited room above the front window or facade, requiring the awning bracket positions to be adjusted accordingly. In this case, special spreader plates or brackets are often used to secure fixings to other parts of the building or to simply spread out the forces of the awning over multiple areas of the wall or structure. Older buildings may have minimal fixing points and limited headroom so larger brackets or custom framework systems are commonly used to solve this problem.
There are many shapes for the cassette housing with our retractable awnings, whether that is totally open fabric models or round, oval, square or even oversized cassettes. They all have their purpose depending on the style of the building or constraints of the installation position.
In London, for example, if you look around, you will see a lot of much older style Victorian drop arm awnings, which are a simple system rolling fabric out from a tube at a high level with arms either side which pivot off the building wall. These are what are called 'Drop Arm Awnings' and are a very good solution and always provide a very steep angle for the fabric when in use. They are simple to use and great in the rain as they usually have about a 45 degree angle on the cover. This steep angle also allows for the best presentation of any branding on the fabric cover, seen easily from across the road and all around.
The retractable 'folding arm' style awnings are used more often nowadays as replacements or on new buildings because they fold away into small cassettes, but also project out further too with the folding arm system used. These can be manual or electric operated, offering easy management, with the electric option available with a wind or motion sensor to retract if the weather becomes too aggressive and starts to upset the cover too much.
The shape of the cassette is often a critical factor for the building and there are even models designed to install into niches in the building wall so they become part of the building, folded away completely and almost invisible when closed fully.
LED lighting is another great option for many commercial awning installations to provide excellent low cost lighting for the external facade of the premises, with many awning models able to provide the lighting even when the awning is closed and not in use.
Awnings are used in shops primarily for shading and advertising and we have many models suitable for high street shops or other retail outlets, depending on the size required.
For sun shade protection and the provision of covered outdoor space in educational facilities, retractable awnings are often used because they can be opened and closed away fully so easily when not in use. 'Butterfly awning' systems offer sun shade over very large areas indeed by using a minimum of 2 awnings either side of a goal post system. With each awning extending 4 metres and a maximum width in one unit of 7m, you can cover a 56 square metre area which can be opened and closed at the push of a button. Standard folding arm awnings fitted to the building can utilise outdoor space very well, providing healthy, fresh air filled, covered space outside for the spring, summer and autumn months.
Whilst folding arm awnings are used extensively in hospitality, for pubs, hotels, restaurants and cafes, the popularity in the use of much larger systems is now clear.
Retractable pergolas and large structures with either folding fabric or rotating aluminium blades are all available with a commercial grade build, usually meaning far greater levels of material gauge and much stronger and heavier overall build quality to ensure the system can be used all year round if required.
Awnings Online can provide many standard and purpose made systems all chosen for their high quality build, but also for their value for money pricing too. From simple umbrellas through to large, bespoke aluminium structures with multiple roof systems, we have products to offer you and your business. Speak with our team today for any question you might have.
