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The client’s brief called for a practical shade sail that had style and visual appeal to cover a backyard barbeque area. Shade Protection Ltd. designed a saddle-shaped (hypar) four-point sail with its eastern side open high enough to allow the morning sun to creep in and flood the patio (“great for early morning coffee,” says the client), yet low enough to provide full cover from 10 am and 3 pm, the hottest time of the day. Any rainwater that hits the sail is diverted to the two low sides.
According to Shade Protection, the four galvanized high-tensile steel posts are powder coated and all fittings use 316-schedule stainless steel, including the 4mm 7/19 strand individual hem tensioning wires. Footings are 450mm in diameter at 1.5m deep to resist New Zealand’s “wild weather,” says Shade Protection’s manager Peter Dwyer.