Springwood Primary School - Canopy That Moves!

A special educational needs school in Salford
welcomed an additional sixty pupils across its
two sites in Swinton and Irlam this September.
Springwood Primary School, which is the only primary
school of its kind in the city, increased its overall capacity
to three hundred pupils from nursery to Year 6.
The expansion involved enlarging a second site at Craig
Hall in Irlam which the school used as a ‘temporary annex’
for around three years.
Twinfix were approached by MTX Contracts the Principal
Contractor on the project to design, manufacture and
install a canopy at the site, between the building and
existing canopy.
The team rose to the challenge and designed this mobile
canopy, a first of its kind for Twinfix. This impressive free
standing curved canopy, spanning a total of sixty square
metres comprises of a sliding section with a run length of
three metres and a static section with a run length of 17.5
metres.
The aluminium structure is powder-coated to RAL 5003,
Sapphire Blue. The half barrel vault roof design was
constructed using Twinfix’s bespoke roof glazing systems
glazed with 10mm clear polycarbonate. The non-fragile
system achieves a Class B designation in accordance with
the HSE’s ACR[m]001:2019 drop test.

The main challenge was to create a frame that was strong
enough to retain its shape when moved but light enough
for a single person to open and close the retractable
section. This was achieved through material choices, such
as the polycarbonate vertical glazing instead of glass to
keep the weight to a minimum. The expert team also
designed a bespoke track and wheel system which allowed
the whole frame to glide open and close very easily, once
closed it was locked in position to the adjacent fixed
frames which retain it in place during high winds.
Director at Twinfix, Dan Smith commented:
“From initial concept we felt like this product would fit in
well with our current product range, so had confidence
it was something we could develop for the client. The
finished design looks really well and is extremely easy to
use, this is a credit to our internal design and fabrication
teams that worked together to achieve our goal”
Matt Lawrenson, Deputy Head at Springwood commented
on their new canopy:
“Over the Summer of 2021, we had a Sheltered Walkway
constructed and installed by Twinfix at our SEND provision,
where we have children with a range of complex additional
needs aged 2-7 years old. Our sheltered walkway allows
us to move pupils between our existing school building
and the new extension we have had built. As well as
ensuring safe passage for children and staff, the quality and
dimensions of the structure will provide an ideal additional
learning space for our pupils, lending itself to a whole
host of possibilities. It is light, spacious, and aesthetically
pleasing. Furthermore, the walkway satisfies an extremely
specific and demanding design brief, with a retractable
section which will allow utilities services access to a rising
main in the event that this should be needed, without
compromising its appearance or necessary sturdiness. We
could not be more pleased.’
Directors