A trellis or pergola is a great way to add some shade to your backyard, but what about when the sun is directly overhead? You’re still left with the sun beating down on you between the slats of your pergola. A skylight awning is a great way to completely shade your patio or yard when you’re out entertaining, eating a meal under your pergola, or just trying to enjoy your day outdoors. The beauty of these systems is that you can add shade
when you want it.

The skylight awning is mounted on top of the pergola so that the framework can’t be seen from below. When you want some shade all you need to do is push a button. These units can be controlled with a remote control or a wall mounted switch.

In the pictures you see the client decided to also add motorized drop shades to cut down on the afternoon sun since their yard faces west.

The only downside to most retractable awnings is that they can’t be left out in the wind or the rain…

In some cases we can use a skylight awning to create a waterproof cover for a restaurant or home patio. The skylight awning only works at certain angles and projections in this setup, but the results can be outstanding.

Pictured to the left is a project we did at the Eveleigh Restaurant in Hollywood. Notice how the awnings are mounted at an angle. That angle is what we call a gabled shape.

When mounted in this configuration we are able to create an outdoor patio space that can be protected from both the sun and the rain. Due to the gabled shape of the awnings, the rain runs right down the side of the canvas leaving the patio area dry for the diners.

But what if you don’t have a gabled framework or rooftop? No problem, we can create one for you.

That’s it for this post, stay tuned for Part 2 where we’ll discuss the retractable arm awning.