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Awnings

Awnings, designed around the way you use the space.

From windows and balconies to terraces, cafés and retail frontages — shade you can put out when you want it and put away when you do not.

Explore awnings Find my awning
Systems
Open · Semi-cassette · Full cassette
Reach
Up to 6.00 m wide, up to 4.00 m projection
Operation
Manual, motorised, or automated with sensors
Fabric
Solution-dyed acrylic, 300 g/m², 10-year fabric warranty

Priced after we have seen the fixing condition. Send measurements and photographs of the wall and we can usually give you a number on the call.

A run of retractable awnings along a café frontage at dusk, valance lit from above.
Start here

Where are you putting it?

Five ways into the same three systems. Pick whichever describes your situation — they all lead to the same specification.

What changes

Same product. Different decisions.

A folding-arm awning extended over a villa courtyard, cream fabric on a dark grey frame.

Retractable

Every awning on this page retracts. The arms fold, the fabric rolls back onto the tube, and the space is open again. That is the whole point of a folding-arm system: you decide, day by day, whether the terrace is in shade or in sun.

What we settle first
  • How often it will actually be operated — this decides manual or motor
  • Where the arms fold to, and what is in the way
  • Whether the wall can take the load, or needs a support frame
  • How much projection you need before the sun is off the seating
Send a requirement for this
The range

Three systems. The difference is what happens when it is closed.

All three retract, all three take a motor, all three carry the same fabric. What separates them is how much of the mechanism is enclosed, and how far they reach.

Compare all three
An open folding-arm awning extended from a wall, the square support bar and arms visible.
Self-bearing bar, open arms

Open System

A self-bearing square bar carries the roller and the arms with no cassette over them. The most economical way to cover a large area, and the simplest to service.

Reference AW-OS
Enclosure
Open — bar, roller and arms exposed when retracted
Maximum width
5.50 m with 3.50 m arms · 6.00 m with 3.00 m arms
Maximum projection
3.50 m
Support bar
40 × 40 mm self-bearing square section
Slope
0° to 90°, wall or ceiling
Mounting
Wall · ceiling · between walls
Operation
Manual · motorised · automated
Wind classification
Class 2 to EN 13561 — operate below 28 km/h
Where it belongs
  • Large terraces
  • Covered areas where appearance when closed matters less
  • The most cost-effective coverage per square metre

Additional arms can be added along the bar to extend the run, which is why this system suits long, straight terraces better than the cassette systems do.

The underside of a striped awning showing the arms and the supporting frame.
Metal support system, lateral cassette

Semi-Cassette

An all-metal support system with a cassette that holds the roller assembly. Compact enough for a balcony, strong enough for a six-metre frontage without an intermediate support.

Reference AW-SC
Enclosure
Semi — roller housed, arms exposed
Maximum width
6.00 m
Maximum projection
3.50 m
Unit dimensions
242 × 170 mm
Slope
0° to 85°, double-pivot adjustment
Mounting
Front · ceiling · between walls
Operation
Manual · motorised · automated
Motor sizing
50 Nm on a 70 mm tube; 50–55 Nm on an 80 mm tube by arm projection
Where it belongs
  • Balconies
  • Terraces
  • Café and retail frontages
  • Where the closed unit must stay shallow

All-metal construction with no plastic components in the visible structure, so the colour stays uniform across the unit as it ages.

A retractable awning with an enclosing cassette hood, seen from below against a building.
Fully enclosed when retracted

Full Cassette

Fabric and mechanism both shut inside the cassette when the awning is closed. The longest reach of the three, and the one that stays looking new longest.

Reference AW-FC
Enclosure
Full — fabric and mechanism enclosed when closed
Maximum width
6.00 m, two arms
Maximum projection
4.00 m
Unit dimensions
177 × 250 mm wall · 201 × 249 mm ceiling
Slope
6° front; 18° ceiling, or 6° with a complementary support
Mounting
Front · ceiling
Operation
Manual · motorised · automated
Lighting
LED available in the front profile and in the arms
Durability
Rated to a minimum of 10,000 open-and-close cycles
Wind classification
Operate below 28 km/h
Where it belongs
  • Terraces and large terraces
  • Hospitality and food service
  • Coastal and dusty sites
  • Anywhere it will be closed more often than open

Above 3.00 m of projection a motor is specified as standard rather than as an option — at that reach a crank is impractical and the fabric is harder to tension evenly by hand.

Specifications are those of the systems we supply, carried from the manufacturer’s published data. Every figure is confirmed against your opening before anything is ordered — a maximum is what the system can do, not what your wall can take.

Side by side

The numbers that separate them.

Manufacturer-published maxima for the systems ZIL Shades supplies. Your installation is confirmed at survey.
 Open systemSemi-cassetteFull cassette
Enclosed when closedNoRoller onlyFabric and mechanism
Maximum width5.50–6.00 m6.00 m6.00 m
Maximum projection3.50 m3.50 m4.00 m
Closed unit size40 × 40 mm bar242 × 170 mm177 × 250 mm
Slope range0°–90°0°–85°6° front · 18° ceiling
Between-wall mountingYesYesNo
Integrated LEDNoIn the armsFront profile and arms
Extra arms to extend a runYesNoNo
Relative costLowestMiddleHighest
Read this before you buy one

An awning is a sun product. Above 28 km/h it should be closed.

A folding-arm awning is a sun product. Its European classification is an operating limit, not a survival rating — above roughly 28 km/h it should be retracted, and that is true of every folding-arm awning made, not just ours.

Class 2 to EN 13561
What the class actually means.

EN 13561 classifies awnings by the wind they can stay extended in. Class 2 is up to 28 km/h — a fresh breeze, not a storm.

Why it matters more here.

Afternoon wind is routine, and a shamal is not rare. An awning left out in one is not a warranty claim; it is a use error, and it is expensive.

The answer is a sensor, not a heavier awning.

A wind sensor retracts the awning automatically, whether or not anyone is home. On an exposed terrace we specify one as standard.

What we will tell you.

If your position is too exposed for a retractable awning to be sensible, we will say so and point you at a fixed structure instead.

Operation

Crank, motor, or motor that decides for itself.

01

Manual

  • A geared crank handle Simple, nothing to power, nothing to fail electrically.
  • Best under 3 m projection Beyond that the handle turns become impractical.
  • You have to be there Which is the limitation that matters in wind.
02

Motorised

  • Tube motor, remote or wall switch Sized to the tube diameter and the arm projection.
  • Standard above 3 m Specified as standard at that reach, not offered as an upgrade.
  • Needs power at the position Worth establishing before the survey, not after.
03

Automated

  • Wind sensor Retracts the awning whether or not anyone is home. The one we recommend.
  • Sun sensor Extends it to keep a room cool while the house is empty.
  • Rated for 10,000 cycles Automation means it operates far more often. The mechanism is rated for it.
Inside the arm

What holds the fabric tight.

The arm is the part that wears. How tension is carried along it decides how the awning feels to operate and how long it stays taut.

01

Belt-tension arm

An internal flat belt carries the tension along the arm. The standard arrangement, and the one most installations use.

All three systems

02

Belt-tension arm with LED

The same arm with a lit diffuser channel along it, so the awning works after dark without separate light fittings.

Semi-cassette and full cassette

03

Concealed ball-bearing arm

Ball bearings in the elbow and the transmission fully hidden. The smoothest action and the cleanest appearance, at the top of the range.

Semi-cassette

The fabric

Solution-dyed acrylic.

Half of what you are buying, and the half that faces the sun. These are the tested figures for the fabric we supply.

Composition
100% acrylic, solution dyed
Weight
300 g/m² — tested to UNE EN 12127
Tensile strength
140 daN/5 cm warp · 95 daN/5 cm weft — UNE EN 1394.1
Water column
360 mm — UNE EN 20811
Roll width
120 cm
Finish
Water and stain repellent treatment
Standard
Meets EN 13561 for awning fabrics
Fabric warranty
Up to 10 years — see the terms below
Solution dyed, not surface dyed.

The colour is in the fibre before it is spun, not printed on afterwards. It is the single reason acrylic awning fabric holds colour in this sun when cheaper fabric does not.

300 g/m² is a real weight.

Light enough to roll cleanly onto the tube, heavy enough to hang without rippling across a six-metre width.

A 360 mm water column is shower resistance, not a roof.

It sheds light rain at a slope. It is not waterproof, and we would rather say so than have you find out.

AWN-FABRIC-01
Photography The colour range as swatches, and one awning shot with the sun behind the fabric so the colour reads as it does in use.

Colour on a screen is not colour on a terrace. We bring physical samples to the survey and recommend choosing from those — particularly for anything facing west.

The warranty

Ten years on the fabric — and here is exactly what that means.

Most awning warranties are quoted as a single number. This one is a schedule, and publishing it in full is more useful to you than the number on its own.

The schedule
Years 1 – 7
Faulty fabric replaced free of charge.
Year 8
50% discount on replacement fabric.
Year 9
25% discount on replacement fabric.
Year 10
15% discount on replacement fabric.
What it covers
  • Unusual wear of the fabric, and of its colour, from the date of installation
  • The replacement fabric itself
What it does not
  • Everything that is not fabric — arms, mechanism, brackets, structure
  • The cost of removing the old fabric and fitting the new one
  • Normal ageing and normal wear
  • Damage from inadequate maintenance, solvents, scrapers or abrasive cleaning
  • Unusual weather, air pollution, bird fouling and pesticides
  • Objects falling on or placed on the fabric, and burns
  • Damage from incorrect installation or handling

A claim is made in writing within fifteen days of noticing the damage, with the purchase invoice. Replacement does not restart the ten years. We would rather set that out here than in a document you read after something has gone wrong.

Before we install

The awning is the product. The fixing is the risk.

A folding-arm awning pulls down and outward on its brackets with real force. Almost every awning failure we are called to is a fixing failure, not a fabric one.

Load path through an awning Load passes from the fabric, into the arms, through the support bar, into the brackets and finally into the wall. FABRICHeld in tension ARMSPush it out and taut SUPPORT BARCarries the roller BRACKETSWhere it concentrates THE WALLTakes the load
The wall is the last link and the one nobody specifies. A block wall, a rendered partition and a reinforced beam are three different answers.
01What the wall is actually made of, behind the render
02Whether a support frame is needed instead of direct fixing
03Height, and what the projection will clear when extended
04Doors and windows the arms must fold past
05Power at the position, for a motorised system
06Where water runs off the front bar when it rains
07How exposed the position is, which decides the sensor
08Access for installation, and later for servicing
The environment

What this climate does to an awning.

01

Sun

Constant and high-angle. It decides the fabric, and solution-dyed acrylic is the answer rather than a surface-dyed cloth.

02

Heat cycling

Daily swings work every bracket and every arm joint. Fixings need checking, which is what the annual visit is for.

03

Dust

Settles on the rolled fabric and grinds it as it rolls. This is the strongest argument for a cassette.

04

Wind

The governing risk. Retract it, or fit a sensor that retracts it for you.

05

Rain

Infrequent and heavy. The fabric sheds a shower at a slope; it is not a roof and should not be left out in a downpour.

06

Coastal salt

Near the sea, salt reaches the arm mechanism and the fixings before it touches the fabric.

Get a price

Tell us about the opening.

No price on this page, because the fixing condition decides it. Answer what you can — with a photograph of the wall and a rough width we can usually price it on the call.

01The awning
02The fixing
One photograph straight at the wall, one from the side showing how far out it needs to reach, and one of anything the arms have to fold past.
03How to reach you
This is what we receive 

        

        

          
          
          
          Call instead
          
          

            We reply the same working day. If the fixing needs looking at, we will say so rather than
            quoting blind.
          

        

      

    

  







  

    

      

        
Built work

        
Awnings we have installed.

        

          Photographs of ZIL Shades installations. Where a client has not given consent to be named,
          the site is not identified.
        

      

    

    

          A wide view of a café frontage covered by a run of retractable awnings.
          
Café frontage



          A folding-arm awning extended over a villa courtyard.
          
Residential



          Retractable awnings over café seating at dusk, downlights above.
          
Hospitality



          A retail frontage in daylight under a continuous run of awnings.
          
Retail frontage



          The underside of a striped awning showing the arms and supporting frame.
          
Fabric and arms



          The scalloped valance of a café awning, lit from above at dusk.
          
Valance detail



          A café frontage under a run of striped retractable awnings at dusk.
          
Café frontage



          A retractable awning seen from below, its cassette hood visible.
          
Cassette detail

  







  

    

      

        
Before you buy

        
Buying an awning? Know what to ask.

        

          Ask every bidder these, us included. Two awnings that look identical from the street can be
          very different products.
        

      

    


    

      
01Which system is proposed — open, semi-cassette or full cassette?

      
02What is the fabric, and what does it weigh?

      
03Is the fabric solution dyed, or surface dyed?

      
04What wind class is the system, and what does that mean in practice?

      
05How is it fixed, and has the wall build-up been checked?

      
06What is the frame finish, and to what standard?

      
07Manual or motorised — and what is the motor rated for?

      
08Is a wind sensor included, offered, or not mentioned?

      
09What exactly does the warranty cover, and for how long?

      
10Does the warranty include the labour to change the fabric?

      
11What maintenance does it need, and who does it?

      
12Can the fabric be replaced later without changing the system?

    


    

      Question ten catches most of them. Almost every fabric warranty in this category covers the
      cloth and not the labour — ours included, and we say so above rather than in a document you
      read afterwards. See the full buying guidance.
    

  







  

    

      

        Not ready to send a requirement
        
Ask the assistant which awning suits your space

        
Cassette or open · Manual or motorised · The wind limit · What to measure · Fabric and colour · How to compare two quotations

      

      Ask a question
        
    

  







  

    

      

        
Beyond installation

        
The fabric is a consumable. The system is not.

        

          Fabric is the part that ages first, and it is designed to be replaced without touching the
          arms, the bar or the brackets. A re-fabric is a day’s work and it makes the awning new again.
        

        See lifecycle services
          
      

      
    
        
  1. Select
  2. Specify
  3. Install
  4. Inspect
    5. 
        
  5. Maintain
  6. Re-fabric
  7. Renew
    8. 
      

    

  







  

    

      

        
Ready when you are

        
Find the awning that fits the space.

        

          Tell us where it goes, how far out it needs to reach and what the wall is. We will narrow it
          to one system and give you a number.
        

      

      

        Configure your awning
          
        Call [ +971 · phone ]
        [ Saturday – Thursday, 8am – 7pm ]
      

    

  










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