Pergolas — ZIL Shades

Start here

What are you creating?

The space decides the roof, the structure and most of the cost. Start with where it goes.

A villa pergola with a panel roof and vertical fin screens, powder-coated in a timber tone.

Villa & Residential A room outdoors, attached to the house. Membrane roof Panel roof Cut screen roof Explore

A white poolside pergola with a panel roof beside a villa swimming pool.

Poolside Shade beside water, where the specification changes. Panel roof Cut screen roof Bioclimatic louvre roof Explore

A rooftop pergola with an interwoven fabric roof over a terrace, city skyline beyond.

Garden, Terrace & Rooftop Making an exposed space usable. Membrane roof Interwoven fabric roof Bioclimatic louvre roof Explore

PERG-CAFE-01

PhotographyA restaurant or café terrace under a pergola, occupied, at dusk. The single most valuable photograph missing from this page.

Café & Restaurant Outdoor covers that have to earn their floor area. Bioclimatic louvre roof Retractable fabric roof Membrane roof Explore

PERG-HOSP-01

PhotographyA resort terrace, poolside lounge or arrival canopy, styled and occupied.

Hotel & Resort Guest-facing structures that cannot be taken out of service. Panel roof Cut screen roof Bioclimatic louvre roof Explore

What changes

Same structure. A different set of decisions.

Villa & Residential

Most villa pergolas are asked to do two things at once: shade a space and finish an elevation. That is why the screening usually matters as much as the roof — vertical fins, a slat wall or a cut screen turn a covered slab into a room, and decide how private it feels from the neighbours.

What we settle first

How it meets the house — attached, or free-standing and read as separate
Screening on the side the sun and the neighbours come from
Whether the roof needs to keep rain off or only sun
Lighting, and where the cable runs before the slab is finished

Send a requirement for this

Choose your roof

Six roofs. The choice is what you want the sky to do.

Four we fabricate ourselves; two are engineered systems we specify and install. Filter by where it is going, or by which we build.

Suits

Built

We fabricate A pergola with a tensioned membrane roof, timber-tone slat screens and integrated LED lighting at dusk.

Tensioned PVC

Membrane roof

A tensioned PVC membrane carried on a steel or aluminium frame. Keeps rain off, throws a soft light underneath, and is the most cost-effective way to cover a large opening.

Roof: PVC membrane, 850 g/m²
Structure: Mild steel or aluminium
Mainframe: 150 × 150 mm SHS
Centre frame: 150 × 100 mm RHS
Purlins: 100 × 50 mm RHS
Louvre and trellis supports: 80 × 40 mm RHS
Foundation: 800 × 800 × 800 mm
Finish: Standard powder coat
Lighting: LED, integrated

This is the configuration we publish in full, down to the foundation. The same design is built in aluminium where weight or coastal exposure makes that the better answer.

We fabricate The underside of a pergola with a woven basket-weave HDPE fabric roof over a rooftop terrace.

Braided HDPE

Interwoven fabric roof

HDPE strips woven or braided across the frame. Air passes straight through it, which is why it behaves better on an exposed roof than a solid sheet of the same area.

Roof: HDPE fabric, interwoven or braided
Structure: Aluminium
Finish: Powder coat
Water: Not a rain cover — it filters sun and lets air through
Wind: Air circulates through the weave rather than pushing against it
UV: Blocks up to 90% of UV [ fabric grade — confirm ]

Visually the most distinctive roof we make, and the pattern is set out per project. It is a shade roof, not a rain roof, and we would rather say that plainly.

We fabricate A white pergola with a solid panel roof beside a swimming pool.

Sandwich panel

Panel roof

A solid roof. Insulated sandwich panel outside, aluminium kick plates lining the soffit, so the underside is finished rather than structural.

Outer roof: Sandwich panel
Soffit lining: Aluminium kick plates
Structure: Mild steel
Finish: Standard powder coat
Lighting: LED, integrated into the soffit
Water: Full rain cover

The only roof on this page that gives complete rain cover and a finished ceiling. It is also the heaviest, which the frame and foundations have to account for.

We fabricate A free-standing white aluminium pergola with a laser-cut mashrabiya leaf-pattern roof beside a pool.

Mashrabiya and leaf patterns

Cut screen roof

A cut aluminium panel used as the roof itself. The pattern throws a moving shadow through the day, which is the whole point of it.

Roof: Cut aluminium panel — mashrabiya or leaf pattern
Columns and mainframe: 200 × 200 mm aluminium SHS
Structure: Aluminium
Finish: Standard powder coat
Water: Open — the pattern is perforated
Pattern: Set out per project

The pattern is drawn for the opening rather than repeated from a catalogue, so the shadow lands where you want it at the hour you use the space.

Supplied system

PERG-LOUVRE-01

PhotographyA louvre roof installed by ZIL, photographed with the blades open and again closed. Two frames, same viewpoint.

Rotating blades

Bioclimatic louvre roof

Aluminium blades that rotate from open to closed. Ventilate in the heat, close against sun or rain, and the roof becomes something you set rather than something you accept.

Roof: Rotating aluminium blades, horizontal V profile
Structure: Aluminium, solid posts
Maximum blade length: 4.00 m
Maximum advance: 5.00 m
Maximum width: 8.00 m in two modules
Frame colour: Grey RAL 7016 standard
Blade colour: Grey RAL 7016 or white RAL 9010
Connecting rods: White RAL 9010
Lighting: LED optional

A supplied system rather than one we fabricate. Beyond 8 m the roof is made in modules, and we will tell you where the division falls before you order.

Supplied system

PERG-ZIP-01

PhotographyA retractable fabric roof installed by ZIL — one frame extended, one rolled back into the cassette.

Tensioned into side rails

Retractable fabric roof

A high-tensile fabric roof that runs in side rails and rolls back into a cassette. Because the fabric is locked into the rails along both edges it cannot flap, which is what separates it from a folding-arm awning.

Roof: High-tensile PVC-polyester fabric
Guidance: Fabric tensioned into side rails on both edges
Drainage: Falls to an integrated front gutter
Operation: Motorised roll-up; app or remote control
Retraction: Rolls fully back into the cassette, clearing the roof opening
Wind rating: [ operating limit — confirm ]

It sheds rain to a defined gutter rather than letting it run off the edge, and it clears the whole opening when you want the sky back. In severe weather it is retracted, like any fabric roof.

Side by side

What each roof actually does.

Behaviour of each roof system. Figures for the two supplied systems are the manufacturer's published maxima; the rest are our own fabrication.
	Membrane	Interwoven	Panel	Cut screen	Louvre	Retractable
Keeps rain off	Yes	No	Yes	No	Closed	Extended
Lets air through	No	Yes	No	Yes	Open	Retracted
Moves	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed	Rotates	Rolls away
Opens to sky	No	Partly	No	Partly	Partly	Fully
Integrated lighting	Yes	Frame only	Yes	Frame only	Optional	Frame only
We fabricate it	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Supplied	Supplied
Relative cost	Lower	Lower	Middle	Middle	Higher	Higher

The structure

Steel or aluminium — and the sections we actually use.

Most pergola quotations describe a roof and stay quiet about the frame. Ours is published, because the frame is what the warranty is really about.

Mild steel

Mainframe: 150 × 150 mm SHS
Centre frame: 150 × 100 mm RHS
Purlins: 100 × 50 mm RHS
Louvre and trellis: 80 × 40 mm RHS
Foundation: 800 × 800 × 800 mm
Finish: Standard powder coat
Suits: Longer spans, panel roofs, heavier loads

Aluminium

Columns and mainframe: 200 × 200 mm SHS
Finish: Standard powder coat
Corrosion: Does not rust — the reason it is specified near water and near the coast
Weight: Lighter, which matters on a roof or over an existing slab
Suits: Poolsides, coastal sites, rooftops, cut-screen roofs

The same pergola can be built in either. Steel goes further for less; aluminium survives water and salt with less attention. We will tell you which your site argues for.

Worth understanding

A pergola does not retract. The frame takes the wind.

A pergola is a fixed structure, so unlike a folding-arm awning it is not retracted in wind — the frame and the foundations carry the load instead. That is why the section sizes and the foundation matter, and why we publish ours.

Tell us about the site

The roof decides the load.

A solid panel roof catches wind that a woven or perforated roof lets through. Two pergolas of the same footprint can need different foundations for that reason alone.

Rooftops are the hard case.

Wind at roof level is stronger than at ground level and there is rarely anything to fix back to. Free-standing frames are held down rather than braced.

Moving roofs are retracted.

A retractable fabric roof is closed in severe weather. A louvre roof is set flat. Both are normal operation, not a fault.

We size the foundation from the calculation.

The 800 × 800 × 800 mm foundation on our membrane pergola is a real number from a real structure — not a figure that suits every site.

Water

Where does the water go?

Customers choose a pergola by how it looks and discover the drainage afterwards. It is worth three minutes now.

Every roof on this page ends at the same place. The foundation is the part nobody asks about and the part that decides whether the structure is still true in ten years.

01

Solid roofs need a fall

A panel roof sheds every drop that lands on it. Which direction it falls, and what is underneath where it lands, is a design decision made before fabrication.

02

Membrane roofs shed to the low edge

The tension gives the fall. Where the low edge points is where the water goes, so it is pointed away from doors, seating and walkways.

03

Open roofs let it straight through

An interwoven or cut-screen roof is not a rain cover, and we say so rather than letting you discover it. The ground below still needs to drain.

04

A retractable roof drains to a gutter

Because the fabric is tensioned into side rails, rain runs to an integrated front gutter instead of over the edge. That is the practical advantage of the system.

05

Louvre roofs close, then drain

Closed blades interlock and carry water to the frame perimeter. Open, they let it through — which is a setting, not a defect.

06

Then it has to go somewhere

Onto planting, into a channel, or into the site drainage. A pergola that discharges onto a pool deck has moved the problem rather than solved it.

Before we install

A pergola is only as good as what it stands on.

Send us the site

A white pergola frame during installation on a villa terrace, before the roof is fitted. — The frame goes up before the roof. It is the last chance to check everything below it.

01What is under the paving where the columns land

02Whether new foundations are needed, or an existing slab will carry it

03Clear dimensions, and what the roof must clear when it is up

04Power at the position, for lighting or a motorised roof

05Where water will discharge, and what is underneath

06Access for material, plant and later maintenance

07Proximity to a pool, the sea, or heavy irrigation

08Community or authority approval, where it is required

The warranty

Five years as standard. Up to ten, depending on what you specify.

A pergola is not one product — it is a structure, a finish, a roof and, sometimes, a mechanism. The warranty follows what you actually choose rather than being a single number applied to everything.

How it works

Standard: 5 years — steel or aluminium structure
Extended: Up to 10 years, set by the specification and the quality of materials selected
What decides it: Section sizes, structure material, finish system and the roof you choose
Issued: In writing on handover, with the specification it applies to

The honest version: a heavier section, a better finish system and a higher-grade roof buy you more years, and we will tell you what each step is worth before you spend it. Terms are issued with your quotation.

That is a more useful answer than a single number, because it tells you where your money goes. Spending more on the frame buys years; spending more on the roof usually buys appearance and comfort. Both are legitimate — they are just different purchases.

The environment

What this climate does to a pergola.

01

Sun

Constant and high-angle. It decides the finish more than the structure, and it is why powder coat quality shows up in year four rather than year one.

02

Heat cycling

Steel and aluminium move daily. Connections are detailed to allow it rather than to resist it.

03

Dust

Settles on every horizontal surface and in every louvre. It is the main reason a moving roof needs a cleaning interval.

04

Wind

A fixed structure carries it. That is what the section sizes and the foundation are for.

05

Rain

Rare and heavy. Where the water leaves matters more than how much falls.

06

Salt and pool water

Near the sea or beside a pool, aluminium and a raised finish specification stop being an upgrade and start being the answer.

Get a price

Tell us about the space.

No price on this page, because the span, the ground and the roof decide it. Answer what you can — with photographs and a rough size we can usually price it on the call.

01The pergola

Where it goes *

Roof

Structure

Approximate width

Approximate depth

Attached or free-standing

Lighting

Screening

Finish colour

02The site

What the columns land on

Exposure

Emirate

Project stage

Photographs, drawings or a short video One photograph of the whole space, one of the ground where the columns will land, and anything you have on paper. That is usually enough to price it.

03How to reach you

Your name *

Mobile or WhatsApp *

Organisation

Email

Anything else we should know

This is what we receive

Call instead

We reply the same working day. If the site needs looking at before a number is sensible, we will say so.

Built work

Designed spaces, delivered.

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

A white poolside pergola with a solid panel roof beside a villa swimming pool. — Poolside

A rooftop pergola with a woven fabric roof over a terrace, city skyline beyond. — Rooftop terrace

A villa pergola with a panel roof and vertical fin screens in a timber tone. — Villa

A pergola with a tensioned membrane roof, slat screens and integrated lighting at dusk. — Membrane roof

A free-standing aluminium pergola with a cut leaf-pattern roof beside a pool. — Poolside

A laser-cut leaf-pattern screen seen against a villa elevation. — Cut screen detail

A pergola frame during installation on a villa terrace, before the roof is fitted. — Installation

An enclosed glazed garden room with a timber-slat screen, lit from within at dusk. — Enclosed garden room

Before you buy

Buying a pergola? Know what to ask.

Ask every bidder these, us included. Two pergolas that photograph the same can be very different structures.

01What are the section sizes of the frame and the columns?

02Steel or aluminium — and why that one for this site?

03What size are the foundations, and what are they designed for?

04What exactly is the roof, and what does it weigh?

05Does the roof keep rain off, or only sun?

06Where does the water go when it rains?

07What is the finish system, and to what standard?

08If there are moving parts, what is the motor and what is it rated for?

09What is the warranty on the structure, and what changes it?

10Which parts can be replaced later without rebuilding the frame?

11What maintenance does it need, and how often?

12Who verifies the site before fabrication starts?

Question one separates the quotations fastest. A supplier who cannot tell you the size of the steel is not quoting a structure — they are quoting a picture. See the full buying guidance.

Not ready to send a requirement

Ask the assistant which pergola suits your space

Which roof · Steel or aluminium · Fixed or moving · What it costs to run · What to measure · How to compare two quotations

Ask a question

Beyond installation

The frame outlives the roof, and that is the design.

A membrane is replaced, a motor is serviced, a finish is refreshed — all without touching the structure underneath. A pergola should be renewed in parts, not rebuilt.

See lifecycle services

Select
Specify
Install
Commission
Inspect
Maintain
Refurbish
Renew

Ready when you are

Create an outdoor space worth using.

Tell us where the pergola goes, how you want the space to work and what you already know about the site. We will narrow it to one structure and one roof.

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

Pergolas, designed around outdoor living.