With the growing awareness of the risk of skin cancer due to sun exposure, commercial playgrounds are increasingly being designed with a focus on utilizing sun shade, either natural or artificial.
When selecting the site for your future playground, it’s important to consider how your location will be affected by sun exposure. Try to determine if the sun will heat exposed plastic and metal surfaces of the play area during the hottest parts of the day. To alleviate the heat caused by sun exposure, some playgrounds will use existing shade features such as nearby trees to cast shadows onto the playground; however, with this option comes additional maintenance issues such as leaf and limb removal on a seasonal basis. For this reason, many customers choose to utilize a traditional shade structure for shading and protecting their playground.
When selecting a playground shade, it’s important to look at the size of the use zone along with the elevation of your playground. This will ensure your columns do not lie within use zones or fall zones of the playground. In also ensures that your playground canopy is sufficiently elevated above the play equipment as needed. Once the desired shaded space has been defined, it’s time to select what style of shade structure you want over your space. Most playgrounds are covered using either a traditional four-post hip and ridge structure, large independent umbrella style structure, a series of shade sails, or a modular shade structure incorporated directly into the playground.