A patio awning – also known as a garden canopy – provides shade during hot weather, protects against rain showers and adds privacy to your home whilst enhancing your living space. An awning extends out over your outdoor area – whether a patio or deck – and is available in a variety of styles and materials to match your home aesthetic.

If you’re planning ahead for the summer season, now is the ideal time to start thinking about a new patio sun shade. Here at Roché, we’ve been installing patio awnings for many years, so it’s no surprise we’ve worked on a diverse set of projects. Here are some of the more unusual uses for sun awnings we’ve come across.

Shading Pets

We’ve installed a number of sun awnings to protect pets. And it’s completely understandable – when temperatures rise in summer it can be worrying to think about our beloved pooches outside in the heat.

Paw friendly remote controls don’t exist just yet, but built-in sun and wind sensors will take care of extending and retracting the shade while you’re out. That means if you’re at work and the sun decides to peek out from behind the clouds, Fido will stay cool.