Choose between a Tree, a Shade Sail and a Canopee

We need Shade in Urban Spaces

In the quest to transform our urban environments and combat harsh conditions like those in Australia, the importance of providing high-quality shade cannot be overstated. 🌞 But when it comes to shading public spaces, playgrounds, and blending with the surrounding architectural landscape, what's the best solution? Spoiler Alert: it depends on your needs, that's why we'll break it down for you, point by point.
Trees 🌲 have long been cherished for their natural beauty and ability to offer shade and cool urban heat islands. They create a sense of community engagement and can make public spaces more inviting. However, trees take time to grow and establish, and their shade isn’t always consistent throughout the year.
Shade Sails ⛵️ are versatile and can be quickly installed to provide instant relief in priority outdoor spaces such as playgrounds and community parks. They are excellent at blending with the architectural landscape and can be tailored to meet specific design needs. However, their functionality might be limited to certain conditions and they require maintenance to remain resilient into the future.
Urban Canopees 🌿 offer a cutting-edge solution by integrating vegetation into flexible structures that can be used year-round. They are designed to withstand the harshest climates and provide adaptable, high-quality shade that can be positioned precisely where needed. Moreover, they support community engagement by fostering greener, more livable urban areas and help to mitigate the effects of urban heat islands.
Each of these shading options plays a crucial role in creating sustainable, vibrant urban spaces. By understanding their distinct benefits and applications, we can better design and implement solutions that meet the diverse needs of our communities.
Comparison
A Tree
A Canopee
A Shade Sail
Core concept
A tree is planted in deep soil. It is the most natural solution you can have to add green, shade and cooling in a city.
A Canopee is a perfect feature between Horticultural knowledge and Technology. It can brings all the benefits of a tree where you can not plant it. It is made with a fiber glass structure on wich wine plants grows thick and even to bring green, shade and cooling in an acrchitectural and predictable way.

Cooling effect
The leaves of the tree act not only as a shading tool but also as natural cooler by what is called evapotransiration.
The wine naturally act as the leaf of a tree to create evapotransiration.

Gathering effect
From old times, trees have been gathering spaces where people met and hang out. It is a natural landmark!
Acting as a unique landmark, the Canopee can emphasise the gathering effect by enhancing a place for people to chill. Options includes benches and table arround the structure.

Greening and Wellbeing effect
More Nature is linked to a better physical and mental health. Basically, it makes the people happier! It also makes your city or your school more attractive... People are thriving for more green areas!
The Canopee mimicks the trees' health benefits.

Resistance
Trees can be very resilient depending of the types. But with violent winds, it can be a higher risk.
Engineered to resist natural risks such potent winds so that the Free-Standing Canopee moves just when you want it!

Sustainability
A tree makes it even in term of carbon footprint quicker than any other element of your Urban transformation.
It takes 5,5 years for a Canopee to become Carbon Neutral. How we achieve that? By using a structure made in Australia and sustainable materials such as fiber-glass.

Roots, Installation, Costs?

Comparison
A Tree
A Canopee
Anchering and roots
The root system in healthy tree can extend up to 6-12 times the distance of the canopy. It can damage pipes and result in soil ompaction, soil level changes.
The roots are constraint in a pot. The pot has been engineered to provide enough space for the plants to fully grow.
Installation
You need a few days to dig under the existing surface. This requires specialized machines.
You need less than a day to install a Canopee. If you choose the Free Standing Canopee, no anchering is needed so the installation can be done in a few hours without any heavy machines.
Growth
A tree with a medium or moderate growth rate adds half a metter of height each year. After a few years, the green cover equals the one of the Large Canopee.
3 to 4 years for the Large Canopee to be fully covered 2 to 3 years for the small canopee
Maximum height
It depends on the species you choose but it can go from 2 m to 15 m or more. Sky is the limit!
3 m for the Small Canopee 5 m for the Large Canopee
Predictability
The beauty of nature is also its unpredictable beahviours. From its branches to its roots, it can grows in its own way. It would be suitable for parks and places with lot of spaces available.
The keys feature of the Canopee is to control the final shape of the plants and its roots. The wine grows predictably along the fiber-glass shape. It is suitable for cities with constraints on space, espacially within street and path.
Modularity
It is hard or impossible to move a tree. Once planted, you usually need to cut if you want to get rid of.
The Free-Standing Canopee offer a fully relocatable modular structure that can be refitable as many time as you need. The Standard Canopee howerver need to be anchor in the ground.
Shade
The Shade effect appears after a few years when the green canopy is develloped enough.
It’s like a tree! but we added an option called instant shade featuring shade sail tech that adds a shaded area instantly of the size of the Canopee.
Green Cover
A 5 metters tree provides arround 50 square metters of shade (depending on the type of tree)
20 square metters m for the Small Canopee50 square metters for the Large Canopee
Lighting
You can add on the existing branch but you need them to develop enough which takes a few years.
You can add on it as soon as install, making it instantly shining at night!
Cost
$150-$2,5k depending on the height
$20k-$35k depending on the height
Removal cost
$300 – $3000
$300 is the price of a forklift rental for a day. This is all you need to move the Free-Standing Canopee.
Needs
Living in the soil, it can benefits from the natural nutrients and water from the rain.
As it lives off the ground, it needs watering done effectively thanks to integrated water tanks that you should fill every two weeks. It also needs nutrients 2 to 4 times a year.

the three questions you need to answer

Can I dig into the ground?

  • YES! You have the choice! A Tree would be a good solution if you have no further constraint.
  • NO! You should think about the Free-Standing Canopee. It would mimick the benefits of a tree without digging.

How permanent I want it to be?

  • NO LIMITS! Well, you can go all the way with a tree that can last decades! The Canopee can last as well and should resists at least 15 to 20 years.
  • I AM NOT SURE! The Canopee is the solution. It can be tested in a place and then relocatable as many time as you want.
  • TEMPORARY! You won't have the time to see a tree growing, but you can go for a Canopee. In fact, some events hosted Canopees with integrated plants... for a day, for a week, or for a year, the Canopee may be the perfect solution.

Is it a dense place?

  • YES! The satturated underground of cities scape can embody risks for the roots. The unperdicable branches can reach the electric cables... If you want to have a predictable intregartion of Nature both underground and on-the-ground, we would advise you the Canopee!
  • NO! If you have the spaces, feel free to run for a classic tree. The old school is still great!