Cantilever shade · SydneyShade with nothing underneath.
Every upright on one side, and the fabric reaching out from there over the pool or the paving.
Cantilever shade structures
Umbrella or built structure.
A cantilever carries its whole load on one edge. On a sail that means a line of posts down one side of the space and nothing on the other three. On an umbrella it means one mast under the canopy, carrying the lot.
The two are built nothing alike. A cantilever umbrella arrives finished, on one mast. A cantilevered sail goes up as a structure: heavier posts on one side, engineered footings, and a shaped membrane pulled tight across the span.
We've been building shade in Sydney for more than 40 years, and cantilever is the answer when a post can't go where a post normally goes. The fabric is cut and sewn in our own factory at Rydalmere, and installed by us.
- Fabric that blocks up to 99% of UV, right out to the end of the reach.
- Engineered to NSW wind codes, with certification available on request.
- Australian made, with a 10 to 15 year warranty on the sail.
- Repairs and re-tensioning, including cantilever sails we didn't build.
Selected work
Masts and long reaches.
Shade without a post in the middle, from around Sydney: poolside and rooftop umbrellas, childcare shade at Merrylands, a retractable terrace canopy.
How it goes together
What decides the design.
When cantilever is the right answer
Look at the floor. A pool wants its coping and its fence line kept clear. A driveway needs room for the car door to swing open. A courtyard with the paving already down doesn't want a footing cut into the middle of it. Those are the spaces a cantilever is for.
Which one suits the space
An umbrella covers a defined spot, a table or the shallow end, and it stands on its own, on a base plate or a footing set into the paving. A cantilevered sail covers a whole area like a terrace or a run of parking, and it goes up on site with the fabric tensioned across the span. In a play area the sail is usually the one to have, since nothing hard should be standing where a child is running.
One side carries everything
A four-point sail shares its load across four anchors. A cantilever hands the lot to one line of steel, and leverage works against it the further the fabric reaches, so the posts go up a size and the footings go deeper. You'll see all of it drawn on your blueprint before anything is cut.
Reach has a limit
There's a point where two smaller cantilevers beat one big span, and a long deck often works better with two. Where a space pushes past what a cantilever wants to do, a hip roof or a structure on T-posts will cover it better.
The moving parts
Umbrellas have parts that move. They tilt to follow the sun and many rotate on the mast, and that mechanism wants a look over each season, the same as any hinge left out in the weather. A cantilevered sail has nothing to operate. If you want the winter sun back on the ground in June, the umbrella is the one that gives it to you.
Good to know
Cantilever shade, answered.
How big can a cantilever shade span?+
Most cantilever umbrellas run around 3 to 4 m across the canopy, which is about the size of a dining setting. A cantilevered sail goes a good deal further, and how far depends on what the structure under it is built to carry and how exposed the block is.
What happens in a Sydney storm?+
A sail goes up drum-tight, because a slack membrane flogs itself to pieces in a blow. The steel and the footings under it are engineered to the NSW wind codes, which is where wind gets accounted for. Umbrellas are the exception, since they're built to be closed. Wind one down when a storm is forecast and it will last the way it's meant to.
Can a cantilevered sail come down for winter?+
It can. The sail is a fitted membrane on turnbuckles, so it unhooks, and it goes back on the same fittings when you want it up again. That's a job we do.
Do I need council approval for a cantilever shade?+
Almost never. Most home shade structures are exempt development in NSW, so there's no application and no waiting. The usual exceptions are larger commercial and school structures, and the occasional heritage site. On those we prepare the engineering and the documentation as part of the job.
NSW builder licence 294924C · ABN 54 631 910 168 · family-owned, 40+ years · our own factory at 40 Bridge Street, Rydalmere NSW 2116.
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