How we served up a large helping of additional space at Winstanley College

Posted on 9th May 2018 | Posted in Completed Installations, Education

Winstanley College is an award-winning sixth form college in Wigan with titles, including Sixth Form College of the Year to its name.

Catering at the college is provided by an external provider, Caterlink, who provides schools, colleges and universities across the UK with a range of catering services.

When we first spoke to Caterlink, they’d just won the catering contract and needed help with a practical challenge – how they could cater for more students when space within the dining hall was limited.

We’re used to working with colleges and helping them create more space

We’ve worked with countless colleges, schools and nurseries across the country, helping them to solve space-specific issues just like this one. So, when Caterlink told us about their predicament, we knew immediately how to help them.

Our Cantabria outdoor canopy, which is hugely popular within the education and hospitality sector, was the ideal solution because it:

1. Ticked all of the boxes within Caterlink’s brief – we can tailor our Cantabria so that it meets customers’ specific requirements.
2. Could easily double up as a multi-purpose room – that students can use during their free periods all-year round, which was the college’s main requirement.

As with all of our installations, we carried out this one efficiently and within the required deadline, despite the fact the site area had an extreme drop in the ground. We were able to overcome this by digging up and levelling off the ground before laying a concrete foundation that provided us with a smooth and even platform to work with.

As a result of getting in touch with us, Caterlink are now serving more students and the students have a light, bright area where they can study, regardless of what the weather’s doing. They can sit with the sun shining down on them and on greyer, wintry days, they can still use the area because the roof of the Cantabria can be closed at the touch of a button.

What’s more, if the mercury really does start to rise, the Cantabria protects students from the sun’s harmful rays.

Then there’s the sliding glass screens. They can be easily opened and closed, depending on the weather, while LED lighting and electric heating mean the space can used when it’s light or dark, or if it’s cold outside.

Both Caterlink and the college are over the moon with what we’ve achieved for them

In fact, the Cantabria has become such a much-loved feature, that it’s now referred to as the Garden Room and used for a wide range of events, such as parents’ evenings.

Conor Edwards, Director of Finance & Resources, said: “Our Cantabria canopy provides us with an outdoor dining area and a student space that’s used regularly by many of our students in all weathers.

“In the winter, it’s still warm enough to use, as the glass sides keep out the cold, and in the summer, the roof and the walls can be opened back to let in the fresh air and sunshine.”

That’s essentially two extremely happy customers, who now have an outdoor canopy solution that ticks their two main boxes.

If you’d like to find out more about the ins and outs of this installation or would like to create some extra dining and/or study space at your nursery, school, college or academy, get in touch with us today on 01254 777 002 or email karen@canopiesuk.co.uk.