Three 49m² Shade Sails Over a Kaitaia School Playground

There's not much shade to be found over a Far North playground in the middle of summer. At Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Pukemiro in Kaitaia, the tamariki have a big timber climbing playground to enjoy — but through the hottest part of the day it sat fully open to the sun. The kura wanted cover that let the children keep playing right through summer, without the equipment turning into a hot spot.

‍

What they were after was straightforward: proper shade over the whole playground, in the kura's own colours, built to last. The catch was the playground itself.

‍

It's tall. To clear the climbing frames and give the children room to move underneath, the sails couldn't sit low the way a backyard sail often does. We set the high points of each sail 6 metres above the ground and brought the low points down to 4 metres — high enough to clear every part of the playground, low enough to still throw good shade across it.

‍

That height, and the shape we built the sails in, do more than get them out of the way. Each of the three sails is 49m², made as a matching rectangle and then twisted into a hyperbola shape — high on two opposite corners and low on the other two. That twist is the part that matters. It keeps real tension across the fabric so the sail stays taut instead of flapping itself loose over the years, and it gives the rain somewhere to run off instead of pooling. For sails this size, a hyperbola shape is the most affordable way to get that kind of longevity — looked after properly, they're built to stay tight and true for years.

‍

Holding sails that big, that high, takes serious posts. We used 165mm hot-dip galvanised steel poles, set 2000mm into the ground in concrete footings, and brought in a Hiab to lift them into place. Once the poles were in and cured, the three sails went up in Monotec 370 shade fabric in the kura's red and black, chosen to match the school's colours, and the whole thing came together beautifully.

‍

The result is a playground the tamariki can use right through the Far North summer — shaded, cooler, and covered by sails built to stand up to Northland's ever changing weather for the long haul.

‍

Projects like this are a great reminder of why we love what we do. If you're looking at shade sails for a school, an early childhood centre or any play area across Northland, get in touch today to arrange a quote.

‍