Bioclimatic pergola,awning or tensioned fabric

An awning is the simplest way to get shade and it rolls away, but it copes worst with wind. A tensioned fabric pergola covers a large area with a light frame. A bioclimatic pergola controls light with aluminium louvres, lets hot air out and keeps rain off. The right choice depends on how many months you use the terrace.

It starts with the frame. An awning is fabric rolled into a cassette and pushed out on folding arms fixed to the wall, with no posts. A tensioned fabric pergola stands on its own aluminium frame with posts, and the fabric is pulled taut between the profiles. A bioclimatic pergola also stands on posts, but its roof is a set of aluminium louvres that rotate on their own axis.

Everything else follows from that frame: how much wind each system can take, where the rainwater goes, whether hot air can escape and whether you can later close the sides with glass. In Alicante the choice matters more than in northern Europe, because the terrace is used almost all year and the system works far more hours.

Sun is the main factor in Alicante. The AEMET weather station in the city records an average of 2,851 hours of sunshine a year and an average August high of 30.8 °C, according to the AEMET climate averages for Alicante for 1981 to 2010. With figures like these, a south facing terrace needs shade from March to October.

An awning gives fixed shade while it is out, and the size of that shade depends on the arm projection and the height of the sun. In the early afternoon the shade falls where you expect it, but once the sun drops it slides off the terrace. Under a solid sheet of fabric the hot air stays trapped unless there is a breeze.

Tensioned fabric gives broad, even shade over the whole frame. Acrylic or microperforated fabric breathes and feels cooler underneath than PVC. Of the three, the bioclimatic pergola is the only one that lets you adjust the shade: turning the louvres decides how much light comes through, and hot air rises and escapes through the gaps between them.

Awnings have an official wind resistance classification. The EU Delegated Regulation 2019/1188 on wind load classes for awnings and blinds sets the classes a manufacturer has to declare. Folding arm awnings have only three classes, from 0 to 2, and the top one starts at a nominal wind pressure of 70 N/m². Pergola awnings have seven classes, up to class 6, which starts at 400 N/m².

In practice the folding arm awning is the first thing to retract when the wind gets up, which is why many are fitted with a wind sensor that closes them automatically. Fabric on a frame with posts spreads the load over several supports and takes more, provided the class the manufacturer declares is high and the fixings are properly designed.

A bioclimatic pergola is a heavier aluminium structure with rigid louvres instead of fabric, so it does not flap. How much wind it takes depends on the manufacturer, the span between posts and how it is anchored to the floor or wall. In strong wind the sensor moves the louvres to whatever safe position the manufacturer specifies. Wind resistance of the pergolas LUNEKS installs

Alicante gets little rain, but it tends to arrive all at once. The same AEMET averages show 311 mm a year spread over about 37 days with more than 1 mm. That means few wet days and the odd heavy storm, mostly in autumn, when the system has to shed a lot of water in a short time. Each system deals with water differently:

• Awning with acrylic fabric: not waterproof, so it is rolled in when it rains to stop water pooling in the cloth.
• Awning with PVC fabric: sheds water, but needs a slope so it does not sag into pockets.
• Tensioned fabric pergola: the tension and the slope of the frame carry water to the edge, especially with PVC fabric.
• Bioclimatic pergola: closed louvres collect the water and channel it through gutters into the posts; with driving rain some water can still come in at the sides.

The right choice comes from how you actually use the terrace. A terrace where you eat a couple of times a month in summer needs something different from a porch where you sit every evening from March to November. These are the situations we come across most often on the Costa Blanca:

• Balcony or small terrace used on summer evenings: a folding arm awning with a wind sensor is usually enough.
• Garden or large pool area with no wall to fix to: a tensioned fabric pergola on posts.
• Terrace you use every day, often in full sun: a bioclimatic pergola to adjust the shade through the day.
• Penthouse exposed to strong wind: a well anchored frame on posts rather than a folding arm awning.
• Terrace you also want to close in winter: a bioclimatic pergola with glass curtains along the sides.

Awnings and fabric pergolas share the same weak point: the fabric. Wash it with water and mild soap, without bleach or stiff brushes, and only roll it in when it is dry, or mould will grow inside the cassette. Over the years the sun fades the colour and the fabric loses tension, and then the cover is replaced without touching the frame. Lifespan of the fabrics LUNEKS offers

A bioclimatic pergola has no fabric, but it does have moving parts. Leaves and dust collect in the gutters and between the louvres, so it is worth clearing them before the autumn rain. Near the sea, rinsing the powder coated aluminium with fresh water removes the salt. The motor and sensors need checking now and then so they still react to rain and wind.

It depends on the town hall and the building. An awning on the front of a block of flats usually has to match the model and colour approved by the owners' association. A pergola with posts fixed to the ground is often treated as an installation that needs prior notice or a municipal licence, and each town on the Costa Blanca applies its own planning rules.

Before ordering anything, it is worth asking at the town hall and checking the community statutes. Our page on permits for enclosures and pergolas explains which documents are usually requested and when the procedure changes. What permit paperwork LUNEKS handles for pergolas