In Hawke’s Bay our local expert Mark has built a reputation for the quality of his large-scale school shade sail installations over the years. He was stoked to get the call from Wairoa College about a comprehensive shade sail project for their outdoor areas – our largest Hawke’s Bay shade sail project this year.
The project involved creating a multitude of shaded spaces within the school campus, offering a variety of choices for rangatahi (young people) to enjoy the green space.
With established trees offering dappled natural shade, the school’s shade sail project needed to tie in with the existing environment and build on the shade spaces available.
Part of the challenge for our Hastings-based team installing in Wairoa is the somewhat remote location, particularly for getting specialist services to site such as hydro-excavation for efficiently digging the posts.
This was a massive job with 10 custom-designed and fabricated shade sails requiring a total of 29 posts to be freighted to site, so manual pole digging was not an option! Hydro excavation services were called up from Napier for digging day, which turned out to be the perfect call.
Pro tip: always expect the unexpected and be prepared to adapt. Despite having access to the plans for the underground services and being given the all clear, we still managed to find a heap of services including stormwater pipes present under the ground! Thanks to having the hydro-excavator on site, adapting was not a major problem – we were able to quickly dig more holes and shift the set of shade sail poles over slightly to accommodate.
Our heaviest duty shade cloth was employed for the job – Extreme32 (E32) by Rainbow Shade. Thanks to its monofilament and tape construction E32 not only performs excellently in exposed weather areas but also when required to span large spaces. E32 also provides impressive UVR protection (up to 95.8%).
The black shade cloth chosen for the college offered a UVR Block of 95.7% and a cooling 95.3% shade. An incredibly strong choice for the protection of the students underneath.
It was fantastic to be called up for another large-scale shade sail project like this one. The result is a serious set of shade sails and sun protection for the students at Wairoa College, and we’re proud to have created a stylish set of architectural sails that invite rangatahi to hang out in a variety of spaces.
We’d love to talk to you about your project and scope a quote to put forward. We have the expertise and fabrication know-how to create something amazing for your space – feel free to bring your ideas and ask us anything.
You can learn more here about our work in education, community or commercial environments, or fire us a quote request below.
Advice - Jan 29, 2026
Summer in New Zealand is all about getting outside – but when the sun is beating down and UV levels are high, outdoor spaces can quickly become uncomfortable. That’s where shade sails really shine.
Read More
Education Projects - Sep 29, 2025
When you’re thinking about outdoor shade for your school, it’s easy to focus on one goal: keeping students out of the sun. But great shade design goes much further.
Read More
Advice - Jun 26, 2025
With winter here, now’s the time to give your outdoor shade sails and outdoor blinds a little extra attention. Check out our tips to get the best from your Sunshade products.
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Creating shade with outdoor blinds is a sophisticated way to enjoy your outdoor area when that summer sun bakes in.
From creating an inviting outdoor room on the patio to screens for shade and privacy, outdoor blinds can serve multiple purposes and tick several of your outdoor living boxes all at once.
In this blog we’ve put together some examples of work we’ve done in this space over the years, looking at several options to inspire you as you ponder your own outdoor screen project.
The very clever mesh textile we use at Sunshade is designed to withstand the strain of NZ’s demanding UV environment.
The extremely high UV-R rating means that those inside are almost fully protected from the sun’s rays. It also aids in protecting your outdoor furniture and interior living areas from weathering.
Mesh also doubles as a privacy screen so you can relax in your space – perfect if you wish to create the feeling privacy in a close-quartered suburban environment.
All our mesh screens have some visibility from the inside, allowing that outdoors-in feel. Some of the lighter-coloured screens do offer a light and soft muted view of the garden or other aspect. Colour choice really comes down to your requirements for outdoor living on balance with the design aesthetic you are after.
You can also mix and match!
Pro tip: Another useful purpose for outdoor blinds, especially the Ziptrak track-guided screen system, is that they can keep out debris and pests.
Fitted with a unique bottom bar which seals the gap between the blind and the floor, the Ziptrak® bottom bar stops the flow of dirt, leaves and other riff-raff, as well as pleasantly blocking draughts.
When designing a patio area, we’ll always help our customers factor in the positioning of the sun in all seasons. The best kind of design will make the most of the light, warmth, and wind year-round.
In terms of layout, options include choosing full mesh for all screens to enclose the patio, just putting one screen in that pesky spot where the sun beats in, or using a mix of mesh and clear screens depending on your outlook.
After a site visit we will make recommendations to suit your space, and help you consider all the angles. Onsite we can show you through examples of other work we have done and look at different ways to use colour, textile, and space to achieve what you want.
Advice - Jan 29, 2026
Summer in New Zealand is all about getting outside – but when the sun is beating down and UV levels are high, outdoor spaces can quickly become uncomfortable. That’s where shade sails really shine.
Read More
Education Projects - Sep 29, 2025
When you’re thinking about outdoor shade for your school, it’s easy to focus on one goal: keeping students out of the sun. But great shade design goes much further.
Read More
Advice - Jun 26, 2025
With winter here, now’s the time to give your outdoor shade sails and outdoor blinds a little extra attention. Check out our tips to get the best from your Sunshade products.
Read More
This outdoor umbrella installation tells the story of when one just isn’t enough. After having one umbrella installed and enjoying it so much, our customer just had to have another!
Set in the leafy suburb of Greenmeadows, the Western sun would beat down into this contemporary backyard. Our customer needed to protect their black outdoor furniture (and those sitting on it) from the harsh Hawke’s Bay sun. They were also looking to cast a shade over the pool for respite during the heat of the day.
Like many people we talk to they had an old umbrella that needed replacing, so we started there. A 3×4 metre Shade7 Riviera cantilever umbrella was selected – one of the first installations we have done with this new rectangle model.
This incredible umbrella has the ability to cover the pool and also be switched over to shade the furniture, thanks to the infinite tilt and 360° rotation.
Plus, with the 10 year fabric warranty against fading and rot, our customer has the peace of mind that this is one umbrella that will last and the colour will remain looking great.
The first cantilever umbrella was such a hit for our customer that they called us up for another one. This time it was an umbrella to shade the spa pool at the rear of the section. Bliss!
To keep with the aesthetics of the space, a matching Riviera cantilever umbrella was selected in the same colour and size as the first.
Pro tip: Onsite we discovered the tiles were different levels, so we paid special attention to the packing on the base of the umbrellas. This ensured both umbrellas match in height to be in line with the fascia line of the house, for both a practical head-height and uniformity.
The durability and ease of use of Shade7 umbrellas is world class. If you are looking at one, we do recommend you save the hassle and get it installed by the experts.
We have a direct line in with Shade7, can advise you on the best model for your needs and can carry out the installation to exacting standards.
Advice - Jan 29, 2026
Summer in New Zealand is all about getting outside – but when the sun is beating down and UV levels are high, outdoor spaces can quickly become uncomfortable. That’s where shade sails really shine.
Read More
Education Projects - Sep 29, 2025
When you’re thinking about outdoor shade for your school, it’s easy to focus on one goal: keeping students out of the sun. But great shade design goes much further.
Read More
Advice - Jun 26, 2025
With winter here, now’s the time to give your outdoor shade sails and outdoor blinds a little extra attention. Check out our tips to get the best from your Sunshade products.
Read More
Thanks to a long-standing relationship, we’ve been delighted to carry out several projects for this Kindy in Avondale, Auckland over the years. This time it was to replace their old PVC screens, which were old and had received a fair amount of use in that time.
A refreshed set of screens were required to make the screens easier for teachers to roll up and down on the daily basis and close those draughty gaps to keep the little ones warmer inside.
Our Auckland shade + screen specialist Seaton Meredith was pleased to be called back to Avondale to help the kindy out.
Outdoor screen technology has changed a lot in recent years and this time the kindy were able to upgrade from the old manual roll-up screens to Ziptrak® track-guided PVC blinds, which are much easier and quicker to operate.
Easy screen operation in an ECE or public environment also makes a swifter exit possible in an emergency, enhancing safety in the space.
The latest Ziptrak® blinds have other helpful features these days also, including improved bottom bars and spring mechanisms to keep the area fully enclosed and make the screens easy to use and more durable.
Seaton helped the kindy achieve a custom fabricated set of Ziptrak® outdoor screens that fit perfectly with the existing frame. To stay in keeping with the posts of the existing structure the Ziptrak® frame was also powder coated in a nice dark blue to match.
Now the indoor/outdoor play area is completely draught and debris free, safer, and brighter for all to enjoy.
Learn more about Ziptrak screens here, and check out our options for both residential, commercial and education environments.
We look forward to hearing about your ideas for your project.
Advice - Jan 29, 2026
Summer in New Zealand is all about getting outside – but when the sun is beating down and UV levels are high, outdoor spaces can quickly become uncomfortable. That’s where shade sails really shine.
Read More
Education Projects - Sep 29, 2025
When you’re thinking about outdoor shade for your school, it’s easy to focus on one goal: keeping students out of the sun. But great shade design goes much further.
Read More
Advice - Jun 26, 2025
With winter here, now’s the time to give your outdoor shade sails and outdoor blinds a little extra attention. Check out our tips to get the best from your Sunshade products.
Read More
Sometimes we get to install shade sails in some beautiful locations. This was an old farmhouse shepherd’s cottage at Ngaruru Station in Central Hawke’s Bay which was definitely one of those.
The old school farm building had been converted to offices and needed some shade to make a more practical workspace and deck area.
The first shade sail was installed by our local Hawke’s Bay expert Mark Hannan to provide shade for the deck and BBQ area. What a view they have!
Mark was also asked to add a second shade sail so the window glass could be shaded to reduce the glare and keep things cool inside.
With the shade sails measuring 6x7m and 6x6m, this was a serious amount of shade coverage for the sizeable deck.
Pro tip: Even though the two shade sails visually connect at the house in the centre, careful attention was paid to use one bracket per shade sail. Choosing to fix them to separate brackets instead of using the one bracket greatly increases the strength of the individual sails and reduces the risk of damage to the house in extreme winds.
Since installation the customer has had massive winds in the region and says the shade sail has held fast with no worries at all.
The textile chosen was our most popular – Z16 – specifically designed architectural shade cloth that comes with a 10 year UV warranty. With an extremely high UVR block of 99% this was a quality shade choice for the workspace.
The steel posts were powder coated in black to match, giving the rural property a smart and attractive finish.
Not all shade sails are created equal – talk to our local expert in your area to understand the lasting difference Sunshade can offer.
Advice - Jan 29, 2026
Summer in New Zealand is all about getting outside – but when the sun is beating down and UV levels are high, outdoor spaces can quickly become uncomfortable. That’s where shade sails really shine.
Read More
Education Projects - Sep 29, 2025
When you’re thinking about outdoor shade for your school, it’s easy to focus on one goal: keeping students out of the sun. But great shade design goes much further.
Read More
Advice - Jun 26, 2025
With winter here, now’s the time to give your outdoor shade sails and outdoor blinds a little extra attention. Check out our tips to get the best from your Sunshade products.
Read More
Today we are very excited to announce that it’s out with the old ‘0800 Sunshade’ name, and in with the new – along with a brand new look and feel.
As you can see, we’ve evolved our name, logo, and tagline which we hope you’ll agree, far better represents who we are today. We’ve also launched our new website which lifts things up a notch.
Don’t worry, you can definitely still ring us on the 0800 number, it’s just no longer part of our name.
We took a good look at our business and realised that over the years we have built a reputation as being shade + screen specialists – focusing on what we do best to enhance any outdoor space. The old logo simply didn’t represent the quality of the work we were doing by today’s standards.
Our dedicated team throughout the country enjoy the challenge of helping hundreds of clients to make their spaces more liveable and lovable. As individual installers, we are lucky to be uniquely backed up by the team at our Hawke’s Bay design and production facility. You may not realise that our screens and shade sails are, and have always been, centrally fabricated here in NZ. Under our guidance as installers, it is our mission to see that customers are assured a quality, long-lasting result that fits your space.
When you put it all together, it’s easy to see that our collective expertise, combined with our sharp eye for quality, is our real point of difference.
Whether you bought a shade sail from us 15 years ago for your home, recently had a screen or shade system installed at your premises, or are currently considering using our services, every customer has helped us reach this point. For that we are grateful, and look forward to continuing to help you and provide expertise in this area when you need it.
From now on you can kiss the super cool sunglasses logo goodbye, drop the ‘0800’ and simply call us ‘Sunshade’ – but everything else about us stays very much in place. You can still call head office on 0800 786 742, or reach out directly to your local installer – we’re here and happy to help.
