Bespoke pergolas: survey, 3D design and installation, Lazio

A bespoke pergola is a bioclimatic or fabric-roof pergola whose dimensions, post positions, mounting side, colour, rainwater outlets and enclosures are decided on a survey of your own space, not on a catalogue size. The sizes people search for most, 3 by 4 or 4 by 4 metres, are only design examples: a Roman terrace almost always has a size of its own, a wall out of square, a downpipe to work around. If you are not yet sure which type you need, our guide bioclimatic pergola or pergotenda, gazebo, canopy, veranda sets out the differences, and retractable-fabric pergolas explains the version with a fabric roof.

The three brands we sell and install, Gibus, KE Outdoor Design and Pratic, all work in modules, which is exactly why they suit bespoke work. Gibus offers the configurations "Isola 4 gambe", "Isola 6 gambe", "Addossata frontale 2 gambe" and "Più moduli"; KE Outdoor Design declares modules of up to 500 cm in width and 705 cm in projection for the Kedry Prime, which can be placed side by side; Pratic states a width and depth range per module for its bioclimatic models (Opera: 200 to 550 cm wide, 180 to 700 cm deep). Within those ranges the pergola is sized on the survey of your space; the sizes model by model are on wall-mounted and free-standing pergolas.

Anyone searching for a "bioclimatic pergola factory" near Rome often wants a pergola made to their own measurements. The structures of the three brands are made in the manufacturers' own plants: Gibus in Saccolongo (Padua), KE Outdoor Design in Noventa di Piave (Venice), Pratic in Fagagna (Udine). What is truly made to measure, and what separates a pergola that works from one that needs fixing, is the survey, the design and the fitting. Michelessi, stonemasons in Aprilia since 1976, adds what an installer of pergolas alone does not have: the stone. The outdoor kitchen, the worktops and the floor under the pergola come out of our own workshop, and the same team fits everything.

From first contact to a fitted pergola the path is always the same. Each step has a clear owner and a result you receive in your hands.

The survey is free and its purpose is to measure the real space, not to sell: without a survey there is no bespoke pergola.

What we measure and check:

• Dimensions and levels: width, projection, clear height under balconies, gutters and windows; walls out of square; falls in the paving.
• Fixings: the nature of the wall and of the base (terrace slab, garden, deck), including any external insulation, to decide plates, anchors and, where needed, footings.
• Water: where the rain collected by the downpipes built into the posts can drain, which way the terrace falls, where the nearest gully is.
• Sun, wind and salt: the sun's position at the hours you will use the pergola, the prevailing wind side, closeness to the sea for the choice of coating and wind-resistance class.
• Services: a power point for the motor, cable routes and, if a kitchen will go under the pergola, water, drainage and electricity.
• Access for fitting: stairs, lift, courtyard, whether a hoist is needed to bring the profiles up to the floor.
• Local rules: condominium, landscape protection, municipal building regulations, distances from boundaries and neighbours' windows.

The 3D design shows the pergola in your space before it is ordered: post height against the windows, the footprint of the open louvres, the position of lights and enclosures. The technical office in Aprilia prepares it for every job, with an in-house architect, and it is the same office that draws stone kitchens, bathrooms and floors.

The quotation grows out of the design, item by item: structure and louvres, fitting and fixings, water management, motors and accessories, stone. That is the right way to compare offers: two quotations on the same drawing can be read side by side, two quotations on two different drawings cannot. What drives the price is explained in our guide how much does a bioclimatic pergola cost.

The model is also decided in the 3D stage. To understand whether you need louvres that only tilt or louvres that also retract, which enclosures and which brand, see bioclimatic pergola: what it is and how it works and Gibus vs KE vs Pratic: how to choose.

This is the step that sets us apart: pergola, stone outdoor kitchen, floor and, where there is one, pool are drawn together, with the same dimensions, and built by a single team.

Pergola and stone share many dimensions:

• the position of the posts relative to the cooking block, so that the refractory-stone barbecue and its draught do not sit under closed louvres;
• the height of the worktop in granite, quartzite, sintered stone or marble relative to the side screens and the lights;
• the fall of the stone floor towards the pergola's downpipes, so that rainwater and washing water reach the same drain;
• the routes for water, drainage and power in the floor, before it is laid;
• the deck, when the ground is not level or cannot be drilled: Gibus offers the Pedana Deck, which can be laid without fixing to the ground, and Pratic offers the Set deck, with jacks to take up differences in level.

Michelessi outdoor kitchens are built in refractory stone, steel or treated timber, with worktops in granite, quartzite, sintered stone or marble chosen slab by slab: see outdoor kitchen under a pergola and the outdoor kitchens section. For floors and pools see floors and pools. One warning we always give at this stage: the kitchen under the pergola is outdoor furniture; if the pergola is closed on all sides, the opinion rests with the municipal technician, and we check it with you before you order.

Enclosures and accessories must be chosen in the design, not afterwards, because they change the profiles, the wiring and sometimes the model: the guides of zip screens and glass walls need clearances in the posts, and LED lights in the louvres need cable routes that cannot be added once the structure is up.

What we assess with you:

• Side enclosures: zip screens with shading, blackout or transparent fabrics for winter; sliding walls in toughened glass. We explain them in pergola enclosures: sliding glass walls and zip screens.
• Sensors: all three manufacturers declare rain and wind sensors and, on some models, snow and sun sensors, which close or open the louvres on their own.
• Lighting: spotlights in the louvres, perimeter strips, dimmable white or coloured light.
• Heating and misting: where the manufacturer provides them, Gibus lists heaters and a misting system for summer, and KE Outdoor Design the MORE FTA-e underfloor heating (for the Kedry Skylife, Kedry Prime and Isola 3); any patio heaters are third-party supplies.
• Control: remote control, the manufacturer's app, integration with your home automation.
• Photovoltaics: some manufacturers offer roofs with integrated panels, such as Gibus's Energy Pergola; see photovoltaic pergolas.

One rule that does not change with the brand: enclosures are there to shelter from wind and rain a space that stays open. If the design permanently closes every side, we say so at this stage, before you order, because it changes the permit picture (see below).

The fitting is done by the Michelessi team, the same team that installs the stone kitchens and floors: we do not hand the installation to outside fitters.

How the installation runs:

1. Setting out the post positions from the survey and checking the dimensions against the design.
2. Fixings: floor or wall plates, anchors suited to the base found in the survey, footings where the garden requires them.
3. Structure: assembly of the profiles, levelling, fitting of the louvres or fabric roof, connection of the downpipes to the planned drain.
4. Enclosures and accessories: zip screen guides, glass wall tracks, lights, sensors.
5. Electrical connection by a qualified electrician, who issues the declaration of conformity for the installation.
6. Testing with you: full travel of the louvres or fabric, test of sensors, enclosures, lights and remote control; check of water run-off.
7. Handover of documents: the manufacturer's use and maintenance manual, the paperwork to request the Declaration of Performance and, where applicable, the manufacturer's declaration used for tax deductions (see tax deductions for awnings and pergolas).

When the same site includes a kitchen, worktops and floor, as a rule the floor and services go in first, then the pergola, finally the cooking block and the stone worktops, so that nobody works on top of a finished material.

In many cases a bioclimatic pergola or a retractable-fabric pergola, attached or annexed to the house and without permanent enclosures, qualifies as free building work in Italy (article 6, paragraph 1, letter b-ter of the Consolidated Building Act, Presidential Decree 380/2001, as amended by the 2024 "Salva Casa" decree). The municipal building regulations, landscape protection and, in a condominium, the condominium rules and distances from neighbours still apply.

This check is part of steps 2 and 4: the pergola is ordered only once we know which case yours falls into. The conditions and the borderline cases are set out in our guides permits for pergolas in Italy and pergola on a condominium terrace.

The sizes below are design examples, not a price list: every space has its own.

• Terrace of a flat, about 3 by 4 metres, against the façade: wall-mounted pergola with two front posts, downpipes to the terrace's existing drain, zip screen on the windward side. Before the quotation we read the condominium rules and check the load capacity of the slab.
• Villa garden, free-standing pergola of about 4 by 4 metres with a kitchen: four posts on footings, refractory-stone cooking block outside the line of the louvres, granite worktop, stone floor falling towards the downpipes, lights and heating.
• Light well or space between two walls, without posts: anyone looking for a "bioclimatic pergola without posts" has two routes declared by the manufacturers, namely louvred roofs without uprights, such as Pratic's Brera B designed for light wells and existing structures, or "roof-only" versions from KE Outdoor Design, with louvres (Kedry Plus T) or with fabric (Isola 2 T). The walls must carry the load: we check this in the survey.
• Sloping ground: a stone or aluminium deck to bring the level up, or height-adjustable posts such as those KE Outdoor Design declares for the Keplan.
• Poolside: free-standing pergola with a non-slip stone floor running on under the structure, drains kept separate from the pool's, transparent enclosures on the windward side.
• Restaurant terrace: removable structures and reversible decks, in line with the municipality's rules on the occupation of public land; see pergolas for restaurants, hotels and beach clubs.

For the differences between wall-mounted and free-standing pergolas see wall-mounted and free-standing pergolas. If a space only needs shade without a structure, the alternatives are folding-arm, drop and cassette awnings.

Every pergola is covered by the manufacturer's warranty, which we state in the quotation model by model together with the conditions in the use and maintenance manual. Gibus sets out its conditions in the manual supplied with every product, Pratic activates the warranty when the product is registered on its customer care portal, and KE Outdoor Design declares after-sales service on all its products. On top of this comes our own on-site assistance for louvres, remote control, sensors and enclosures, from the same team that fitted the pergola. For cleaning and winter use see bioclimatic pergola maintenance.

We work from Aprilia, halfway between Rome and Latina. The free survey covers Rome and its province, Latina and the Pontina road, Aprilia, Pomezia and Ardea, the Castelli Romani, Anzio and Nettuno, the Pontine coast and the Frosinone area; our area pages describe what is particular to each territory. The whole section, with the three brands and every page, is at bioclimatic pergolas, awnings and enclosures.

The site survey and the quotation are free: request a survey. Michelessi SRL, Via Pontina km 45.350, Aprilia (Latina); phone and WhatsApp +39 06 9275383.

1. Site survey and measurement
   A Michelessi technician measures the real space: width, projection, heights, walls out of square, falls, fixings, rainwater drainage, sun and wind, services, access for fitting, condominium rules and protected areas. Free in Rome, Latina and across Lazio.
2. 3D design
   The technical office in Aprilia draws the pergola in your space: model, posts, louvres or fabric, enclosures, lights, colour. The itemised quotation and the permit check grow out of the drawing.
3. Structure and stone together
   Pergola, outdoor kitchen in refractory stone or steel, worktops in granite, quartzite, sintered stone or marble, floor and pool are drawn with the same dimensions, in one design.
4. Enclosures and comfort
   Choice of zip screens, sliding glass walls, sensors, lights, heating and controls, with one rule: the space stays open. If the design permanently closes every side, we check it with the municipality before you order.
5. Installation by our own team and testing
   The Michelessi team fits fixings, structure, louvres or fabric, enclosures and accessories; a qualified electrician makes the connection; testing with you and handover of the manufacturer's documents.

• Pergolas: the main page
• Tax deductions for awnings and pergolas in Italy 2026: the rules
• Pergola Enclosures: Sliding Glass Walls and Zip Screens
• Outdoor kitchen under a pergola: stone and shade, one design
• Gibus vs KE vs Pratic: how to choose a bioclimatic pergola
• Bioclimatic pergola maintenance: wind, snow and winter
• Bioclimatic pergola: what it is, how it works, how to choose
• Bioclimatic pergola or pergotenda: differences, canopy, veranda
• Pergola on a condominium terrace in Italy: rules and neighbours
• Wall-mounted or free-standing pergola: how to choose and install
• Pergolas in Anzio and Nettuno: Bioclimatic Pergolas & Awnings
• Bioclimatic pergolas Aprilia, Pomezia, Ardea: sales and fitting
• Pergolas in the Castelli Romani: Bioclimatic, Awnings, Screens
• Photovoltaic pergolas: Gibus Energy Pergola and KE Sunlight
• Bioclimatic pergolas in Frosinone: snow loads and winter use
• Gibus Pergolas in Lazio: Models, Awnings and Installation
• KE Outdoor Design pergolas in Lazio: Kedry, Isola, Gennius Vega
• Bioclimatic Pergolas and Awnings in Latina and Cisterna
• Bioclimatic Pergolas on the Lazio Coast: Terracina to Gaeta
• Bioclimatic Pergolas for Restaurants, Hotels and Beach Clubs
• Pratic Pergolas in Lazio: Opera, Vision, Brera and Awnings
• Bioclimatic Pergolas in Rome: Installation and Stone Kitchens
• Retractable fabric pergolas (pergotende) in Lazio, Italy
• Pergola Permits in Italy 2026: Edilizia Libera and Its Limits
• How much does a bioclimatic pergola cost: what drives the price
• Folding-arm, drop and cassette awnings in Aprilia and Lazio