Folding-arm, drop and cassette awnings in Aprilia and Lazio

An awning is a fabric sunshade on an aluminium frame that opens to shade a terrace, a balcony, a window or a shopfront and folds away when it is not needed. It differs from a pergola because it has no posts on the ground and no fixed roof: closed, it disappears into its own profile. The four families are chosen by where the awning is fitted, how far it must project and how much wind it takes.

Michelessi, on the Via Pontina in Aprilia between Rome and Latina, supplies and installs, alongside its pergolas, awnings by Gibus, KE Outdoor Design and Pratic, three brands designed and made in Italy; our own team fits them.

The folding-arm awning is the most common choice for a home terrace: articulated arms carry the fabric out from the wall, up to about four metres in the largest models, with no posts on the ground, and the pitch is adjusted to follow the sun.

• Gibus Spazio: a square-bar folding-arm awning, declared up to 400 cm projection by 1,180 cm width, with the patented Invisible Lock.
• KE Quad: 40 × 40 mm steel square bar, up to 1,200 × 360 cm; the range also includes Obliqua, Venezia Gold, Prisma, Futura and, for bars and hotels, Victory.
• Pratic Flex 375: widths from 304 to 1,180 cm and projection up to 375 cm; the FlexControl arm bracket, tested in the Pininfarina wind tunnel, absorbs wind loads up to 70 km/h according to the manufacturer. The range also includes Flex 300, T-Way and PE 60/15.

These are the manufacturers' declared figures for the largest module: your awning is sized on the survey, because a deep projection on an exposed wall calls for the right fixings and wind sensor.

Anyone searching for an awning “with double inclination” usually wants to change the angle of the fabric as the sun moves: the manufacturers' sheets describe tilting arms, up to 70° on the KE Quad and up to 20° on the recessed KE Inca. We settle the right angle for your exposure on the survey, together with the fixing height.

A cassette awning is a folding-arm awning whose fabric, when closed, rolls away inside an aluminium profile that encloses fabric, roller and arms. It keeps out rain, dust and salt air, which age fabric and mechanism: we recommend it on the coast and on façades with no balcony above; in a block of flats, closed, it is a single clean line and is easier to get accepted.

Gibus (declared maximum projection × width)

TXT (400 × 710 cm, wall fixing only, LED Micro spots), Nodo (350 × 590 cm), Duck (300 × 590 cm, round cassette with a hermetic closure) and Segno (400 × 710 cm, diamond-cut pattern).

KE Outdoor Design

Qubica Plumb, Qubica Flat and Qubica Light (four colours in sixteen combinations, over 500 seamless fabrics), Domea (Balteus arm with an integrated LED strip), Antalia and Anthea; Inca, from KE's recessed family, is a concealed folding-arm awning, up to 600 cm wide with 360 cm projection.

Pratic

T-Hide (widths from 200 to 700 cm, projection from 150 to 400 cm, LED Line, optional motorised valance), T-Code (motorised arm tensioning), Flex Box, Ellisse and Musa.

A drop awning runs vertically down steel cables or side guides and stops the sun head-on: it is the balcony awning par excellence, because as a rule it does not project beyond the railing and is fixed under the balcony of the floor above.

• Gibus Click Cable (inspectable cassette, running on steel cable or in free fall) and Tolo (rounded cassette, magnetic catch).
• KE Italia Slim - New Italia (up to 400 cm wide, 160 cm projection and 220 cm drop, wind resistance class 3), Roma and Genova - Maratea; for glazing, the Screeny Hide roller screens, zip or cable guided.
• Pratic T-Zone (zip guides, up to 5 × 3.5 metres, motor also available with a solar cell), T-Box Zip, T-Box Cables on stainless-steel cables and T-Line; PE 80 (spring arms) and PE 70 Box (guides and projecting arms) bring the fabric forward of the parapet.

With zip guides the edge of the fabric stays hooked for its whole height: the awning flaps less in the wind and can close the sides of a pergola. Gibus calls it Click Zip, with the Mag Lock magnetic catch and declared widths up to 7 metres; for glazing and glass roofs there is the Nivo tension awning, motorised as standard, with declared wind resistance class 6, and Nivo+, with an independent structure and its own legs, declared class 3. The full enclosure of a pergola is covered on the page sliding glass walls and zip screens.

The hood awning, the Italian cappottina, is fabric stretched over hoops that fold back on one another: it covers a window, a shopfront or an entrance with little projection. According to Pratic's official history, the hood awning was invented by the company and patented in the 1960s: Capri, Grado, Selene and Ischia have an aluminium frame, acrylic or PVC fabrics and can be customised. KE offers Serena, Genny, Catty and America A-B.

A motorised awning opens by remote control or, on the models that offer it, by smartphone app, and can close by itself when the anemometer reads strong wind, so the fabric is never left open by mistake. On small awnings the manual crank remains sound; on wide awnings, or those exposed to wind, we recommend a motor.

• Sensors: wind, sun and rain as options on KE; on the Pratic verticals T-Zone, T-Box Zip, T-Loop, T-Square and T-Line they close the awning in bad weather.
• No wiring: the solar cell on the motor of Pratic T-Zone and T-Box Zip and the solar panel of Gibus Click Zip move the awning without bringing power onto the balcony.

Gibus declares all its fabrics flame-retardant, as the standard for outdoor products requires. For the frame, Gibus offers 30 colours in its range, Pratic over 30 chart shades plus RAL on request, KE a wide range with RAL on request; Gibus and Pratic both declare powder coating with Qualicoat Seaside pre-treatment, designed for salt air.

The cost of an awning cannot be read off a catalogue, because every awning is made to measure for your balcony or terrace, and there is no price per metre that holds for all of them: two awnings of the same width can cost very differently once fabric, motor and fixings are chosen. The quote is built from a few elements, each of them settled on the survey:

• Size: width and projection (or drop, for vertical awnings), and therefore the amount of aluminium and fabric.
• Type: folding-arm, cassette, drop and hood awnings have different mechanisms and profiles.
• Fabric: acrylic, screen or PVC, and the finish of the frame.
• Motor and sensors: crank or motor, wind, sun and rain sensors, solar cells or panels.
• Accessories and fitting: LED lighting, valances, wall or ceiling fixings and the installation team.

For pergolas the reasoning is the same, and you will find it in the guide how much does a bioclimatic pergola cost.

In an Italian condominium an awning can as a rule be fitted on your own balcony, once the building rules are read and the administrator informed. Article 1122 of the Civil Code forbids works that damage common parts or compromise the stability, safety or architectural decorum of the building and requires “prior notice to the administrator”; the façade the awning is fixed to is a common part (article 1117) and its use is allowed within the limits of article 1102.

• Colour: many building rules impose one shade for the whole block.
• Type: where projection beyond the railing is forbidden, a drop awning or a hood awning solves it.
• Fixings and neighbours: anchors that avoid cornices, string courses and shared services, and no light or view taken from those above or alongside: we check this during the survey.

We give you the technical sheet, drawing and fabric sample to present to the administrator. The subject is covered in full in the guide pergolas and awnings on a condominium terrace.

Awnings attached or annexed to the building normally fall under permit-free building work, the edilizia libera (article 6, paragraph 1, letter b-ter of Presidential Decree 380/2001, introduced by the Salva Casa decree), provided they do not create a permanently enclosed space and keep their visual impact to a minimum. Still to be checked are the municipal regulations, any landscape protection (Presidential Decree 31/2017 exempts sun awnings on terraces and façades for private use from landscape authorisation, item A.22; if the house is in a protected area, we check it for you), the condominium and, if you close a balcony on every side with drop awnings, the opinion of the Comune.

We tell you at the design stage, before ordering. The full picture is in the guide permits for pergolas and awnings in Italy.

An awning may qualify for the Italian Ecobonus as solar shading if it meets the requirements set by ENEA, the national energy agency. The requirements, rates and ceilings, which change every year, are in the guide tax deductions for awnings and pergolas in Italy and should be checked with your accountant; we provide the technical sheets and the manufacturer's declaration for the qualified technician who handles the filing.

From our showroom in Aprilia, on the Via Pontina at km 45.350, we reach Rome and its districts, Latina, Pomezia and Ardea, Anzio and Nettuno, the Castelli Romani and the Pontine coast. The survey and the quote are free throughout Lazio. For an awning the survey looks above all at orientation and prevailing wind, the wall and slab for the fixings, the condominium rules and protected-area status; our technical office chooses type, model, projection and pitch, and our own team fits and adjusts the awning, connects motor and sensors and hands over the remote control and the manual. In the showroom you can see the fabric and finish samples of the three brands, beside the slabs for the kitchen worktops. The whole path, from survey to 3D design to installation, is described in bespoke pergolas and awnings; the manufacturer's warranty is stated in the quote.

By the sea, from Anzio and Nettuno to Sabaudia and Terracina, we recommend a closed cassette, Seaside pre-treatment, stainless-steel fixings and a wind sensor: salt air and gusts are the awning's two enemies. Over a stone outdoor kitchen the awning covers the dining area and stops short of the refractory-stone barbecue, which needs open air; to cover the cooking area too, the answer is the pergola with a kitchen. The recurring situations are described in the pages for Rome, Latina, the Pontina, the Castelli Romani, Frosinone and the Lazio coast.

The awning is the light answer: shade when needed, no bulk when closed, wall fixing with no groundwork. A retractable-fabric pergola or a bioclimatic pergola is the answer when you want to stay outside in the rain, close the sides or cover a dining and cooking area. Often the right solution combines them: the pergola over the dining area, an awning over the living-room French windows, drop awnings on the balconies. The comparison between the types is in the guide bioclimatic pergola, pergotenda, canopy, gazebo or veranda. For a roof that also produces energy there is the page on photovoltaic pergolas.

To book a free survey, write to us or call: Michelessi SRL, Via Pontina km 45.350, Aprilia (Latina); phone and WhatsApp +39 06 9275383.

1. Survey
   We measure the opening, the fixing height, the orientation and the prevailing wind; we check the type of wall, the condominium rules and any protected-area status.
2. Type of awning
   Folding-arm for terraces and gardens, cassette for exposed façades and the coast, drop for balconies and pergola sides, hood for windows and shopfronts.
3. Fabric and colour
   Acrylic, glass-fibre screen or PVC, chosen from the Gibus, KE and Pratic sample books in our Aprilia showroom; frame colour matched to pergola, paving and stone kitchen.
4. Motor and sensors
   On wide awnings, or those exposed to wind, we recommend a motor with a wind sensor; where there is no power supply, a solar cell or panel.
5. Checks
   Comune, landscape protection and condominium: we tell you at the design stage, before ordering, with a technical sheet and a sample for the administrator.
6. Installation and testing
   Our own team fits the awning, adjusts arms and end stops, connects motor and sensors and hands over the remote control and the manual.

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