Retractable fabric pergolas (pergotende) in Lazio, Italy

A pergotenda is a pergola with an aluminium frame and a retractable fabric roof. The fabric, usually waterproof PVC, runs on guides with carriages and gathers in a pack towards the wall or one side; in roll-up versions it winds into a cassette. Closed, it shelters you from sun and rain; open, it leaves a light frame under the sky. In Italy it is also called a pergola a telo, a sliding-roof pergola or, in the wording of the law, a «tenda a pergola con telo retrattile».

The difference from a bioclimatic pergola is all in the roof: there, aluminium louvres rotate; here, a fabric opens and closes. Michelessi SRL, in Aprilia on the Via Pontina at km 45.350 between Rome and Latina, sells and installs retractable fabric pergolas by the three Italian makers Gibus, KE Outdoor Design and Pratic: our technical office draws them in a 3D model, our own team installs them, and we design them together with the stone outdoor kitchen, the paving and the pool. We have worked stone since 1976, and for us the pergola is part of the outdoor room, not an object on its own.

A fabric pergola suits you when you want to open the roof completely and keep a light, simple shelter; a bioclimatic pergola suits you when you want to adjust light and air continuously. Many people ask us for a «bioclimatic pergotenda»: in everyday Italian it means the pergola with rotating louvres, while a true pergotenda has a fabric roof. Since 2024 Italian law has named them together: «tende a pergola, anche bioclimatiche, con telo retrattile, anche impermeabile, ovvero con elementi di protezione solare mobili o regolabili».

The wider comparison with canopies, gazebos and verandas is in the guide bioclimatic pergola vs pergotenda. In our showroom in Aprilia you see them side by side. A fabric roof does not generate power: for a cover with photovoltaic modules there is the page photovoltaic pergolas.

A wall-mounted fabric pergola fixes to the house wall and carries the water to the front; a free-standing one stands alone in the garden or by the pool. All three makers offer both: Gibus, for its 90° pergolas, with wall-mounted and island (4 or 6 legs) configurations; KE with Keplan and Isola 2, also in the A and T variants; Pratic with Phoenix Air and Nomo.

• Against the wall: the typical choice on terraces and verandas; the fabric gathers towards the house and the front gutter drains into the posts. Anchors and distances are on the page wall-mounted and free-standing pergolas.
• Free-standing: for the garden, the poolside and a dining area. Letter b-ter covers works attached or annexed to the building, that is, in its immediate vicinity: for a free-standing structure far from the house the municipality may classify it differently (for instance as a pergola or gazebo of limited size), and we check this before ordering.
• On the terrace: we check slab load capacity, anchors in the existing floor, parapet and drainage; in a block of flats we read the building rules first (guide pergola on a condominium terrace).
• Between two walls or in a light well: fabric roofs without posts on guides fixed to the walls (Pratic Tecnic, One and Veranda), or the KE T1 canopy, which fits into existing frames.

Retractable fabric pergolas come in three families: pitched roof (wall-mounted, with the fabric sloping to the front), flat or «90°» roof (also free-standing) and roll-up fabric, where the textile winds into a cassette instead of folding. On a pitched roof the fabric runs on guides sloping to the front gutter, and for this family KE states the option of a double fabric, one rain-resistant and one for solar shading. On a flat roof it slides flat and the water goes to the perimeter thanks to Gibus's «arched cross-bar»; KE Isola 2 has a «low-arch roof». With roll-up fabric the textile is tensioned by gas springs and KE states a minimum slope of 7°.

We sell and install the fabric pergolas of all three brands; the sizes and data below are examples declared by the makers on their own websites. The sizes of your project come out of the survey.

The full brand pages are Gibus pergolas, KE Outdoor Design pergolas and Pratic pergolas; to find your way between the three there is the guide Gibus vs KE vs Pratic. What a pergola cost depends on is explained in the guide how much does a bioclimatic pergola cost: for a pergotenda similar factors count (size, fabric, motorisation, enclosures, installation) and we prepare the quotation after the survey.

The roof of a pergotenda is waterproof PVC, often blackout, or a technical textile; the frame is powder-coated aluminium. Gibus declares for its textiles the flame-retardant treatment required outdoors and, for most of them, heat shading between 80 and 90 per cent; the aluminium is coated in Qualicoat plants with Seaside pre-treatment. KE declares over 500 technical fabrics for Isola 2 and over 34 colours for its roll-up fabrics. Pratic offers sliding PVC with an inner acrylic-fibre under-sheet in three shades and coats in-house (Qualicoat Seaside pre-treatment, Qualicoat Class 2 powders), in over thirty colours plus RAL on request.

In Lazio the colour must hold in the sun and the coating must resist salt air on the coast from Anzio to Sabaudia: in our showroom we set the fabric and aluminium samples beside the stones of the kitchen worktop and the paving, so the colours are chosen together.

With the fabric closed, a pergotenda shelters you from rain: the water runs down the slope of the roof or along the arched cross-bars, into the gutter and down the posts. In strong wind the fabric should be retracted: where the maker provides them (KE lists them as options for Isola 2, Xtesa and Hydra), climate sensors for wind, rain or sun, depending on the model, close the fabric of motorised models on their own. For wind resistance under EN 13561 KE states the following. Kedry Skylife, Kedry Prime, Kedry Plus, Keplan, Isola 2, Gennius Vega and Xtesa: class 6 declared; Kedry Neos class 5; Hydra class 3. The Kedry models are bioclimatic louvre pergolas; among the fabric pergolas are Keplan, Isola 2, Gennius Vega, Xtesa and Hydra, and in its FAQ KE puts class 6 at roughly 88 km/h. Gibus and Pratic do not publish a wind class for their fabric pergolas: for those models we take it from the maker's documentation and state it in the quotation.

• Cleaning: lukewarm water and neutral soap with a soft sponge; never a high-pressure washer.
• Winter and snow: fabric retracted when not in use and when snow is forecast; the permitted snow load is given in the maker's documentation.
• Warranty: the maker's warranty on coating and motors is stated in the quotation; after installation, our own team handles service.

The guide maintenance, wind, snow and winter applies to fabric pergolas as well.

A pergotenda closes at the sides with vertical zip screens, in blackout, filtering or transparent fabric, or with sliding walls in toughened glass. Gibus builds screen-fabric enclosures into Azimut and fits Zenit with zip screens and glazing; KE offers Vertika screens (the Isola 2 and Gennius Vega pages show the Vertika Prime version) and Line Glass walls, in 10 or 12 mm toughened glass; Pratic fits Nomo with the Raso screen and Glass Series glazing. Enclosures are movable protection from wind and rain: the pergotenda stays an open space, it does not become a room. If you want it permanently closed on all sides, it must be checked with the municipality before ordering. The systems and the rules are on the page pergola enclosures, glass walls and zip screens.

In many cases a pergotenda falls within «edilizia libera», work that needs no building permit: article 6, paragraph 1, letter b-ter of the Consolidated Building Act (DPR 380/2001, as amended by the 2024 «Salva Casa» decree, D.L. 69/2024 converted by Law 105/2024) expressly names «tende a pergola… con telo retrattile, anche impermeabile», attached or annexed to the building, even with fixed supporting structures. What still applies, and what we check for you during the survey, is your municipality's building regulations, the landscape restrictions, the condominium rules and the distances from neighbours; a pergotenda permanently closed on all sides is no longer «edilizia libera». We tell you at the design stage, before ordering.

The conditions set by law and the doubtful cases are in the guide permits for pergolas in Italy; for tax deductions, which may cover folding-fabric pergolas as solar shading if they meet the ENEA requirements (vademecum of 23/9/2026), see the guide tax deductions for awnings and pergolas.

Under a pergotenda the outdoor kitchen has to be designed together with the roof: the footprint of the fabric decides where the worktop, the sink and the barbecue go. We place the barbecue and the refractory-stone oven outside the fabric's footprint or with the flue rising beyond the cover; the worktop in granite, quartzite or sintered stone does not mind sun or rain and stays under the shelter; the stone paving takes the right fall to carry the water from the downpipes to the drain. The kitchen is outdoor furniture and, if the pergotenda is closed, we first ask the municipal technician for an opinion. The person installing the pergola is the same company that cuts the worktop and lays the floor: one technical office, one drawing, one team. The single design is described on the page outdoor kitchen under a pergola and on the pages outdoor kitchens, flooring and pools.

From our showroom in Aprilia, on the Via Pontina at km 45.350, we work in Rome, Latina, Pomezia, Anzio and Nettuno, in the Castelli Romani, in the province of Frosinone and on the Pontine coast: the survey and the quotation are free throughout Lazio. On the coast salt air and the south-westerly wind weigh most; inland and in the Castelli Romani it is the cold and the winter rain: at the survey we see which fabric, which sensors and which enclosures suit your place.

The area pages: pergolas in Rome, pergolas in Latina, Aprilia, Pomezia and Ardea, Anzio and Nettuno, Castelli Romani, Frosinone, Lazio coast. The full process is on the page bespoke pergolas: survey, design and installation; every solution of the department is in bioclimatic pergolas, awnings and bespoke covers.

To book the survey and the quotation, both free, contact Michelessi SRL, Via Pontina km 45.350, Aprilia (Latina); phone and WhatsApp +39 06 9275383.

1. Survey
   We measure the terrace or garden and check walls, slab, drains and exposure to sun and wind; in a block of flats we read the condominium rules.
2. Roof type
   Together we choose between a wall-mounted pitched roof, a flat 90° roof (also free-standing) and roll-up fabric, according to the space and its use.
3. Fabric, colours and enclosures
   In our showroom in Aprilia we set the fabric and aluminium samples beside the stones of the kitchen worktop and the paving, and decide on zip screens or glass walls.
4. 3D design and checks
   The technical office draws the fabric pergola, the stone kitchen and the paving in one model; we check municipality, restrictions and condominium before the order.
5. Installation and service
   Our own team installs frame, fabric, enclosures and stone; after delivery we handle service ourselves with the maker's documentation.

• 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
• 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