Webnet green canopy, private farmhouse, Delhi

At a private farmhouse in Delhi, the driveway was to become a green passage. The idea was a canopy overhead that gives shade and shelter like a pergola, covered in plants. Painted MS posts by others line the drive, and Acier supplied and installed the Webnet canopy and the stainless ropes that carry it, in 2018.

A canopy over a driveway has to span its full width with clear height for vehicles, and it has to carry plants that get heavier as they grow. A conventional pergola with timber or steel rafters would add bulk overhead and block light. Delhi's climate adds its own demands: strong summer sun, dust and a heavy monsoon. The canopy also had to be fitted to posts that were already in place.

The canopy is Jakob Webnet in Ø2 mm stainless rope with a 100 mm mesh width. Ø6 mm stainless edge and support ropes run between the posts and carry the mesh, so the posts hold the ropes and the ropes hold the net. A 100 mm mesh is open enough for light to reach the drive and for climbers to weave through, yet close enough to give the plants something to hold at every point.

Bamboo and climbers do the rest. As they grow, they spread across the mesh and form a roof of leaves, while the stainless structure stays thin. Webnet needs no painting, so the structure asks for little care while the plants take over. The installation took about four weeks on site.

Within about 12 months the canopy had filled, and the driveway is now a shaded green passage. Arriving at the house means driving under leaves rather than open sky. The same approach, Webnet used as an overhead trellis, can shade terraces, walkways and courtyards.