Composite pergola, polycarbonate roof, Tokai.

The brief

This Tokai home wanted its pool deck usable all year, a covered outdoor room with the warmth of a timber-look pergola but real protection from the Cape’s winter rain and harsh summer sun.

The build

We built a composite pergola over the deck on a charcoal powder-coated aluminium frame, roofed with fixed multiwall polycarbonate panels for 100% weather protection. The composite reads as natural timber but never needs sanding, sealing or painting, while the polycarbonate keeps the rain off and filters the sun. The space stays light and bright underneath, and dry through every season.

The result

A weatherproof poolside room that works in sun or rain, framing the pool and garden. The look of timber, none of the upkeep, and cover all year round.

The Tokai pool deck through winter

Cape winters are what pushed this build toward a fixed roof. Louvres would have covered the deck too, but the owners wanted certainty: the multiwall polycarbonate overhead means the pool deck is dry in July, full stop, while still letting soft light through so the space never feels boxed in.

Summer flips the job around. Tokai afternoons under the Constantiaberg get properly hot, and the polycarbonate filters the harsh sun while the timber-look composite keeps the poolside feeling warm rather than industrial. Swims and long lunches no longer depend on the forecast. The charcoal aluminium frame underneath asks for nothing but an occasional wipe.