A well-chosen smoking or cycle shelter keeps people dry, keeps your site tidy and helps you meet your obligations under UK smoke-free law and active-travel planning policy. This guide explains the shelter types, the materials that last outdoors, how to size a shelter for your numbers, and the compliance points that trip up most buyers — so you specify the right unit first time.
Do you legally have to provide a smoking shelter?
There is no law that requires an employer to provide a smoking shelter. The Health Act 2006 and the Smoke-free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations make virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed workplaces and public buildings smoke-free — but they do not oblige you to build somewhere for people to smoke instead. In practice, most sites still install a shelter for good reasons: it moves smokers away from doorways, windows and air intakes; it stops cigarette litter accumulating around entrances; and it gives staff a defined, weather-protected area rather than congregating wherever they can find cover.
The critical point is that a smoking shelter must not itself count as a smoke-free enclosed space. Under the regulations a structure is "substantially enclosed" if it has a ceiling or roof and — ignoring doors, windows and temporary openings — its walls (or panels acting as walls) enclose more than 50% of the perimeter. A compliant smoking shelter is therefore designed with at least 50% of its sides permanently open. This is why purpose-built smoking shelters look the way they do: a roof and partial panelling, never a fully enclosed box.
Smoking shelter types
Three formats cover almost every requirement:
- Wall-mounted shelters fix back to an existing building wall, using it as the rear of the structure. They are the most economical option where you have a suitable wall, and they keep the footprint small.
- Free-standing / open-fronted shelters stand alone with a roof and partial side and rear panels. These are the most flexible — site them anywhere there is a suitable hard surface — and they scale from a couple of people up to large units.
- Larger panelled shelters and canopies suit higher headcounts or combined waiting/smoking areas, and can be extended in bays as numbers grow.
Frames are typically steel or aluminium; a galvanised or powder-coated finish is what gives a shelter its working life outdoors, resisting rust through years of weather. Roof and side infills are usually polycarbonate or similar impact-resistant glazing, which lets light through while shedding rain. Look for a unit that keeps to the 50%-open rule as supplied, so compliance is built in rather than something you have to engineer on site.
Sizing a smoking shelter
Size on realistic peak use, not total headcount — only a proportion of staff smoke, and rarely all at once. As a rough guide, allow roughly half a metre of standing space per person under cover. A small wall-mounted unit suits two to four people; mid-range open-fronted shelters cover six to ten; and panelled or linked shelters handle larger workforces. If you expect numbers to grow, choose a range that can be extended in bays rather than replaced. A wall-mounted or floor-standing cigarette bin at the shelter is the single best way to control litter — specify one alongside the shelter.
Cycle shelters: getting bike storage right
Cycle shelters are driven by different pressures — staff and visitor demand, BREEAM credits, and local planning conditions that increasingly require secure cycle parking on new and refurbished sites. The main decisions are capacity, stand type and security.
- Capacity and stand type. Most shelters pair a roof with Sheffield (inverted-U) stands or "toast-rack" rails that support a bike by its frame at two points — far more secure and bike-friendly than wheel-only racks. Two-tier racking roughly doubles capacity where floor space is tight.
- Materials. For an outdoor structure that lasts, look for steel that is hot-dip galvanised — ideally to BS EN ISO 1461, the recognised standard for hot-dip galvanised coatings — with the option of a powder-coated colour finish over the top.
- Security. An open shelter protects bikes from weather; a fully enclosed, lockable cycle compound protects them from theft. Where bike theft is a concern, a compound with mesh sides and a lockable gate is the stronger choice, and pairs well with good-quality stands and lighting.
As with smoking shelters, specify on peak demand and leave room to extend. Many sites under-provide cycle parking at first and find the shelter full within months.
Bin shelters and outdoor stores
The same family of structures covers wheelie-bin shelters and stores that keep refuse tidy and out of sight, and larger outdoor storage canopies and vaults for equipment that needs to live outside under cover. If you are pricing a smoking or cycle shelter, it is often worth sorting bin storage at the same time — the groundworks and installation visit can usually cover both.
Siting and installation
Whatever the type, three practical points decide whether a shelter performs:
- Surface. Most shelters need a firm, level base — typically concrete or paving — and are bolted down. Check the required base size before you order, and confirm there are no services running beneath the fixing positions.
- Location. Keep smoking shelters a sensible distance from doorways, windows and ventilation intakes so smoke does not drift back inside. Site cycle shelters where they are overlooked and well lit, and close to the entrance people actually use.
- Wind and exposure. Orient open-fronted shelters away from the prevailing wind so they stay usable in bad weather.
Buying checklist
- Smoking shelter: confirm it keeps at least 50% of its sides open so it stays outside smoke-free rules.
- Frame finish: galvanised or powder-coated steel/aluminium for outdoor durability.
- Capacity: size on realistic peak use, with room to extend in bays.
- Cycle shelter: Sheffield/toast-rack stands; hot-dip galvanised steel; lockable compound if theft is a risk.
- Base: firm, level surface of the correct size, clear of buried services.
- Extras: cigarette bin for smoking areas; lighting for cycle areas.
Browse the full range of smoking shelters, cycle shelters and bin shelters at KC Supply, including wall-mounted, economy and open-fronted smoking shelters and galvanised cycle shelters. If you also need secure outdoor caged storage — for gas cylinders or equipment — see our storage cages. For the smoke-free rules in full, the regulations are summarised on GOV.UK.