What is a Link Corridor? And is it the Same as a Covered Walkway?

If you search for a structure to connect two buildings on a school or hospital site, you will encounter both "link corridor" and "covered walkway" in supplier literature, planning documents, and DfE guidance. Most people use them interchangeably. They are not quite the same thing, and the difference is relevant when you are specifying, budgeting, or making a planning application.

The practical difference

A covered walkway is an open-sided structure. It has a roof and one or two fixed panels (typically a back wall or end walls), but the long sides are largely open to the outside. People walking through it are protected from rain above and, with a back wall, from the prevailing wind. They are still in the open air. The structure is not enclosed.

A link corridor is a substantially or fully enclosed structure connecting two buildings. It has a roof, solid walls, and typically windows. It is a weatherproof enclosed passage, effectively an extension of the interior of the building. People inside it are in a fully internal environment.

The most useful practical summary: if you can hear the rain clearly while standing inside it, it is a covered walkway. If you cannot, it is a link corridor.

Why the distinction matters

Planning permission. A covered walkway, being open-sided, generally falls within permitted development rights for most commercial and school premises. A link corridor, being an enclosed structure that connects two buildings and creates interior floor area, is almost always a building extension that requires full planning permission. The application process, timescales, and design requirements are significantly different.

Building Regulations. A covered walkway generally does not require Building Regulations approval. A link corridor does. It is a habitable enclosed space, and the full range of structural, fire safety, ventilation, and thermal performance requirements apply.

Cost. A covered walkway is manufactured off-site, delivered, and installed in a matter of days. Material and installation cost is measured in tens of thousands of pounds for a school-scale project. A link corridor is a construction project with foundations, structural engineering, glazing, weatherproofing, and potentially heating and electrical services. Cost is measured in hundreds of thousands.

Lead time. A covered walkway can be installed within weeks of an order being placed. A link corridor is a building project with planning, design, and construction stages that typically take a year or more from concept to completion.

Which one do you actually need?

For most of the enquiries we receive, the right answer is a covered walkway, not a link corridor.

The most common situations where a covered walkway is the right solution:

Protecting movement between buildings. Pupils moving between a main school building and a sports hall, a science block, or a dining room. Staff moving between offices. Patients moving between a ward and a treatment facility. The purpose is weather protection for a route that is already in use. A covered walkway does this at a fraction of the cost and complexity of a link corridor.

Providing outdoor shelter. An outdoor learning area, a covered social space, a weather-protected lunch area. These need overhead protection, not enclosure.

Connecting temporary or modular buildings to permanent structures. Schools with mobile classrooms, hospitals with temporary wards, commercial sites with portacabins. A covered walkway provides a safe, dry route without the complexity of permanently connecting the structures.

The situations where a link corridor is the right answer:

Clinical or sterile environments. Hospitals that need controlled air, temperature management, or infection control between wards and treatment areas. A covered walkway cannot achieve this.

Northern or extreme weather exposure. In some parts of Scotland, or in situations where an open walkway would be dangerously exposed in winter conditions, a fully enclosed corridor may be necessary. In most of England and Wales, a well-specified covered walkway with a solid back wall provides sufficient protection.

Accessibility requirements that cannot be met by an open structure. In some specific cases, the requirement for a fully weatherproof, thermally controlled internal environment to meet specific accessibility needs or health conditions may justify the cost and complexity of an enclosed link. This is rare.

A note on terminology in specifications and planning documents

If you are preparing a planning application, a capital bid, or a funding application for either a covered walkway or a link corridor, use the correct term and be precise about what you are proposing.

A planning officer reading "link corridor" will expect a full planning application for a building extension. If what you are actually building is a covered walkway, specifying it as a covered walkway with clear dimensions and an open-sided description will typically enable a permitted development determination rather than a full application, saving several months of process.

On DfE funding applications, "covered walkway" and "outdoor learning structure" are terms that fit within the scope of capital maintenance funding and estate improvement programmes. "Link corridor" or "enclosed walkway" describes a more substantial construction project with a different funding route and approval process.

Covered walkways: what to specify

If you have concluded that a covered walkway is what you need, the key specification questions are:

Width. 2m to 2.5m is the standard for most school and commercial routes. Narrower is suitable for low-traffic links. Wider is needed for high-volume corridors used during class changeovers.

Roof material. Polycarbonate is the most common choice: translucent, lightweight, low maintenance. Ensure UV-stabilised panels with a meaningful warranty against yellowing. Glass is more expensive but looks better on prestige settings.

Side panels. A solid back wall on the prevailing weather side, with the opposite side open, is the most practical configuration for most UK sites. Full open-sided walkways with no panels work well in sheltered locations.

Fixing to existing buildings. Confirm the wall construction at both ends before specifying fixings. The wrong fixing type in a cavity wall or curtain wall facade is a serious structural problem.

For further detail on specifying a school covered walkway including materials, widths, roof options and what to ask your supplier, read: How to Specify a Covered Walkway for Your School.

For the complete guide to funding a covered walkway through DfE grants, SCA, or finance leasing, read: How Schools Fund a Covered Walkway.

Or view our covered walkways product page for examples of completed projects across schools, hospitals, and business parks.