"slate"

Hounds Road, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol.

Duncan Macmillan House, Nottinghamshire.

Broad Meadow, in Dudley, the West Midlands, is not your typical retirement complex.Often, developments like these are bland and functional, built to very conservative designs.But the architects behind Broad Meadow had other ideas. They wanted something bold and distinctive – and the striking, circular building that resulted stands out as one of the most iconic of its kind.However, the development wasn’t without its problems.

Finishes: Interpon D2525 Ordos Sable YW387I, Ambre Sable Y2316F & Patah YW267I

This is Vita Student Newcastle, a new development of 259 high quality student accommodation studios on Westgate Road in Newcastle town centre. Architects and interior designers Fuse worked with Historic England and the city’s planning and design officers to develop a façade that is unashamedly contemporary, but has a timeless quality the client required, complementing the neighbouring buildings without imitating them.

Renovation work on a grade II listed church building in Merseyside - designed by the renowned Liverpool architect Francis Xavier Velarde - included new roofing utilising concrete roof tiles from Ibstock, with the work undertaken by Fulwood Roofing Services (Northern) Ltd.

Built in the market town of Sandy, Bedfordshire, Cotton Tails is a prestigious £2.5 million private residential property, the finalist for the RCI Pitched Roofing Awards. The property extends for around 4.8 acres and it includes formal gardens, fenced paddocks, stables, and outbuildings. The incredibly modern five-bedroom mansion offers 6000sq ft of living space characterized by a wealth of attractive features, including an impressive full height reception hall with a floating staircase and enviable underground wine cellar.The Cotton Trails project was managed by Mark Lenn, the landowner, and built by Bartram Timber Frame Buildings Ltd. For the installation of the roof, the landowner selected D Stockwell Roofing Contractor, based upon recommendations, experience, and quality of workmanship. Roofers were instructed to only use high-quality materials to complement the luxurious mansion and interiors of the prestigious property.

A top end housing development in the heart of the West Country features the conservation of a listed mill property as well as elegant new roof designs: all articulated using CUPA PIZARRAS, specified for their quality and long lifetime guarantee, as well as their highly aesthetic appearance. Tail Mill in Merriott, close to Crewkerne in Somerset, is being refurbished and converted along with the construction of new residential properties, built by developer Zero C - with the three and four bedroom executive homes commanding asking prices of £4-500,000.

Fossil museum The Etches Collection, in Kimmeridge, Dorset, is protected by a new high-performance roof in keeping with its character, thanks to Glendyne.

When Crest Nicholson began planning its Chertsey regeneration site, it looked to create a neighbourhood with its own unique character, which harmonises perfectly with its surroundings. This led to CUPA PIZARRAS being specified to provide its high quality H18 tiles for the recently launched Upper Longcross development, which forms part of the government-backed Longcross Garden Village. The Upper Longcross site consists of a collection of homes, comprising a mix of two, three, four and five bedroom properties and one and two bedroom apartments.

Epiphany House is owned by the Trustees of Epiphany House Truro and is a Grade II Listed Building (listed on the 29th of December 1950) in the heart of Truro, Cornwall. It is used as a thriving retreat for the clergy of the Diocese of Truro and provides conference facilities for all kinds of events. The roofing and cladding proposals for an extension to the listed building, adjoining the main house to create additional accommodation. Visit our website to read the full article.

When it came to Ty Oriel (‘Gallery House’ in Welsh), the brief was ambitious. Architects Nic Downs and Carolyn Merrifield wanted something sleek but striking. Eco-friendly, but instantly classic. A family home that was angular and modern, but that could simultaneously blend with its more conservative suburban surroundings. And they were that demanding for a very good reason. The house wasn’t just for anyone. It was theirs. Clean and minimalistic, the resulting build is stylishly open-plan, incorporating an office and an art studio as well as four bedrooms, all south-facing to maximise natural light.

Woolwich Works (previously known as Woolwich Creative District) is a £31 million project by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to restore five heritage Grade II listed buildings on the Royal Arsenal, creating a new landmark cultural hub for London. With large-scale, flexible performance and event spaces, rehearsal studios, bars and a café, the site will be home to a number of local, national and internationally-renowned resident artistic companies including Punchdrunk, the hugely successful immersive theatre.The major investment brought a series of landmark historic buildings back into use to form the creative district. Bennetts Associates have been appointed to carry out the plan to transform five buildings, including The Carriageworks, previously known as Building 19. The work to the building included sensitively restored roof and windows to ensure adequate soundproofing. The Mace Group, and Arc Waterproofing were delivering Woolwich Creative District, transforming a historic military complex into a major cultural destination.

SSQ’s world-class Riverstone phyllite has been used to outstanding effect on a multimillion-pound residential development in Limehouse, East London. The Copenhagen Place project has seen a stretch of canal-side East London transformed into a luxurious housing complex, consisting of 45 individual dwellings spread across a number of five storey apartment buildings – all of which were roofed with 60×30 Riverstone Ultra. A collaboration between architects Stockwool and Bellway Homes, the £10m development required a roofing material that didn’t just offer great aesthetics, but robust, long-lasting performance, too. Visit our website to read in full.

The site at Knock Rushen is located by the sea in an exposed area, Rivendale fibre cement slates were selected to withstand the force of the natural elements. The slates offered Hartford Homes a cost-effective solution that seamlessly blended in with the local environment. Houses in Castletown are predominantly finished with natural slate roofs but Hartford were confident that fibre cement would enable them to create a finish that would be sympathetic to the local surroundings.

CUPACLAD 101 Logic was recently installed as part of a striking new-build project, located in Aberystwyth, Wales. The natural slate cladding was chosen because it could complement the coastal surroundings as well as provide outstanding resistance to the harsh weather conditions. The site was purchased by homeowners, David and Shirley Harries who looked to extend the pre-existing bungalow but after finding significant issues with its structure, opted instead to erect a new build on the same plot. “We really wanted a home that utilised a range of materials to create a modern look as opposed to building a glass palace that could look too ostentatious in the rugged seafront location,” said David. The couple approached Arwyn George from George + Tomos Architects who put together a design, which included CUPA PIZARRAS’ natural slate cladding system, CUPACLAD 101. “The CUPACLAD system allowed the new home to blend into the surrounding cliffs beautifully,” said Arwyn. “In addition, I had to consider the high winds that the project would be exposed to and select something that would have the appropriate durability.” High quality natural slate is a very resistant material – its deterioration is unnoticeable to the human eye, meaning its colour does not change across its 100 year lifespan, even in the coldest environments. Natural slate also has a permanent sheen, unlike other roofing materials which can decrease up to eight times superior.  “We really loved the proposal,” the couple commented. “The slate would blend seamlessly with the local landscape – both the cliffs behind the property as well as some of the other houses in the area, which also utilise natural slate. What’s more, the material is sympathetic to its environment.” CUPACLAD is constructed using specially selected slates, which are dark in colour, creating a bold and dramatic look, particularly when utilised alongside lighter materials such as glass, timber and render. CUPACLAD 101 Logic is made up of 40x20cm slates installed horizontally using fixing systems that are completely invisible once installed to avoid impacting the design. As with the rest of the CUPACLAD 101 series, it is BBA certified, verifying that it has an incredibly low level of water absorption, test results show a value between 0.16 and 0.17%. This ensures that the material is not susceptible to frosting or hypothermal ageing. Furthermore, the BBA certificate demonstrates the slate is very resistant to high winds, fire and impacts. Rhys Ben Wright from RBW Carpentry was then selected to install the slate system. A process made easier, thanks to the quality of the slate, with pre-drilled holes and self-drilling fixings. What’s more, natural slate has a number of environmental benefits. According to research carried out by the University of Glasgow, it produces a limited amount of atmospheric carbon (1KgCO2/metre2 over its lifetime) and has a low water and energy consumption rate. Furthermore, by sourcing natural slate from CUPA PIZARRAS, a carbon neutral company, David and Shirley’s cladding solution is verifiably sustainable. Once the project was completed, David and Shirley were over the moon with their new home: “The cladding fits the landscape seamlessly, which is due to the properties of the slate, as well as Arwyn’s design. He was able to shape the building in such a way that it really fits with the outlines of the hilly surroundings. “We were concerned that some of the slates would be lost in recent strong winds; however, the cladding remained completely intact. We would definitely recommend CUPACLAD.” CUPA PIZARRAS’ slate is exclusively distributed by Taylor Maxwell to the UK market. To find out more, about CUPACLAD, please visit: https://www.cupapizarras.com/uk/rainscreen-cladding/

The Garscube is described as an ‘urban barn’; with a low slung fibre cement slate pitched roof intended to be sympathetic to the character of neighbouring properties. The building sports a single homogenous fibre cement slate skin to form both walls and roof alongside generous window openings.

Birkdale fibre cement slates was chosen as the perfect answer to fulfil part of a complex and challenging rainscreen design. The new single storey training centre, consists of a fully grassed roof with ‘basket weave’ Birkdale slates used as a form of a raked rainscreen cladding to elevate the building.

Stone Cladding: Moca Crème Limestone - natural stone rainscreen cladding with a slate plinth. Family-orientated leisure development at the former hospital site at Baxter Gate, Loughborough. ARCHITECT: Aros Architects MAIN CONTRACTOR: Gilbert Ash INSTALLER: Entec Design Services PRODUCT: AlterStone Moca Crème Limestone Black Slate CLADDING AREA: 1,200m2 START ON SITE: August 2015 COMPLETION: April 2016

The customer wanted to find a new tile that had a similar aesthetic look to the original clay tiles but also needed to ensure an economical overall installation cost. James Bros Roofing Contractors, who specialise in the re-roofing of domestic properties using natural slate, clay plain tiles or more modern concrete tiles, selected Wienerberger's 20/20 Antique Slate roof tiles to achieve this brief perfectly.

Glendyne natural slates installed on a unique renovation project for the Historic Hampshire landmark.

A large retirement village at Parkland Place in Bedfordshire required slate appearance roofs.

Heavy 3 slate has been used to rebuild a previously run-down village hall, into An Talla Loch Ness Visitor Centre, a visitor gateway to Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. The renovation project used Heavy 3 spanish slate for its similarities, aesthetically and characteristically, to the traditional Scottish Ballachulish.  Part of a £2.5 million project, the developers Loch Ness by Jacobite took over the building with the view of creating a base for visitors to embark on a journey along the loch. The extensive renovation of the Victorian-built Dochgarroch Village Hall has been re-named An Talla, meaning ‘The Hall’ in Gaelic. It now comprises of a reception, retail outlet and café, all built around a new central courtyard and external terrace overlooking the Caledonian Canal towpath and quayside. As the original slate used on the building was Scottish Ballachulish, Heavy 3 was selected for its shared characteristics such as its blue-black colour and thickness. Heavy 3 slate is the best choice for repair and replacement of traditional roofs in Scotland as it produced at an extra thickness, 7 - 8mm, meaning it is ideal for combatting Scotland’s inclement weather.  “As the Loch Ness centre is an extension of the original hall building which has a traditional Ballachulish roof, Heavy 3 slate was selected as the ideal match to maintain the aesthetic,” commented Ian Sharpe, roofing installer at Wyvis Roofing – contractor on the development.  “I specify Heavy 3 for many of my roofing projects as the likeness to traditional Scottish slate is unmatched by anything else on the market. As always, the installation went really well and the CUPA PIZARRAS team – who I use regularly for roofing projects - were on hand to assist if needed.“One particular quirk of this project was the family of bats that had taken residence in the roof of the building. As bats are a classed as a European protected species, it is illegal to remove them; so, we installed a number of lead bat vents, allowing the bats to fly in and out of the roof space freely – yet more wildlife for visitors to observe.” 

Wienerberger’s New Rivius slate appearance roof tiles used in stunning project in Lincolnshire.

This impressive listed building retains its character with Glendyne natural slates on all visible slopes.

David Wilson Homes were looking for a mix of slate and clay roofs for a new site in Andover.

Fairford School was refurbished in 2008 and required a roofing system that could offer unsurpassed durability complimenting the honey coloured brick walls.Metrotile’s .900mm Slate profile in Bronze was specified, as it is the only system that could meet all of the project’s demands. The school’s new Metrotile Slate roof delivered on all counts including performance, durability, low whole-life cost and aesthetics. As Fairford is situated in a rural setting, the aesthetics of the building’s roof needed to compliment the natural surroundings.

For this beautiful self build in Lincolnshire, Wienerberger's New Rivius Antique Slate roof tiles were used.

CUPA PIZARRAS has been heavily involved in the development of a new self-build residential property in North West London. The manufacturer was initially approached due to its range of natural slate façade designs, with its CUPACLAD 201 Vanguard system eventually specified to create an impressive and striking façade. Located in Dollis Hill, the property is situated next to a housing estate and opposite an existing slate clad facade, while views to the rear give the illusion of a peaceful woodland setting. The designers sought to create a family home with a high-end exterior finish that felt like an escape from London, while also working well with the surrounding structures. Early on, natural slate was identified as a material that could help to create an attractive contemporary façade around the rear, sides and the upper elevation of the front of the property. It was also crucial that the façade would act as a rainscreen cladding system so the project team approached CUPA PIZARRAS about its CUPACLAD natural slate rainscreen cladding. The project team visited Taylor Maxwell’s London Bridge showroom – the exclusive distributor of CUPACLAD in the UK - to discuss options with the Taylor Maxwell and CUPA PIZARRAS teams as well as view a CUPACLAD sample wall. This session helped to establish that the CUPACLAD 201 Vanguard system was the ideal solution. A fully BBA approved system, CUPACLAD 201 Vanguard is 100% non-combustible and offers a lifespan of over 100 years. Following the initial consultation, CUPA PIZARRAS worked closely with the project team, including carrying out a number of site visits. The use of CUPACLAD 201 Vanguard was kept in mind throughout the design process, with the dimensions of the slate determining the placement of windows, vents and corners. This meant that when it came to construction, it was a simple installation process with minimal wastage and resulting in a clean finish. The CUPACLAD 201 Vanguard system is constructed from horizontal aluminium profiles, mechanically fastened to an aluminium sub frame support. Once fixed in place, the rows of natural slate are clipped on, and in the case of the Dollis Hill property, using visible fixings to create an attractive pinstripe effect. “The product looks fantastic in-situ on this project,” commented Tom Ward, Cladding Product Advisor at Taylor Maxwell. “The dark grey slate rainscreen cladding provides a striking colour contrast with the refurbished light brown timber fencing and complements the property’s black aluminium windows and glazing.” “Natural slate is a great cladding product. Not only is it easy to install, but, as it’s natural, you don’t have to handle cost sheets for working with a dangerous material,” commented Ronan Glynn, developer at Talina Builders. “We carry out a lot of demolition and see a lot of old building products go to waste; so it’s also reassuring that slate offers such longevity and when it might eventually be sent to landfill, you know it will not harm the environment.” David Cooke, Business Development Manager at CUPA PIZARRAS concluded: “On a project like this we can be involved as much, or as little, as the project team demands. We can offer support from conception to completion and we always encourage architects and contractors to get in touch as early as possible, so like in the case of Dollis Hill, we can work closely to ensure a meticulous finish.” For more information about CUPA PIZARRAS range of products, including its CUPACLAD rainscreen cladding systems, please visit: https://www.cupapizarras.com/uk/rainscreen-cladding/

SystemGenerix Lite RainscreenMaterialCASTLE BUFF & WELSH SLATEMain ContractorWILD GOOSEInstallerHKL

This family house, located in Chailland (France), has reduced up to 55% its annual energy bills thanks to THERMOSLATE. This solar collector in natural slate covers this family needs for hot water while enhancing the aesthetics and efficiency of their home. Five solar collectors over a total surface of 6.45 square meters, were more than enough to generate the energy required to cover the hot water needs of this family. The main component of the collectors is natural slate, extracted directly from our quarries and specially selected to ensure perfect fit and performance.

Plot A7 (Phase 3) of the Slate Yard Residential development in New Bailey, Salford provides high quality living accommodation. At 21 storeys high, the development is the largest of the three Slate Yard Towers and comprises 199 apartments, including 98 one-bedroom, 81 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom homes. Contractor: Morgan SindallArchitect: AHRProducts supplied: Ironmongery (PVD bronze), Integra Living Doorsets, Novista Riser Steel Doors and Access Control (supply + install + commission of Salto access control)

Russell Roof Tiles supplied 26,000 Slate Grey Pennine tiles as part of a £36,000 contract for a total of 13 private homes in Falkirk.

Our Rivius slate roof tiles and appearance roof tiles and Ashington Red Multi brick were specificed for a very impressive project in Hull.

Cedral Thrutone Smooth slates in colour Blue-Black, were used on this beautiful new build in Co. Armagh. This stunning project won BBC House of the Year in 2014.

Russell Roof Tiles supplied Taylor Wimpey with 250,000 sustainable Bute tiles in Cottage Red, Slate Grey and Terracotta, for its Hamford Park development in Walton-on-the-Naze.