Marley's Edgemere interlocking slates and Cedral Weatherboard cladding selected for new social housing construction project.
Marley's popular Edgemere interlocking slate and fibre cement Cedral Weatherboard cladding have been jointly specified on a contemporary and innovative extra care housing development in Higher Blackley, Manchester, for Great Places Housing Group.
Named ‘The Byrons’ after local links to the famous poet’s family were discovered, the development has been constructed to provide modern two-bedroom self-contained apartments for older people, facilitating their independence in a supported environment. Tenants also have access to on-site fully staffed care teams and state-of-the-art communal areas that include a hair and beauty studio, a ‘well-being’ room, a communal kitchen and a large lounge space.
Pozzoni, project architects – who have extensive experience in designing for older people; in conjunction with national building and development specialist Southdale; identified Marley roofing and cladding products as they helped deliver the overall design vision and objectives through extensive colour choice, aesthetic appeal, extreme practicality and low installation cost.
Damian Utton, partner at Pozzoni, comments: “The grey colour selected in Cedral Weatherboard cladding was ideal to offset against the rendering, brickwork and window frame colour schemes. From a practical point of view, Cedral Weatherboard offers the client a low maintenance cladding option that will neither weather, nor fade as some natural products do. This factor is important for the long-term functionality of the development.”
Additionally, Marley's Edgemere interlocking slate in smooth grey was specified as the roofing solution. It offered the project a machine-made and consistently sized cost effective alternative to natural slate.
Gavin White, marketing project manager at Marley, said: “Edgemere slates are light and use 25% less raw material than a standard concrete tile. They also provide other practical and economic advantages for specifiers such as requiring only 9.7 slates per square metre, compared to other products which may need as many as 11.1 slates for the same area.
“From an aesthetic standpoint, the Edgemere’s thin leading edge reduces the perceived thickness normally associated with ‘heavy looking’ traditional concrete tiles.
“Both Edgemere slates and Cedral Weatherboard achieve an A+ rating as defined in the BRE’s ‘Green Guide to Specification’ making them ideal product choices to support sustainability objectives.”
Damian Utton concluded: “The client is very happy with the finished development and, having previously specified Marley products, I was once again delighted how the Edgemere slate and Cedral Weatherboard cladding helped turn our design vision into reality.”
The development reaches Level Three of the Code for Sustainable Homes through use of solar panels and an air source heat pump system that distributes warm air around the building.
