Located in the rural Cambridgeshire village of Little Eversden, a modern family home utilises a unitised roof and façade to create a seamless contemporary silhouette. CUPA PIZARRAS products feature there…
However, due to its location in a historic village, planning permission was only granted on the proviso that the roof was covered with slate and that the ridge height didn’t exceed that of the neighbouring structure. This presented a potential problem for the architects as slate has traditionally only been compatible with steeper roof pitches.
However, having previously attended one of CUPA’s CPDs, the design team from NP architects were familiar with Readyslate, an innovative solution for applications where traditional slate cannot be used, especially on smaller roof areas, modular buildings and low-pitch applications.
Likewise, the roofing contractor, Roof Brothers, had used CUPA natural slate solutions on many previous projects and was keen to recommend the product range to bring the project’s distinctive look to life.
The solution required three separate products: CUPA 12, CUPACLAD and Readyslate. Despite strict planning requirements dictating the roof’s ridge height and material, the combination of these three provided a consistent natural slate aesthetic and overcame the difficulties of the project’s varying roof pitches.
Anastasija Ladcenko, Project Architect at NP Architects, explains: “The project looks great and we are really pleased with the final result. By combining a slate façade with a slate roof we were able to create a cohesive aesthetic that delivered on the client’s brief, all within the constraints set by the planning permission.”
The roof ridge height dictated by the planning constraints was relatively low for a two-storey house, resulting in sections of the roof having a pitch of just 16-degrees. This angle would be too shallow for natural slate using conventional installation methods. However, Readyslate can be installed on roof pitches as low as 12.5 degrees, making it the ideal solution for the project.
Victor Wakefield, Company Director of Roof Brothers, comments: “As we’ve come to expect from CUPA PIZARRAS, the installation was quick and easy so we completed in just five weeks. The Readyslate was particularly easy, taking only a week to install from start to finish.”
The completed home successfully balances contemporary architectural design with the strict requirements of its historic village setting. By combining CUPA 12, CUPACLAD and Readyslate, the project team achieved a cohesive natural slate finish across both the roof and façade, while overcoming the challenges posed by low-pitch sections and planning restrictions
PRODUCT USED: CUPA 12
Dark grey natural slate with thin laminations and a smooth surface. Split to an average thickness of 5mm and 6mm.
PRODUCT USED: CUPACLAD®
CUPACLAD® is a natural slate rainscreen cladding system which offers a range of cladding solutions, from traditional to contemporary.
PRODUCT USED: READYSLATE
READYSLATE® is the first pre-assembled real slate roofing system, developed and patented by the world leaders in slate production.
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More than 250 roofs are installed per day around the world with CUPA slate.
Natural slate CUPA PIZARRAS has been highly valued by architects and has been selected for important projects within many cultural and historic buildings of interest, modern architecture or the construction or renovation of traditional housing.
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