Fibre cement slate choice helps new school extension blend in seamlessly.
A major £2.2m school extension and refurbishment project has recently been completed using a combination of Marley Eternit’s Birkdale and Thrutone fibre cement slates. The specification of these products has enabled the new design to settle seamlessly into the local built environment and has supported the delivery of the project’s environmental objectives.
As part of Bridgend County Borough Council’s ongoing school modernisation programme, the project at Litchard Primary School has seen the merging of the infant and junior school buildings with a number of improvements including a new nursery, teaching areas, refurbished swimming pool and enhanced school hall. Marley Eternit’s fibre cement slates were used to cover an area of 1,000m2 on the link building that joins together the former infant and junior schools to create a single structure.
The Birkdale in Heather and the Thrutone in Blue Black complemented each other, working seamlessly together to offer the design team an aesthetically pleasing, lightweight, strong and durable roofing solution. These fibre cement slates actively supported the overall design vision for the school project.
Phil Watts, Senior Architectural Assistant at Bridgend Borough Council, comments: “The project made the necessary adaptions to the existing school to enable it to operate efficiently as an all-through primary school of the required size and condition to meet the needs of the 21st century learning.
“The extension link between the junior and infant schools was an important part of the scheme as it allows the school staff and pupils to benefit from a single integrated structure. We wanted to utilise a roofing solution that provided aesthetic appeal at a competitive price. Marley’s range of fibre cement slates ticked the boxes in both cases and the colour choice has meant we could match and complement the existing buildings extremely well. The use of the two colours work very well side-by-side.”
Marley Eternit provided regular support throughout the project, from undertaking a full National Building Specification (NBS) for Bridgend Borough Council, through to providing samples and technical advice.
The use of Marley Eternit’s fibre cement slates was ideal as not only can they achieve an A+ rating in the BRE Green Guide to Specification, but they have recently been certified to a ‘Good’ rating in the BES 6001 framework standard for Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products. This project is also currently on target to achieve a BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating.
Phil Watts concludes: “We are extremely happy with the role of the roofing solution on this project. The traditional look afforded by the slate roof works well in the locality. We have received numerous favourable comments since the school was officially re-opened and as a newly enhanced building that lies at the heart of the community we look forward to its active use by pupils and the wider community for many years to come.”
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