Marley Eternit’s Acme Double Camber clay plain tiles have enabled a standout visionary design to become a reality on a bespoke two bedroom property in rural Gloucestershire. The home showcases the highest standards of roofing expertise to create a striking and seamless curving roof finish.

Quintain House, which has been shortlisted for a NFRC award, features a bespoke flowing roof design, and is one of less than 100 homes over the past 15 years to have met the stringent standards for the National Planning Policy Framework Paragraph 55, which allows for construction of buildings of ‘exceptional quality or innovative nature in design’.

The fluidity of the roof design at Quintain House disguises the need for a highly complex roofing sub structure, a testing brief which saw roofing contractor, Rowlands Roofing, specify Marley Eternit’s Acme Double Camber clay plain tiles. With its longitudinal and latitudinal camber, the clay tile’s unique double curve was the ideal choice to create the highly textured roofscape the project sought.

However, while the flowing design of Quintain House delivered unparalleled aesthetics, the design was not without its challenges, and none more so in creating the extreme rise and falls of the project’s roof. To produce the seamless and curving finish, the team had to devise a satisfactory battening solution to enable it to replicate the unbroken and smooth flow of the roof, apply it safely while adhering to BS 5534; where applicable, and then proceed to securely fix almost 60,000 Marley Eternit Acme Double Camber clay plain tiles – all of which had to cut by hand on site.

Andy Rowlands, owner of Rowlands Roofing, comments on the complexity of the project. He says: “The striking finish of Quintain House not only meant we had to work closely with the project’s architectural consultant throughout, but it also meant we needed a roofing solution which could step up to the challenge. Having worked with Marley Eternit’s products before, we were confident they could deliver a robust solution, which not only perfectly lent itself to the architect’s vision for the project, but also offered increased functionality.”

To match the fluidity of the roof, each batten had to be precisely cut to give the contractors the ability to curve and bend the wood batten.  Entire lengths of batten were reduced from 25mm thickness down to 13mm/12mm/9mm/8mm to promote the bending effect. Rowlands Roofing then layered the ‘thinner’ battens on top of each other to provide the necessary height required, providing the perfect foundation for the clay tile covering.

The 820sq m sized roof was a significant area; so, to achieve the design vision, each of the 60,000 tiles had to be individually marked and cut to match the space requirements of all the roof sections.  With some areas having pitches of just 21 degrees, the team was mindful at all times of adhering to BS 5534 best practice, as not only had the roof to be stunning to look at, it also had to be waterproof, secure and built to last.

Dan Redfern, Marketing Executive, Marley Eternit comments: “Quintain House demonstrates the highest standards of roofing expertise, craftsmanship and delivery to turn an ambitious architectural vision into striking reality.  The stunning curves articulated by the beauty of Marley Eternit’s Acme Double Camber clay plain tiles are the crowning glory of this roofing masterpiece.”

In addition to its strong aesthetic appeal, Marley Eternit’s Acme Double Camber tiles are also accredited to the BES 6001 framework standard for ‘Responsible Sourcing’, which means projects using its clay tiles can now achieve extra credits under BREEAM.

Issued on behalf of Marley Eternit