Marley's fibre cement profiled sheeting give extension new lease of life

An extension that is roofed with Marley Eternit’s fibre cement profiled sheeting has helped to give Forestry Commission workers a new lease of life, and light, on a Scottish business park.

The brief to Neil Sutherland Architects was for additional accommodation to allow expansion up to 25 staff, with improved communal (meeting and staff) facilities. The new building also had to promote the use of local timber and incorporate biomass heating.

The practice’s response was an extension, which at 155m² almost doubled the size of the existing 187m² offices. It features a locally sourced, large-section Douglas fir post and beam frame with highly insulated timber-frame external walls and roof. The windows from the original 1990s offices were reused in the extension.

This wraps around the original single-storey brick building on Dingwall Business Park near Inverness on the side and rear, on the only land available to build on, on what is a very tight site. Local timber was used for cladding, some flooring and internal finishes while a separate building houses a new wood chip boiler.

Marley Eternit’s fibre cement profiled sheeting was specified for its low cost and low embodied energy while its pre-painted colour, gunmetal grey, was selected to blend in with the lead used on the extension clerestory.

The roof is an inward-sloping mono pitch that rises up from the existing eaves, creating an internal gutter at the junction between old and new. This gives increased height at the new external wall that features the glazed clerestory that runs along the length of the building.

Suspended ceilings are avoided in the extension and the plasterboard ceilings follow the slope of the new roof. The improvement of quality of space and light is easily recognised when passing from the old building to the new.

The new internal layout is open plan with most of the workers located in the new extension, and the reception, meeting room and storage retained in the darker areas of the existing building.

Colin Henderson, architect partner at Neil Sutherland Architects, who are frequent users of Marley Eternit’s profiled sheeting, said: “Due to the configuration of the roof, the finish is not immediately apparent except at the eaves where the profile is exposed.

“This roof form, which allowed as much natural light in as possible around the perimeter, seemed the only sensible option to us. We also had to work with the existing roof and this gave us the neatest junction.

“The Marley Eternit sheeting was specified for its low cost and low embodied energy, enabling us to meet the brief in terms of budget and sustainability.”

<<Find more Roofing, Cladding & Insulation companies and products

« Back to the Marley Eternit page