Marley Shingles were specified for the new Center Parcs Village, Woburn Forest, by David Gallimore at Holder Mathias Architects.

Proven performance

Gallimore previously specified Marley JB Shingles at Whinfell Forest, in Cumbria, and was very pleased with the look, both on first installation and as the product gently weathered onsite.

Gallimore wanted to achieve the same effect for this Center Parcs project, and felt that shingles provided a ‘soft friendly material’. Another factor in the specification of the Western Red Cedar shingles is that it would provide a low maintenance solution, proven in Cumbria, that wouldn’t need any further treatment.

Shingles Number 1 Grade Blue Label is the premium quality shingle without defect. Blue Label Shingles must be 100% clear, 100% edge grain and 100% heartwood.

Forest-friendly construction

The peace and tranquility of the Village will be one of the reasons families choose to visit.

Nestled in the woods, the biggest challenge for the main contractor, and in turn all specialist subcontractors, was how to build the Village without damaging the surrounding woodland.

The logical challenge of moving people, plant and materials was carefully managed by main contractor Bowmer and Kirkland and was very complex.

To minimise the impact on the natural environment, traffic in the forest was kept to a minimum.
Site staff were bussed to and from the main site, and deliveries to the site were booked in on notice only with a 1 hour delivery slot. This meant even more organisation than usal was required to co-ordinate materials and delivery. This system was tough but necessary to protect the site.

Design versatility

The design of the roof meant that it was by no means a straightforward job to install.

Shingles are a forgiving material to work with onsite and combined with a fixing system such as ShingleFix also makes the project as time efficient as possible.

The roof has two pitches and the shingles were to run in straight lines with hips. The roof is curved in plan as well as pitch and there was as much attention to detail required in getting the joist right to achieve the overall effect as there was to the installation of the cedar shingles themselves.

The completed roof will provide a natural looking, sustainable solution that will provide a maintenance-free roofing solution for many years to come.

Sustainable shingles

Cedar shingles are low carbon in manufacture contributing to low carbon design and use. Cedar shingles have been used on many BREEAM accredited buildings. A recent Canadian study carried out using PAS 2050 methodology, has shown cedar shingles can deliver a nett carbon sink even after transport and manufacturing.

Cedar shingles offer a high degree of thermal insulation (with a value of K=0.1067W/moC) and as shingles are a lightweight solution the design possibilities for enhanced insulation are also improved.

The Marley-approved contractor scheme and QANW latent defects guarantee make specifying shingles a straightforward option.