Specifier: Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture
Contractor: Jerram Falkus Construction
Type of works: multiple fibre-cement roofing and cladding products specified for refurbishment.

Three types of fibre-cement roofing and cladding materials from Marley were specified by education specialists Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture to bring both aesthetics and practicality to the striking redevelopment of a nursery school in East London.

Kintore Way Children’s Centre uses Marley’s profiled sheeting on the roof and upper elevations and Operal rainscreen cladding on the lower elevations of a new extension as well as Rivendale slates on the roof of an existing 1930s nursery.

The multi-coloured roof of the new, snaking extension, which focuses on Green and Blues to reflect the canopy of trees in a central courtyard and the nearby river, probably most reflects Cottrell & Vermeulen’s distinctive style which is typically promoted in the use of colour, shapes and components in their raw state.

Work on the £1.6 million project for Southwark Council included stripping the pitched-to-flat roof of the existing 440m² single-storey nursery and replacing the natural slates on the pitched element with Marley’s fibre-cement Rivendale slates.

Construction of the new 600m² building over one and two storeys by main contractor Jerram Falkus Construction involved a steel frame to the two-storey section where staff offices and a meeting room top the main entrance.

The pitched elements of the roof are covered with Marley’s fibre-cement profiled sheeting painted in Blue, Green, White and Orange and complemented by translucent GRP sheets. These are continued vertically down below the eaves and with the help of a concealed, inset gutter, create a strong enveloping roof form. Lower parts of the walls are clad with Marley’s flat, fibre-cement decorative rainscreen panel Operal.

Operal panels were used as they are flexible and durable and the architects were able to create an environment with colour without resorting to decorating. The profiled sheeting was ideal as it could be easily worked to follow the dogleg of the site as it had to be a material that could be cut.