The old village hall at Ardfern in Argyll and Bute had been built to a standard pattern - concrete frame with brick infill panels, crittal windows and most recently, a corrugated metal roof which had corroded and leaked.
Architect Tom McCardel was tasked with giving the villagers, and those of nearby Craobh Haven, a community facility capable of handling activities ranging from theatre to weddings and arts festivals to keep fit classes.
He designed a 450m² timber-framed building over one and a half levels that was built over a year with a block and render outer leaf and now features a large main hall, a smaller hall, and a third hall.
A specifier of Marley Eternit’s fibre cement profiled sheeting for numerous domestic projects over the past 15 years, he used it at Craignish Village Hall for several reasons but mainly because its light weight meant the main spaces of the building did not have to be taken up with supporting framework.
On this occasion, he selected Marley Eternit’s Farmscape sheeting which was specifically designed with a pigmented top layer to blend into the landscape better than traditional gloss paint. It was screwed to timber purlins on the roof and to part of the walls by contractors LA Mackay Ltd.
”I specified the Marley Eternit sheeting because of its lightweight qualities, cost effectiveness, ease of detailing and appearance,” he said. “The colour [Serpentine] was chosen to give contrast to the walls [terracotta] and to sit well in the surrounding landscape and the Farmscape finish because of its matt and subtle appearance.
“It is not a domestic building but the use of the Marley Eternit sheeting seems to be right for the size of project and it interacts with the other materials very well. It is stable, easy to detail and its appearance adds texture to the building.”
He added: “The lightweight nature of the material means the main spaces of the building are not encumbered with massive structure and are in fact very open and spacious. It allowed for an invisible structure within the main space rather than the usual laminated timber frames associated with this type of project.”
The building’s proximity to the sea loch also meant the roof had to be weatherproof – Farmscape is that and more since its fibre cement substrate means it is resistant to the corrosive atmosphere of the sea coast.
Needless to say, Tom’s client is “very happy with the appearance of the roof”.