The Farmscape roofing and Weatherboard cladding have been used on the three units which occupy a half-hectare site that used to be a livestock auction, on the Crown Estates’ Glenlivet Estate at Tomintoul, Morayshire, Scotland, which is managed by Smiths Gore.
Built over 17 months for let to local businesses, the project was also funded by Moray Council and the European Regional Development Fund (Scottish Executive Development Department).
The brief was to construct units to promote diversification across Crown Estates’ rental portfolio while encouraging investment within the area.
On the duo pitch roof is Marley Eternit’s fibre cement Farmscape profiled sheeting in Serpentine colour. This product was designed with a top pigmented sheet instead of a painted one to better blend into the landscape and is complemented by roof lights.
The fibre cement Weatherboard on the majority of elevations looks and feels like timber clapboard, and has even been stained with a wood stain, but is equally low-maintenance and long-living. Both materials are also fire-resistant (Class O).
Neil Smith is an associate at Smiths Gore who have used Marley Eternit’s profiled roof sheeting on many agricultural projects. He said their design for the business/craft units had been received well by the local planning authority as it followed a traditional footprint mirroring local traditional “U” shaped vernacular farm complexes.
“The durability of the materials was a factor in deciding on their use in the project. Colouring was decided following discussions with the planning officers and client as the thoughts were to marry the new building with traditional and landscape colours for the area,” he said.
“The materials play a pivotal part in the project as the colouring of the roof sheeting fits in with the local landscape. The Weatherboard side cladding gives a traditional look to the project without the fear of real maintenance headaches due to timber decay.”