BUILDING ENVELOPE
Creative colourful cladding
Lisa rosse at Cedral explores how cladding can improve aesthetics, support thermal performance, and offer weather resistance, sustainability and long- term cost savings for self-builders.
hether you’re planning a transformation or a new build, investing in a beautiful exterior means thinking beyond a quick fi x. Together with the roof and windows, the outer shell of your home provides protection against the heat, cold, wind, weather, noise and fi re and it is essential for comfort inside the house.
W Options for a residential facade include
timber, stone, vinyl, external foam, metal, weatherboard, fi bre cement, concrete and glass, on their own or in various combinations. While brick is widely used for residential exteriors in urban settings, stone is dominant in much of the countryside. We are seeing many more creative construction solutions that employ a range of colours and materials. Plaster is also still in fashion and rough concrete has gained acceptance as a stylish cladding for residential design. We recently carried out a survey of 1,000 UK homeowners to get their perspective on what matters most for the exteriors of their homes. We found that homeowners are increasingly focused on energy effi ciency, durability and resilience. The top two priorities were wanting to use construction materials which could withstand changing weather conditions (48%) and energy effi ciency %. When asked about their preferred aesthetic style, from traditional to contemporary, the key takeaway was not being swayed by the latest architectural trends and wanting an exterior that wasn’t likely to date. % said that they prefer an exterior with timeless appeal, 27% preferred a modern exterior, 25% chose a look that fi t with the aesthetics surrounding the property and 19% most preferred period character. Increasingly we are seeing homeowners seeking out natural
materials from sustainable sources. Fibre cement cladding has the versatility to provide a wood or smooth effect, offering endless design options. A strong, versatile and sustainable material containing cement and fi bres, it has been developed so that it does not rot, rust, warp or crack under extreme weather conditions. Fibre cement cladding has an excellent fi re performance classifi cation, uses fewer raw materials and less energy in its manufacture and produces less waste than some traditional building materials. It is also easy to install, is low maintenance and can perfectly complement brick, natural stone, tiles, stucco and even metal.
One way to use cladding is by adding shiplap sidings, a ‘New England’ weatherboarding characterised by long planks, mounted horizontally to evoke a traditional aesthetic. This style choice, long seen on coastal or beachfront properties, has become a popular
design choice more generally. It doesn’t have to be used for the entire exterior. The cladding can work as accents or half walls, breaking up solid colour and changing the overall look. It can also be used to cover a gable and provide a contrast with the rest of a building. Fibre cement cladding can also be used to replicate the clapboard look which was used in the 19th century in the , but with more robust properties. The owners of a period timber house in the Essex countryside had planning permission to knock the existing building down and to build a new home. Instead they chose to recreate the original white weatherboard look while having a property that was as maintenance free as possible. Vertically installed cladding is also
a growing trend to create a sleek and contemporary aesthetic across the facade. For a new build in Chepstow, the homeowners chose Cedral fi bre cement
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