Cembrit Glendyne natural slates have been specified and installed on a unique renovation project for the Historic Kent landmark, St Alphege Church. Recognised as the focal point of the high street, the Victorian Church brings history and character to the beautiful seaside town of Whitstable.
The original Victorian roof, built in 1845, had become a growing concern among the local community, which led many to worry about preserving the old church for future generations. To help raise money to fix the rapidly ageing roof, the ‘Raise the Roof’ appeal was launched in the summer of 2014 and encompassed all kinds of fundraising events. By May 2017, the church had reached its target of £200,000 and was in a position to commence the vital repair work to protect the church’s historic ceiling.
Regularly entrusted with working in historic settings, Kent-based architect, Clague presented the planners with roofing samples to review. The architect initially put in an application for Spanish slates to replace the expensive Welsh slates, however after much evaluation, the conservation officer asked that they used Canadian natural slates instead.
Having worked with Cembrit many times in the past, the architect specified Glendyne natural slates. David Gullick from Clague Architects comments:
“We chose Glendyne for the project due to its consistency, aesthetic appearance and durability. The standard of these products, and the service that we received from Cembrit was second to none. The outcome of the roof is just what we desired.”
Glendyne is a high-quality slate that combines first-class performance with all the inherent beauty of natural slate, making it the ideal ‘natural’ choice for specifiers and roofers. Available exclusively from Cembrit in the UK, Glendyne is a distinctive blue-grey colour. The Glendyne quarry is one of the most modern slate quarries in the world. The quarry operates a quality management system based on EN ISO 9001 which is externally audited. This standard is adhered to rigidly, as are all quality standard procedures required by each regional market the quarry supplies.
Glendyne is tested to BS EN European standard, BS EN 12326-1:2014 which requires many of the laboratory tests (‘type testing’) to be performed at least annually and the factory production control (FPC) performed and recorded as a matter of routine by the producer.
To watch a video on the project, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEe_5ew0p7o