Summary
• Western red cedar accounts for 80% of the shingles market.
• Sustainability is an important part of shingles’ appeal.
• Shingles’ light weight provides design flexibility.
• Use of shingles as wall cladding is increasingly popular.
• There is a growing trend to specify shingles for non-residential projects.

From last year’s Big Brother love nest to the enduring magic of the Alnwick tree house in Northumberland, timber shingles have always been popular – and now that demand is being underlined further by the move to low carbon, sustainable construction. It is a trend that has been noted by John Brash Timber, which has supplied western red cedar shingles to some high-profile projects recently.

“Sustainability is high on the list of reasons why western red cedar shingles are being specified, as is their visual appearance, which improves as the material weathers over the years,” said the company’s Christian Brash.

Western red cedar shingles’ durability, which provides a 40-year service life, resistance to decay, and high strength-to-weight ratio, add to their enduring appeal.

And the appeal of shingles is also widening as architects view them as not just a roofing material, but as a cladding material. “Several recent high-profile projects have used them for both the roof and walls,” said Mr Brash.

“Designers like the fact it creates a lightweight monocoque structure that helps create ‘organic’ designs that appear to have developed with the landscape, rather than forcing their way onto the environment with angular projections.”

This, as well as their sustainability credentials, was certainly why shingles were specified for the external envelope of two zero carbon homes in Velux‘s Model Home 2020 project in Kettering.

“Western red cedar shingles were chosen because they’re a lightweight and durable material for both walls and roofs. To reflect the integrated use of Velux roof windows and to improve both daylight and ventilation, the roof is treated as part of the elevation and the shingles are ‘wrapped’ up and over the entire structure,” said Simon Toplis of HTA Architects. The aim of the project, which involved the construction of a pair of semi-detached three- and four-bedroom CarbonLight Homes, was to create light, well-ventilated zero carbon homes, which could be reproduced easily by large housebuilders.

Shingles are also increasingly being used in non-residential sectors and John Brash recently supplied western red cedar for the domed roof of The Pods in Scunthorpe. The leisure centre comprises linked timber geodesic domed structures, built by B&K Structures, and the shingles’ strength-to-weight ratio enabled the creation of the very shallow angles towards the top of the domes.

“Masonry-based materials would have been too heavy, requiring additional internal support structures, which the architects felt would have compromised the design purity of the building,” said Mr Brash.

The use of western red cedar shingles also enabled the new Booths supermarket in Hesketh Bank, near Preston, to have a column-free retail sales area.

“We had a long-span structure over the store – around 40m – and traditional materials such as slate would have made it difficult to keep the retail space column-free,” said James Potter of architect Wilson Mason Partners. “The shingles are also an aesthetic material, which very much fitted with the client outlook as the building is in a semi-rural location. They are complemented by another natural material – a facing of random York stone.”

While there is demand for oak and chestnut shakes, especially for conservation work, cedar shingles dominate the market and account for more than 80% of sales. For John Brash, its No 1 Grade Blue Label is most popular.

“The Blue Label grade ensures that all shingles and shakes are made from cedar that is 100% heartwood, 100% edge grain and 100% clear. Quality can be variable from mill to mill and it is important to ensure that there is effective third-party accreditation.”

No 2 Grade Red Label, which contains flat grain and limited sapwood, can have a tendency to curl, so it should be used only for siding, and not for quality roofing.

The No 3 Grade Black Label is a utility grade that contains more flat grain, sapwood and defects, and is rarely used.