Crinan Boat Yard, Scotland

Eternit’s Farmscape roofing was specified for the main boat shed roof for its vapour permeability, aesthetics, longevity and cost effectiveness while Cedral Sidings were used for its A2-s1, d0 fire classification on a wall of a bunkhouse for occasional visiting specialist staff and boat crew.

Fibre cement roofing and cladding materials from Eternit met a host of specification criteria for the redevelopment of a boat yard on the wild west coast of Scotland.

Both products were specified for the boat yard at Crinan near Lochgilphead in Argyll by local architect Robert Wakeham who has used Eternit’s profiled roofing many times before on domestic outbuildings but had not used the Cedral sidings before.

The boat yard is based on a sheltered beach in a narrow valley close to the western end of the Crinan Canal basin, a natural site for the development in the late 20th Century of the boat slip, yard and workshop facilities, although the canal is a scheduled ancient monument and the basin a Conservation Area.

Because the site is so constricted, the adjoining hillside had to be excavated to provide space for the engineering workshop alongside the slipway, with the boatwright’s shop on the floor above (at road level) and the materials store above that.

The new steel portal frame of the existing chandlery adjoining the boatshed at the head of the slipway was found to be capable of supporting an additional storey, enabling relocation of the offices from a remote, timber-framed and clad building to above the chandlery.

The headroom for the new office storey determined the overall building roofline, with the ridge centred over the slipway, offset from the centre of the boat shed and providing sufficient headroom for three storeys of workshops on the inland side flanking the public road, while sloping down on the opposite, more exposed west side furthest from the slipway.

This minimised the wall height facing the sea while maximising the roof slope available for the addition of profiled translucent rooflights arranged to spell Crinan when viewed from offshore and from the air.

The project was phased over three years to minimise disruption to the boat yard operations and the design and materials specified to account for the site’s prominent location in a very high-quality coastal landscape. Planners had originally requested a green roof and insisted on dark blue wall cladding but Robert’s faith in Eternit’s profiled sheeting won through for the roof.

"In a cool, humid marine environment, there is a significant risk of condensation on the underside of the roof. The boat shed could not be enclosed at the slipway entrance, the building is not required to be heated and the cost of an insulated roof was unjustifiable. Fibre cement significantly reduced the risk of condensation problems.” he said

"A light tone or strong colour for the relatively large roof area would also have been unacceptably prominent. The Eternit Farmscape anthracite sheets were dark enough to blend into the locale, they offered a longer life than an applied surface finish, and was likely to be less reflective in wet weather than colour coated metal roof sheeting.