Catnic product: Catnic® Urban Roofing
Project name: Retreat Lodges
Project type: Holiday Lodge
Specifier: Retreat Homes & Lodges
Location: Fritton Lake, East Anglia
Located in the beautiful East Anglian countryside, Hill Wood Retreats is a small, exclusive development that forms part of a private holiday resort within the Fritton Lake nature reserve. Having wanted to invest in a holiday home for sometime, but not being sure of the ideal location, Steven Langstone and his family decided upon Fritton Lake.
“Thanks to a fateful traffic diversion one day we came across a group of lodges in a picturesque woodland setting and fell in love with the idea”, explained Steven, owner of the Langstone Retreat. “We went on to purchase a corner plot on the Hill Wood development.”
Wendy McKay, Senior Sales & Design Consultant for Retreat Homes & Lodges, was tasked with creating a bespoke lodge design to not only meet Steven’s brief and that of the landowner, Lord Somerleyton, but to also suit the setting and orientation of the plot.
“This development is situated in a heavily wooded area surrounding a large lake, so our standard roof tile, with its granular finish, was deemed unsuitable. When researching alternatives, we came upon Catnic's® Urban which appeared to provide the ideal solution. The standing seam roofing system, in its long lengths, has the potential to better withstand the moss, branches and debris of the environment due to its smooth and durable surface finish.”
Manufactured from Tata Steel’s Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra® pre-finished steel, the Catnic® Urban Roofing and Cladding system is a cost effective alternative to traditional copper and zinc systems and is seven times lighter than traditional roof tiles. The Urban panels are also 100% recyclable, with a carbon footprint that is three times lower than some of the leading eco-designed urban roofing products. Recognised by independent BBA certificate that the material used to manufacture Catnic® Urban will have durability for a period in excess of 40 years in normal urban, suburban and rural environments.
“We worked closely with Lord Somerleyton to ensure the design blended harmoniously with the local area,” said Wendy, “and we were both very pleased with the finish – so much so that Catnic® Urban is now the standard roofing option for the Hill Wood development, and members of the Retreat Homes & Lodges team have since attended an installation training course offered by Catnic.”
Courses are run at Catnic’s training centre in Caerphilly, Wales, in a fully equipped classroom environment that provides attendees with an introduction to, and theoretical grounding on the pre-coated metal standing seam system. In addition, the centre has four specially developed rigs to allow both basic installation training and instruction on a range of real life situations, providing attendees with valuable hands-on experience with the system before using it onsite.
Steven concludes: “The aesthetic is in keeping with the high-end design of Hill Wood. The metallic finish of the Anthracite grey complements the cedar lodge beautifully and gives the property a modern feel. Our holiday retreat was one of the first lodges in situ on the Hill Wood development and our family couldn’t be happier with the finished property.”