SKArchitects’ Bluebird for homeless charity, HARP (photo: Billy Haynes from Miru3D).

Dreadnought, the UK’s oldest independent roof tile manufacturer, is bringing the natural aesthetic and heritage of its traditional clay plain tiles to award-winning contemporary designs. Made from durable Etruria Marl clay, they not only have a proven lifespan of more than 100 years but, as they are still fired the traditional way without the use of artificial stains or pigments, their clay colours add a natural vibrancy and unique appeal to modern facades.

Bluebird – a cohesive blend of clay rooftiles (photo: Billy Haynes from Miru3D).

Bluebird – award-winning Passivhaus project
Bluebird, a sustainable housing project led by homeless charity HARP, was the winner of AJ Architecture Awards Housing Project 2023, Inside Housing Development Awards 2023, and the Essex Housing Awards’ Excellence in Design award 2023.

This terrace of six new Passivhaus homes, designed to help reintegrate 50 residents into independent living within the community, is vertically clad in Dreadnought’s traditional single camber plain roof tiles, which complement the building’s simple linear form creating a sleek modern aesthetic.

SKArchitects’ innovative approach combines a sense of welcoming warmth and individuality with a cohesiveness that blends with its surroundings and appeals to both the residents and neighbours.

The 14,000 vertically-clad clay roof tiles give each mews house a unique appearance through four different clay colours. The unusual practice of mixing sand- and smooth-faced tiles adds to its distinctive variation.

Bespoke debossed tiles Incorporated into the façade (photo: Billy Haynes from Miru3D).

Incorporated into the façade are 500 bespoke ‘debossed’ tiles with a circle pressed into the clay so that residents can personalise their homes when they move in by inserting their own individual clay ‘roundels’ (which will be made under the guidance of a local ceramicist).  Integral to the design is Dreadnought’s ability to sustainably produce natural clay colours without artificial pigments and to manufacture the bespoke ‘debossed’ tiles.

Pangolin House.

Pangolin House – star of Grand Designs
Pangolin House, 2020 UK Roofing Award Winner for ‘Best Small Scale Project’, attracted attention on TV’s Grand Designs for its bold, contemporary and individualistic look.

Designed by Adrian James Architects, the detached house is intended to convey the idea of a creature or a crouched animal, such as a pangolin.  The distinctive Staffordshire blue plain clay roof tiles blur the transition between roof and walls, and are resonant of animal scales as they wrap around the structure like a shell with a delicate blue-grey sheen.

Manber Jefferies House (photo: Hampus Berndtson).

Manber Jefferies House
This vaulted wedge-shaped garden room for Manber Jefferies House, a semi-detached Victorian villa, was the winner of 2023 RIBA London Award and 2023 RIBA London Small Project of the Year Award.

James Alder Architects chose to wrap the new wedge-shaped extension in Dreadnought’s Staffordshire Red sand-faced plain clay tiles, which flow from the pitched roof down to the walls with the matching cloaked verges and monoridges making a neat transition. The traditional clay colour relates to the Victorian architecture, while also producing a very smooth and contemporary look.

Farley Farmhouse (photo: Mariell Lind Hansen).

Farley Farmhouse
Farley Farmhouse was the winner of the 2023 Surface Design Award and was shortlisted for the 2021 AJ Small Projects Awards. Emil Eve Architects specified Dreadnought’s handmade arrowhead tiles as vertical cladding on this domestic extension to complement the house’s existing material palette, while creating a contemporary feel.

For more information about Dreadnought Tiles call: 01384 77405. Email: sales@dreadnought-tiles.co.uk or visit: www.dreadnought-tiles.co.uk