Natural slate

Brett and Lori Veerman wanted their new Wisconsin home to reflect the state's vibrant outdoor life and to last for generations. Located in Waunakee, just outside of Madison, the Veerman's residence needed to present a modern mountain feel both inside and out.  The Veermans explored their cladding options, looking for the right textures and tones by leafing through Mountain Living Magazine. They knew the right product had to be interesting — not something anyone else in the Madison area was using. It also had to be nearly maintenance-free, a major goal in this home's construction.  The Veermans' architect introduced them to CUPACLAD natural slate. "It was definitely a new product for the area," Brett said, "We thought that... More

New to Iowa City’s historic Northside District, Market House is a mixed-use gathering place located at the corner of North Linn and Market streets. According to Nick Lindsley of Neumann Monson Architects, “The neighborhood, which is steeped in familiarity and a long history, has many buildings primarily clad in brick. Our strategy consisted of creating a five-story building, that blended in with these surrounding brick buildings, but also had a visual and textural identity of its own. At first, we thought about using terra cotta on the building’s façade to complement brick, which we had originally chosen.” Co-owner and developer of Market House, Ross Nusser added, “There’s much history here on the... More

The conversion of a traditional barn within the conservation area surrounding Wells Cathedral, Somerset has benefitted from the installation of CUPA PIZARRAS’ THERMOSLATE® roof solar collectors. The new solar system will generate up to 57% of the occupants’ hot water requirements and save nearly 459kg of carbon emissions per year.   When the owners of the two-storey traditional property embarked upon a significant renovation scheme, sustainability was a key priority from the outset. Though the owners were keen to install a user-friendly solar energy solution, the system also needed to provide sufficient hot water for the family across the 350 m2 floor area of the property whilst blending into the new slate roofing. Li... More

33 new houses developed by housing co-op Groene Mient. Low energy housing project built in wood and slate.Design:FilliéVerhoeven architectsArchitektenkombinatie Bos HofmanAllotmentCompared to common standards the plot for Groene Mient offered us a unique opportunity to create an enormous collective garden. Our challenge was to enhance this natural collectivity and to focus all new houses equally on this garden in such a way that it would not result in a subdivision into different smaller backyards. Another important design wish was that the new houses should be south orientated as much as possible given the strive for minimal energy consumption and the use of solar panels and solar collectors. By placing one of the building blocks more or l... More

This dwelling is located in a unique natural environment in the French Pyrenees (Gaillagos, France). When designing this family home, the main focus of the owners was to reduce their energy consumption without giving up to an elegant traditional slate roof. That is why they decided to get THERMOSLATE® installed: it is a completely invisible solar roof that gets repaid from day one. Only 4 collectors installed on a total surface of 5m2 were enough to cover more than 60% of their hot water needs (250 liters per day). Regarding their energy consumption, this family got to save up to 2,854.2 kWh every year! Besides the energy savings, this solar roofing gets to reduce the environmental impact by avoiding the emission of more than 1,900 kg of... More