John Brash shingles are lightweight and durable

John Brash's western red cedar shingles have been installed in a sustainable timber-frame housing development.

The development secured a place in the final of the Sustainable Housing Awards, which recognise projects that demonstrate housing sustainability best practice.

John Brash's western red cedar shingles provided a lightweight and durable facade on the family homes, which were built for Metropolitan Housing Trust in Lambeth, south London.

Timber shingles were chosen for this project as growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere locking it away for the lifetime of the building.

Using timber building materials also creates a building with much lower embodied energy compared with materials such as concrete and steel.

The lightweight yet strong nature of western red cedar enabled the shingles to be fitted on the overhanging roof parapets, helping the building designer ensure the properties integrated into the natural landscape.

The houses themselves were constructed using prefabricated timber-panelled frames to ensure a speedy construction.

The durability and longevity of shingles also enabled them to extend to the ground, enhancing the design purity of the curves.

The properties have been designed to meet at least Ecohomes 'excellent' standard and current expectations are that this will be raised to zero energy standard.

Choosing sustainable materials was vital to achieve this goal, which is why John Brash western red cedar shingles were said to be a crucial element of the build.

John Brash's western red cedar shingles were fixed to its JB-Red factory graded roofing battens.

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