Wienerberger’s Heritage Service adapts traditional 1950s Cotswolds building

When architects Lawrence Grigg and Lydia Robinson from Design Storey, an Architecture and Development Company, were looking to adapt a traditional 1950s Cotswolds building to create a contemporary addition, Wienerberger’s Heritage Service was an ideal choice.

This arts & crafts inspired house is now a beautifully renovated property with a contemporary tile clad pavilion extension, and has recently featured on Channel 4’s new programme, ‘Best Laid Plans’ presented by Charlie Luxton.

Not only did the renovation of the house need to create a usable space and add bespoke features, but it also needed to complement the exciting architecture whilst adapting the façade of the vertical wall tiles and roof. Furthermore, it was vital that the colour of the new roof complemented the existing palette of materials of Cotswold stone walls and concrete tiled roofs.

To meet these challenges, Wienerberger’s Heritage Service was selected to design and create bespoke handmade roof tiles for the project which evoked the arts and crafts heritage of the area.

Nigel Dyer, Heritage Service Manager at Wienerberger, and Ian Martinson, a Master Craftsman at the company, worked closely with the architects, creating a mock roof section in the factory, both to show the concept and to enable the craftsmen to design the bespoke fittings for the new contemporary addition to match the special requirements of the project’s aesthetic.

Nigel commented: “We are delighted with the Grevel Lane building. Through creating bespoke roof tiles, we were able to provide the perfect solution for Lawrence and Lydia, to ensure the natural look and feel of the building was maintained.

"Clay is ideal to develop and create with, and the remit could not be achieved with any other material. The project was a great collaboration between the architects, the factory and everybody in the Heritage Services Team.”

Lydia, the project architect from Design Storey commented: “Our brief was a challenging one, as every external surface was clad in tile, from the roof to the walls. However, we were keen to create a monolithic and contemporary interpretation of the Cotswold vernacular – and Wienerberger’s Heritage Services Team helped us do it.

From the visit to the factory to see our tiles being made, through to working through the design details with the technical team, we were all committed to achieving a high quality end result.

Each tile is like piece of art in its own right – in fact, we love them so much that we’ve displayed them on a shelf in the house!”