European Slate Company were delighted to be chosen to help a Dorset charity realise its vision of building a new facility supporting young adults with a learning disability.
As a registered charity and housing association, Sturts community Trust combines promoting sustainability with providing supportive communities on Sturts Farm – a 90 acre working organic farm. On the farm, the charity offers work opportunities, individualised support and supported living. It has a number of housing projects on the site and recently opened a new housing neighbourhood called Twin Oaks.
This Lottery funded project will enable the charity to offer more opportunities to young adults with a learning disability, providing living accommodation to them and their supporters.
Contractors building the new housing, Castle Lodge Construction of Ringwood in Hampshire, presented several choices of roofing for the new neighbourhood to the client. ESCO’s natural slate, ESCO5, stood out with it’s distinctive, rich blue/black colour and attractive texture. As Sturts Community Trust is an organic, biodynamic farm, it was important that the 500mm x 250mm natural slate is environmentally friendly through all stages of its lifecycle, making it the best natural choice for the sustainable community.
Natural slate is a totally inert mineral product, meaning it does not impact its surroundings. It is produced using traditional processes making it the roofing material with minimal environmental impact. Combined with its extraordinary long-life expectancy, Sturts Farm can be sure they’ve made the most sustainable, as well as most beautiful choice, for their new community’s roofs.
Gary Watt from Castle Lodge Construction also informed us that the project, which was due for completion in the middle of May 2021, was actually handed over at the beginning of April 2021! As well as being ahead of schedule the final build also came in under budget. The client was so impressed that they decided to award the contractor a bonus in recognition of their efforts.
