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Marley Eternit Extends Natura Cladding Range
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Following an international colour workshop with UK, French and German architects, Marley Eternit has launched a new Natura range of fibre cement decorative cladding panels.
Instead of featuring the same colour throughout, as the Natura Plus range does, the new Natura range comprises nine colours that are available as a varnish on a lightweight Anthracite (dark grey) core and a further five varnish colours on a natural (light) grey core.
UK architects Cany Ash and Robert Sakula from Ash Sakula Architects in London were joined by Konrad Wohlhage from Leon Wohlhage Wernik Architekten in Berlin and David Trottin from Peripheriques Architectes in Paris for the workshop.
They analysed the cladding colour ranges available from Marley Eternit and sister companies in Europe and expressed a preference, even when a range contained bold primary colours, for shades of the more natural colours.
They suggested strengthening the natural identity of the fibre cement substrate by using colour varnishes on the base material – and that is what is now available with the new Natura colours.
Cany Ash of Ash Sakula Architects said: “Robert and I particularly felt there should be more subtle ranges of colours so we were quite interested in the darker base sheets and thought that each one of these could then have a range of surface colours.
“Then for instance, if you wanted a green building you could have it with different base colours and top shades. Cladding manufacturers like Marley Eternit need to have as wide a range as possible. It’s good that they asked us for our opinion.
“There is colour in every material but we are trying to use the more natural colours. What we like about Marley Eternit is its natural-looking products, the fact you can see the way it is put together.”
Prof Jan Krause, one of two Eternit architects in Germany and organiser of the international colour workshop, said: “The strong recommendation by the invited architects was to keep to our material, be unique, and work with varnish colours on the fibre cement substrate so the original character will always be visible.”
The Natura range is low-maintenance and resistant to fire (Class O performance), weather, insects, mould growth and fungi.
