Little Eversden: Natural Slate Delivers Contemporary Design Within Planning Constraints

A striking family home in Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire, demonstrates how natural slate can be used to achieve contemporary architecture while responding to strict planning requirements.

Designed by NP Architects and completed in 2026, the property uses a unitised roof and façade to create a distinctive, seamless silhouette. However, its location within a historic Cambridgeshire village presented the design team with several challenges. Planning permission required the roof to be finished in slate, while the ridge height could not exceed that of the neighbouring property.

The restricted ridge height resulted in sections of the roof having a pitch of just 16 degrees – too shallow for natural slate using conventional installation methods.

Having previously attended a CUPA PIZARRAS CPD, NP Architects was familiar with READYSLATE®, a pre-assembled natural slate roofing system suitable for low-pitch applications. Capable of being installed on roof pitches as low as 12.5 degrees, READYSLATE provided a solution that allowed the architects to retain their design while meeting the planning conditions.

Working alongside roofing contractor Roof Brothers, the project team specified three CUPA PIZARRAS solutions: CUPA 12 natural slate, CUPACLAD® natural slate rainscreen cladding and READYSLATE. Together, the products created a consistent natural slate appearance across the different roof pitches and façade.

Anastasija Ladcenko, Project Architect at NP Architects, said: “The project looks great and we are really pleased with the final result. By combining a slate façade with a slate roof we were able to create a cohesive aesthetic that delivered on the client’s brief, all within the constraints set by the planning permission.”

Installation was also completed efficiently. Roof Brothers finished the work in five weeks, with READYSLATE taking just one week to install from start to finish.

The finished home combines clean contemporary architecture with materials appropriate to its historic village setting. The combination of CUPA 12, CUPACLAD and READYSLATE enabled the team to maintain a consistent natural slate aesthetic across the building while successfully overcoming the challenges created by the low roof pitches and planning restrictions.

Project: Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire
Architect: NP Architects
Contractor: Roof Brothers
Products: CUPA 12, CUPACLAD® and READYSLATE