Bahrain-based Middle East Weatherproofing Company is promoting a range of Italian shingles on the market that can be used to clad walls as well as roofs.

The copper shingles are said to be a rich 'live' material, designed to offer grandeur to a structure while giving it a constantly changing appearance as the copper oxidises from glittering gold to reddish brown and finally to the green patina as seen on historical buildings.

"Middle East Weatherproofing Company, as the sole agent and approved applicator for Tegola Canadese in Bahrain, is promoting the Prestige range of copper-faced shingles as well as coloured ceramicised mineral-finished shingles from the Italian firm," says Antoine Marcel Paulus, the general manager and partner who is also president of Canadian firm Paulus Enterprises, which is the sole agent for the Arabian Gulf and Canada.

"Established in 1979, Middle East Weatherproofing prides itself for being innovative as well as a leader in its field," he says. "It was the first company to commercially market torch-applied waterproofing membranes in Bahrain, the first local firm to invent its own thermal insulation - the Thermacrete and Thermokote modified systems - and was also the first local waterproofing firm to provide an insurance cover against consequential damages of up to BD200,000 ($530,000) per claim."

The shingles are said to afford solid protection under all weather conditions, durability and maintenance-free performance.

The Prestige range comes in three rich designs: Prestige Traditional, Elite and Compact.

"The Prestige range is a marriage of ancient building materials such as copper and bitumen with new technology," says Paulus. "Copper is one of the most durable roofing materials used for thousands of years and found in ancient Mesopotamia, Dilmun and the Arabian Gulf. Bitumen is yet another ancient building material, first used in Mesopotamia."

"Prestige provides a new alternative dimension to roofing and cladding for prestigious projects," he says. "It is flexible with three types to suit all design requirements and versatile enough to fit any design shape. It is a 'live' material that constantly changes its colour as it acquires the protective green patina and thus introduces a new and unique dimension to modern building materials. And it is durable, being made of copper with a waterproofing layer."

''Prestige Compact is ideal for cladding applications as it offers a flush, continuous surface, thus providing a total copper wall. It has been used to clad a 60-m-high building in Imola, Italy. It is also recommended for use as ventilated facades and to insulate walls externally - thus lending itself for retrofit applications. The panels are fixed with battens onto plywood backing with a cavity in between which can be filled with an insulation material.''

Prestige Traditional is the more flexible of the range and is more suitable for curved surfaces and domes, he says.

Elaborating on the composition of these shingles, Paulus says: ''A layer of impregnated fibreglass is enclosed between two layers of bitumen. Consequently, the shingles are dimensionally stable, are not affected by high temperature ranges and remain perfectly impermeable. The Prestige shingles are coated with copper foil. As time goes by, the copper foil will develop a distinguishing protective green patina. The panels have efficient thermoadhesive points that are not visible once the roofing has been completely laid and ensure wind-resistance.''

Prestige is backed by a 10-year guarantee from Tegola Canadese only when installed by Middle East Weatherproofing Company, whose staff has received training at the Italian firm to ensure a perfect result, he points out.

"By this controlled installation, the firm eliminates the possibility of faulty application by untrained applicators who are not in constant touch with the manufacturers and thus cannot have feedback for solutions for special design accessories such as flashings and gutters, hip or ridge pieces or updates on the latest in research and development," Paulus adds.

It is now also possible to accelerate the green patina, while research is ongoing in the opposite direction to have the copper maintain its original shine and copper colour, for those who have such a preference. Research is also in place to produce shingles with gold or titanium as well.

Tegola Canadese's range of roofing shingles comes in seven styles and more than 200 colours. The coloured ceramicised mineral-finished shingles include the Master, Traditional, Mosaik and Standard lines. The mineral-finished granules are produced using a ceramicisation process to ensure colour stability. Tegola Canadese, which launched production in 1976, is an ISO 9001 and ISO 14001-certified company.