Sahtas has had a presence in the British construction market for over 20 years, supplying handmade clay plain tiles and hand-thrown clay bricks through its network of stockists and distributors. Indeed 2021 was a landmark year when the company reached a total of 100 million roof tiles delivered to new and refurbished properties across the country.
The last two years has been a huge investment period for the company culminating in the construction and commissioning of a new 22,000m2 state of the art factory on a 3.5ha site at its base in the Izmir Region of Turkey on the Aegean coast. As well as the UK, the company now has a global presence and supplies customers in the USA, Australia, Ukraine, The Middle East and throughout Europe. The new factory features an acoustic testing system developed in conjunction with a major University.
During recent years the product offering has expanded and become more diverse as products which were previously sold into local Mediterranean, Aegean and Middle Eastern markets are now readily available to the company’s global customer base. These include paving bricks, terracotta floor tiles, cover cladding tiles and glazed ceramic tiles.
Steven Blewitt, Sahtas UK Ltd Director commented:
“The company’s growing presence in the UK is now extended to working directly with house builders, architects and developers to deliver a consultancy solution for the selection of roof tiles, bricks and architectural faience at all phases of a development, from choice of colour blends to scheduling deliveries by working with main and sub-contractors. We also offer free estimating and technical support services.”
Recently Sahtas has worked closely with several high quality developers to ensure that choices of materials are appropriate to local planning requirements and meet the local architectural vernacular.
Over 500,000 Brookhurst handmade clay plain tiles were chosen by Argent Developers Ltd for their beautiful development in Benfleet, Essex.
Dave Lawrenson, Managing Director, Argent Developers Ltd:
“We decided to specify Sahtas Brookhurst tiles for our prestigious development of 42 houses at Solbywood Farm as we wanted to create a scheme of high quality detached family homes with the right combination of handmade aesthetics and modern design. Sahtas were with us right from the start and we worked together to match the roof tiles to the bricks and render, finally settling on the Classic and Multi blends. Sahtas then worked closely with our appointed roofing contractor to ensure that deliveries were made in accordance with our build schedule. They were on hand at all times to ensure that the site progressed according to schedule.
At the beginning of 2021, Rydon Homes Ltd commenced work on a new development of 16 family homes in the village of Balcombe, West Sussex. It was paramount that the designs and external finishes blended in seamlessly with the local area and similar planning constraints were enforced when Rydon commenced work on another new development of 21 plots at Hope Orchard, Hadlow, Kent.
Both sites were developed in sensitive areas and great importance was placed on the choice of location for both developments of family homes in a range of layouts to suit all buyers, with the emphasis on building to a high standard and choosing the best materials and finishes available. After much deliberation and discussions with local planners the Sahtas Southdown clay plain tile was chosen for both sites with additional areas of contrasting vertical tile hanging giving a close match to the local architectural styles.
Another two local developers that are working in close co-operation with Sahtas are Evecross Ltd, based at Clavering, Saffron Walden and Akehurst Construction who are based near Maidstone.
Both are currently developing superb sites in Arkesden, Essex and Heathfield in East Sussex respectively. Evecross and Akehurst concentrate on building extremely high quality homes for the discerning buyer and have a clear emphasis on selecting the best materials to meet local planning demands as well as providing their properties with fabulous kerb appeal.
Tristan Frampton, Director of Evecross told Housebuilder Magazine that they chose to work with Sahtas to deliver the best available package of handcrafted clay roof tiles and genuine hand-thrown clay bricks for their development of three very large houses.
“Sahtas were involved with our project right from the start and helped us to select a brick blend suitable for the local area. They also worked closely with our roofing contractor to create a blend of roof tiles, bespoke to our exclusive development. Unlike other suppliers they were flexible enough to deliver materials in full shipping containers directly from the docks taking cost out of the supply chain”
Guy Cook, Director of Akehurst, said:
“Sahtas were involved at the inception of our project and spent time with us over the selection of both roof tiles and bricks for our development. They provided accurate estimates of external finishes so that we had clear costings for the project before work commenced. They have continued to work closely with us and provide an excellent delivery service”.
Sahtas has achieved zero waste certification for both its factories and clay pits and recycles all waste materials and fired clay waste. The factories use washed clay in all production facilities, a process that mixes the raw clay with water before passing the resultant slurry through a fine mesh to remove all deleterious material. The clean slurry is then forced through a filter press, removing the majority of the water leaving a clean, fine grained clay devoid of contaminants and soluble salts which can cause efflorescence.
In addition, Sahtas is now a full member of Sedex, an organisation which warrants that members comply in all respects with internationally recognised standards particularly those that govern human resources and employment law.
- 01604 434909
- www.sahtas.com