Fibre Cement Slates: An Industry Reinventing Itself (1970-2000)

Roof slates have featured prominently in the residential architecture of Western Europe for several centuries. Artificial slates made from fibre cement, and asbestos-free fibre cement slates in particular, are more recent, however. This paper will examine the transition towards asbestos-free fibre cement slates that was initiated following the controversy concerning asbestos in the 1970s to determine the impact of that transition upon architecture in Western Europe. The majority of our research has been performed by studying (inter)national architecture journals and manufacturer documentation. Its aim is to supplement the knowledge of the construction history of the recent past, which is largely unexplored.