Hailsham contractors win ‘roofing Oscar’ for luxury Airbnb tree house transformation

Husband and wife Tracey Turpin and Olly Turpin, founder of Turpin Roofing Contractors Ltd with the company's award

Turpin Roofing Contractors Ltd. installed a prize-winning wooden roof on a tree house in Rushlake Green, East Sussex.

The project gained the contractor a top prize at the Pitched Roofing Awards in Manchester for the best use of cedar shingles which were supplied by SR Timber.

Staff at the business are hoping that the award will be a springboard for growth in 2020.Founder Olly Turpin and his team of six were unable to collect the award in person as they were already busy working on another project.

However, he said that he is ‘delighted’ with the win for the business which he started almost 20 years ago.

“The Pitched Roofing Awards are like the Oscars for our industry, and although my wife Tracy nominated Turpin Roofing, we never expected to win because the standard is unbelievably high,” Olly said.

“This means everything to my business because we were up against some stiff competition from some of the industry’s big hitters, so for us to win makes me so incredibly proud.

“We’re hoping that being an award-winning business will be the platform we need to enhance our reputation and win more projects for our company.”

With its distinctive coned roof, the luxury tree house can be found on Airbnb and all of the cedar shingles for the four-week project had to be cut by hand.

Feedback from the awards judges recognised the ‘complexity’ and ‘exquisite detailing’ of the work and the ‘outstanding degree of craftsmanship’ from Olly and his team.

SR Timber trading director Shaun Revill, said: “As a leading importer of timber products, we know just how stunning cedar shingles can be – and most of the time, they are used on straightforward pitched roof applications, so to see them used on a cone-shaped roof is breathtaking.

“Olly and the team at Turpin Roofing should be very proud of themselves for an incredible job that shows cedar shingles off magnificently, as they make a big change from the clay and slate tiles that you see on most homes.”