The quietest metal we work with. Zinc offers a soft, chalky grey that sits back rather than announcing itself.
Zinc is specified when a scheme needs a metal that reads as neutral. Against warm stone or dark timber it provides a cool counterpoint without the reflectivity of stainless or the colour of brass.
It is soft, which makes it pleasant to form and demanding to protect during handling — a zinc panel marks easily before it is installed.
We cut, form and coat zinc alongside our other metals, most often for cladding and decorative panel work where a matt grey surface is wanted.
Finishes
Finishes made on zinc
Each one approved on a physical sample of the metal before production.
For your specification
Specify zinc
Copy these words into your drawings or specification. The approved sample is the standard the work is checked against.
Photographs
Zinc, made and finished
Questions & answers
Questions about zinc
Why zinc?
For a quiet, matt, blue-grey surface that looks after itself. Zinc weathers into a self-protecting patina, does not need a coating, and reads as calm beside stone and timber where brass would read as warm. It is the choice for facades, roofs and exterior cladding where the brief wants the metal to be present without shining.
How does zinc age?
From a bright, slightly blue metal to a soft matt grey, evenly, over a few years outdoors — slower indoors, where it may never get there. It can be pre-weathered in the workshop so a facade arrives already grey. Unlike copper it does not go green, and unlike steel it does not need protecting.
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Have something extraordinary in mind?
Send a drawing, a sketch, or a photograph of something close to it. We will tell you what is buildable, what it costs and how long it takes.