Pinewood Forest is a 234-acre, mixed-use development that is currently under construction in Fayetteville, GA. It doesn’t define itself as a subdivision of homes or residential development, but rather a “new town for the next generation of entrepreneurs, creators and storytellers,” which aims to attract all types of buyers, from millennials to baby boomers.

On the “pursuit of sustainability,” Pinewood Forest was designed to incorporate 51% public green space (118 acres to be exact), with 15 miles of trails, a forest preserve, a fishing pond, a frog pond, several gardens, sports courts, an amphitheater, and every home located on or within a block of a park. The exclusive “town,” with more than 80 houses already built, is equipped with a micro-school for grades 1-12, three independent restaurants, a 60,000-square-foot wellness center, a luxury boutique hotel and an airport shuttle — and there is still much more to come, including a town center, an 800-seat boutique theater, 263 apartments and 40,000 square feet of retail space.

All homes, which are highly customizable according to each prospective homeowner’s needs, utilize 100% geothermal energy. Last year in September 2018, Pinewood Forest unveiled its “Idea Home,” which was designed as a model house for community members, visitors and innovators in the design space alike, according to designer, Lew Oliver.

“It showcases creative materiality, from the Ironstone [porcelain] roof to the painted stone, as well as ways to push the boundaries in design,” said the founder of Lew Oliver, Inc. in Atlanta, GA. “It is a variation of Scottish vernacular architecture made fresh with a ‘Lew’ twist. Later, it was purchased, so now residents live there happily.”

The 3,200-square-foot home features a unique design element — a roof that is clad entirely in 12- x 12-inch porcelain tiles from Ironstone Strong, Ltd. in San Antonio, TX — which is complemented by white-colored natural stone on the home’s exterior, which was painted.

“We digitally print the tiles to look like roofing slates and wood shakes,” said Carey Nowacek, project manager at Ironstone Strong Ltd. in San Antonio, TX.

The 9-mm-thick tiles are manufactured by Florida Tile in Lexington, KY. “The roofing tile that we helped to design and produce for Ironstone is manufactured in the same way we manufacturer other porcelain wall tiles that we make in our manufacturing facility in Lawrenceburg, KY,” said Ashley Donaldson, director of customer care at Florida Tile in Lexington, KY. “We use the same state-of-the-art digital printers as we use for all other products. This brings consistency to the designs and makes for a beautiful end result.”

When searching for a sustainable roofing option to use for the Idea Home, the designers knew Ironstone products were the perfect choice. “We have had a lovely relationship with Ironstone since our first introduction over a year ago, so I believe it was an obvious choice early into conception of the house,” said Elizabeth Treadwell, director of marketing and communications at Lew Oliver, Inc. “We actually originally met David [owner of Ironstone] at our office one afternoon after he called wondering what types of materials we use on our projects. We are always looking for polished, versatile products to use, and thus, started to spec Ironstone at Pinewood shortly after our meeting. David gave us the exciting luxury to start our own co-branding line with his team to add to the opportunities and use even more Ironstone. Since then, we’ve created the charcoal finish and are working on others together.”

The local builder selected for Pinewood Forest, Redwood Custom Homes in Atlanta, had never installed a porcelain roof prior to this project. “To my knowledge, it has never been available before,” said project manager and company founder, Jason Morris. “Now, once our clients are made aware of it and see finished jobs, they request it because in many cases, it is less expensive than the other plastic synthetic products.”

The Ironstone tiles required the appropriate underlayment, flashings and leak barriers, which is customary of Redwood’s roof system construction. “Ironstone has a patented system that allows you to install a standard 12- x 12-inch porcelain tile without any nails being driven through the tile,” Morris explained. “The system was installed with a nail gun, so the tile installs faster than traditional roof tile. One of the unique features of the system is the ability to leave out or block off certain areas of the roof that are still under construction (i.e. a chimney or other roof penetrations). Once those details are finished, the system can be quickly and easily extended to those areas in a seamless transition.”

The porcelain-clad roof, which was completed by a team of six installers who already had experience using Ironstone products, only took two weeks to finish. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Morris. “In the developments that we build, other home builders are now offering Ironstone as a roof tile option.”

The entire project, which took around 10 months to complete, was awarded Special Recognition in the “Innovation in Tile” category at this year’s Coverings’ Installation & Design (CID) Awards in April in Orlando, FL.

“The reaction was overwhelming,” said Treadwell. “We received many compliments for producing a model house that breaks the typical ‘model’ look.”