THE LEAD LADS® / PROJECT ARCHIVE
Specialist Code 5 lead cladding to a traditional entrance canopy at Moss Cottage, Manchester, formed around stepped stonework, angled returns and projecting architectural details using bossing, dressing and welded junctions.
MANCHESTER · CODE 5 LEAD · ARCHITECTURAL CLADDING · BESPOKE LEADWORK
Explore the Project01 — THE PROJECT
This project at Moss Cottage in Manchester involved specialist lead cladding to an entrance canopy with unusually complex stone geometry.
Rather than forming a simple horizontal roof, the lead had to follow stepped masonry, angled returns, projecting details and changes in plane around the entrance structure.
The result is closer to architectural metal cladding than conventional flat lead roofing: individual pieces are formed around the substrate, joined where necessary and detailed so that the complete assembly protects the masonry while retaining its underlying form.
ARCHITECTURAL LEADWORK →
HERITAGE LEADWORK →
LEADWORK STANDARDS →
LOCATION
PROGRAMME
LEAD CODE
DISCIPLINE
02 — THE GEOMETRY
The defining feature of this project is the shape of the canopy beneath the lead.
The stonework incorporates steps, returns, raised features and changes of direction that prevent the covering from being treated as a single flat sheet.
Each area has to be understood individually before being connected into the wider weathering system. That means choosing where the lead can be bossed around a form, where a separate piece is preferable and where a welded junction provides the cleanest transition.
03 — TECHNICAL APPROACH
The cladding was approached as a series of individually formed pieces rather than one continuous covering.
Where the geometry allowed, lead could be dressed and bossed around the substrate. Where that would place excessive stress into the sheet, separate sections and welded junctions provided a more controlled solution.
Fixing points and clips were positioned to secure vulnerable areas while avoiding unnecessary restraint across the main surfaces.
Code 5 lead was used on this project. The correct lead code for another architectural cladding detail should be determined by the actual sheet dimensions, geometry, support and exposure.
The stone canopy provides a complex three-dimensional substrate for the new lead cladding.
Individual lead sections follow the stepped projections and changes in direction.
The completed covering preserves the architectural profile while providing continuous weathering.
04 — BOSSING
Bossing allows sheet lead to be progressively worked around corners and changes in shape while maintaining continuity in the material.
On architectural cladding this is particularly useful where the substrate changes direction but the geometry remains suitable for controlled forming.
The skill lies in moving material into the required shape without excessively thinning, creasing or stressing the lead.
Used well, bossing reduces the number of joints and allows the finished cladding to follow the underlying form more naturally.
05 — WELDING
Not every change in direction can or should be resolved through bossing alone.
At more difficult junctions, lead welding allows separate pieces to be joined into a continuous weathering detail.
This is especially valuable where several planes meet or where forcing one sheet around the complete geometry would create excessive distortion.
The welded junction then becomes part of the design rather than an improvised repair to an overworked sheet.
06 — SIGNATURE DETAIL
The side elevations make the difference between this project and a conventional canopy roof particularly clear.
The lead does not simply terminate at the roof edge. It continues around stepped and projecting sections of the canopy, becoming a protective skin over the architectural form beneath.
Each change in level has to be resolved while keeping the visual lines of the original feature legible.
This is where lead’s ability to be cut, dressed, bossed and welded becomes particularly valuable.
07 — PREPARATION + SUPPORT
Accurate preparation is especially important on architectural cladding because irregularities in the support can be reflected directly through the finished sheet.
08 — LEADWORK INSTALLATION
09 — MATERIALS
CODE 5 LEAD →
LEADWORK FIXINGS →
STAINLESS STEEL CLIPS →
LEAD MATE →
ROLLED LEAD SHEET →
10 — THE CRAFT
This project sits particularly close to traditional metal fabrication because so much of the finished result depends on forming three-dimensional geometry from flat sheet.
11 — PROJECT RECORD
The Manchester project imagery records a very different application of rolled lead sheet from a conventional roof.
The detail is read three-dimensionally: stepped faces, returns, projections, junctions and welded transitions all contribute to the completed architectural skin.
12 — LEAD CLADDING
Rolled sheet lead can also be used as a protective architectural skin over suitable vertical, sloping and three-dimensional details.
The principles of support, compatible fixing and thermal movement remain important, but the craft shifts towards forming, joining and dressing the sheet around the underlying geometry.
This makes lead particularly useful where rigid sheet or prefabricated components would struggle to follow an irregular traditional form.
Architectural Leadwork →
Heritage Leadwork →
Lead Welding Guide →
Leadwork Standards →
13 — BESPOKE LEADWORK
Projects such as Moss Cottage are valuable within the archive because they show a different side of the trade.
The work cannot be understood through a standard bay size, gutter profile or flashing detail alone.
Instead, the installer has to interpret the architecture and determine how the material should be divided, formed, fixed and connected across a unique three-dimensional shape.
That is the territory of specialist architectural leadwork rather than repetitive roofing.
14 — WHAT THIS PROJECT SHOWS
The defining value of the Manchester canopy is that the finished sheet still expresses the architecture beneath it.
The steps remain visible. The projections remain legible. Changes in plane are not flattened into a generic box.
Instead, the lead acts as a weathering skin fitted around the original geometry.
Achieving that depends on selecting where to boss, where to introduce a separate piece and where welding provides the most controlled junction.
PROJECT TAKEAWAYS
15 — FREQUENTLY ASKED
Code 5 rolled lead sheet was used on this project. Other cladding details should be specified according to their individual sheet dimensions, support, exposure and geometry.
Yes. Suitable details can be dressed and bossed around irregular geometry, while separate sheets and welded junctions can be used where the shape cannot reasonably be formed from one piece.
Bossing is the controlled working of sheet lead into a new shape without cutting and joining it at every change in direction.
Welding is useful where separate pieces of lead need to be joined at complex junctions or where attempting to boss one sheet around the complete shape would create excessive stress or distortion.
The fixing arrangement depends on the geometry. Compatible clips and non-ferrous fixings can restrain vulnerable areas while allowing appropriate movement elsewhere in the sheet.
The material principles are related, but architectural cladding often places much greater emphasis on three-dimensional forming, vertical faces, returns and bespoke welded junctions.
16 — MATERIALS + RESOURCES
Lead Roofing Project Archive →
Architectural Leadwork →
Heritage Leadwork →
Lead Welding Guide →
Leadwork Standards →
Code 5 Rolled Lead →
Leadwork Fixings →
Stainless Steel Clips →
Lead Mate →
The Lead Handbook →
THE LEAD LADS® / PROJECT ARCHIVE
Moss Cottage forms part of The Lead Lads® archive documenting specialist sheet-lead applications across roofs, gutters, bays, canopies, dormers, heritage masonry and bespoke architectural details.
The Manchester project demonstrates lead operating as an architectural cladding material: cut, dressed, bossed and welded around the original structure rather than simply laid over a flat roof surface.
