Historic Coppley Building Protected by a Natural North Country Slate Roof!

For the past 5 years, the 167-year-old pair of attached buildings on the corner of York Boulevard and MacNab Street in downtown Hamilton sat empty. The 100,000 square foot complex includes a pre-confederation stone building, originally built in 1856 by Scottish stonemasons, and a red-brick structure next-door. The stone building originally served as a military home and a Salvation Army men’s shelter, before becoming the long-time home to the upscale men’s suit manufacturer Coppley Noyes & Randall. The neighboring red-brick structure, known for its two inner courtyards, was added in 1911.

Toronto-based real estate developer TAS purchased the neglected property in 2021, and along with minority owner, the Hamilton Community Foundation, has reimagined the property into an adaptive reuse development project driven by Core Urban Inc. The project, expected to be complete by the summer of 2026, will include:

• A 60-room boutique hotel in the historic Coppley Building
• 36 residential rental units in the brick building
• Arched glass atrium and lobby connecting the two buildings
• 40,000 square feet of commercial space, including:
  • A restaurant
  • A bar
  • A coffee shop and
  • Event space

Restoring the Coppley building to its original grandeur required using materials matching the original construction, including a new slate roof, heritage windows, and copper flashing. It was therefore critical to hire professionals with exceptional historic renovation experience. The Aimed Group is a specialty roofing company with over 30 years of historic renovation experience with premium roofing materials, including slate and copper – both required for this project.

Strip The Roof

The first task was removing the existing failed roofing materials from the roof and installing a new plywood deck. Once the new deck was in place, the Aimed team installed a self-adhered roof underlayment that serves as a heavy-duty water barrier.

For the project, North Country Slate Unfading Green Slate Tiles were selected to match the original slate roof. North Country’s Unfading Green natural slate shingles are produced from select quarries in Vermont and New York. It is a premium roofing slate providing vibrant green tones with some subtle gray undertones and a superb track record of performance, having been used for decades in both new construction and historic renovations around the world.

North Country’s Unfading Green slate comes with an ASTM S-1 rating, the highest industry classification for natural roofing slate, and an exceptional lifespan of 75 to 100 years.

The mansard roof required approximately 84 squares of North Country Slate’s Unfading Green slate. The Aimed team installed the 18” x 12” x ¼- to 3/8-inch tiles in a uniform pattern to match the original roof, which required extensive field slating around the dormers, skylights, hips and valleys.

Copper Galore

The roof of the Coppley Building is adorned with extensive copper trim that enhances the roof’s design. The Aimed Group meticulously fabricated sheets of copper into caps and flashing for:

• Hips & Ridges
• Eaves
• Ridges
• Valleys
• Curbs
• Soffits
• Parapet Wall
• Gutters and Drains
• Window and Skylight Casings

In addition, the team fabricated a standing seam copper roof, including fascia, soffits and window casing for each of the building’s 17 dormers. They also wrapped an 18- to 28-inch-wide ledge located just below the eave across the front of the building with copper. The extensive copper work reflects the Aimed Group’s superb expertise, craftsmanship, and meticulous focus on the details.

The combination of North Country Unfading Green Slate and the copper details are exquisite and will perform well for decades to come.

North Country Slate (NCS) was the perfect partner for this project and will be your perfect partner, too, and for many good reasons:

• 100% Natural: Premium, durable quality roofing slate.
• Weather Resistant: Highly resistant to moisture and chemicals, and unaffected by freeze/thaw cycles.
• Fire Safe: Non-combustible with a Class A Fire Resistance Rating.
• Long-Lasting Beauty: A North Country Slate roof adds unmatched aesthetic appeal and comes with a life expectancy of 75+ years for any home or building.

In short, North Country Slate can add beauty and aesthetic appeal to any structure, as it did for the Coppley Building. For additional information, contact us by form or call 1-800-975-2835.