Roof Types
Contents
- ❖ Traditional roof forms
- Gabled
- Double (multiple) gabled
- Hipped
- Double (multiple) hipped
- Half Hipped
- Gablet
- Half hip and gablet
- Mansard
- Gambrel
- Outshut/Catslide
- Lean to
- Mono pitch
- ❖ Flat roofs
- ❖ Shallow roofs
- ❖ Dormers
- ❖ Parapets
- ❖ Curved
- ❖ Dome
- ❖ Specialized roofs
- ❖ Modern Roofs
- Saw-tooth
- Hyperbolic paraboloidal
- Folded
- Butterfly
- ❖ Unusual roofs
- ❖ Materials
- Clay Tile
- Slate
- Grit-stone
- Horsham slabs
- Felt
- asphalt
- Thatch
- Corrugated sheet metal
- Profiled sheet metal
- Asbestos
- Lead
- Zinc
- Copper
- steel
- Green roof
- ❖ Further reading
❖ Traditional roof forms
Gabled
The side wall continues up to the roof ridge.
Double (multiple) gabled
These were common in large Georgian homes, where roof timbers large enough to cover the complete span were unavailable, or prohibitively expensive, but are still being built today for Aesthetic reasons
Hipped
Double (multiple) hipped
Half Hipped
Also known as a Barn Hip in vernacular and traditional buildings.
Gablet
Half hip and gablet
Mansard
Not to be confused with Gambrel, the mansard is double pitched to all four sides.
Gambrel
Also known as double pitch. Often confused with the mansard (above).
Outshut/Catslide
Where a smaller lower addition is added to a building, the new roof makes one continuous roof with the main roof, and is often at a shallower pitch to the main roof.Side Outshut
End outshut
Lean to
Similar to an outshut with a small addition to the side of the building, however the roofs are not continuous with one another. Also known as a Pent roof
Mono pitch
A simple single pitched gabled ended roof.
Double mono pitch
❖ Flat roofs
Usually in mono pitch form, flat roofs are typically used in domestic house extensions, tower blocks, and service, public and council buildings where cost of build and ease of maintenance is a priority. This included such buildings as fire stations, schools and electricity substations. A roof is usually considered flat at 10° or less.
Popular due to their lower cost, low roofline and smaller volume, though not always popular in terms of aesthetics.
❖ Shallow roofs
Simple corrugated metal, plastic or asbestos flat or shallow roof, used on agricultural buildings and warehouses.
❖ Dormers
A Dormer is a separate smaller roofed structure protruding above the main roof, providing additional windows and space in the roof space or attic of a building.
Dormers are often retrospective additions to a building, the owner wishing to make more from their unused roofspace. In recent decades roof lights have often been added instead of dormers due to their low cost of build.
Dormer types;
Gable fronted dormer
Hipped dormer
Flat roof dormer
Sometimes known as a Box dormer
Shed dormer
A shallow pitch roof falling the same direction as the main roof.
Wall dormer
The main wall continues above the eaves line.
Round topped dormer
Circular windowed dormer
An Oculus dormer is typical of French classical architecture, brought to Great Britain.
Swept dormer
On thatched buildings.
Canted dormer
Rooflights
In recent decades it has become increasingly popular to install roof lights as a quicker and cheaper alternative to dormers. Made famous by Velux.
❖ Parapets
Used in combination with the roof types above. The main walls of the building continue up hiding the eaves of the roof. Often used on taller buildings, where maintenance to eaves is made more difficult. They were made popular in London after the building act of 1707 was introduced which banned the projecting wooden eaves to reduce the risk of spread of fire to neighbouring buildings. The style became fashionable during Georgian times.
❖ Curved
Agricultural buildings often used simple curved corrugated iron roofs.
They are now very popular amongst new buildings, particularly those on a large scale.
❖ Dome
❖ Specialized roofs
Conical Oast House roofs, designed to channel hot air up through the kiln.
Windmill pivoting roofs, often called 'Onion cap'
Opening
❖ Modern Roofs
Nowadays there are a large choice of materials used in roof construction, including different metals and glass which can produce interesting and imaginative shapes.
Saw-tooth
A functional variant of the Saw-Tooth is the Factory "Northlight" roof, where the steeper edge of each sawtooth is fully glazed and faces North. This was common in the late 19th and early 20th Century, when artificial light was expensive, and gave good illumination throughout a wide span structure. By taking the light from the North a more diffuse light was produced, which did not vary much during the day and which avoided overheating in summer
Hyperbolic paraboloidal
Folded
Butterfly
❖ Unusual roofs
Grid shell
Not particularly well used method of construction. The whole building structure is constructed from a lattice grid of thin wood or steel. It allows for more organic and unusual shapes.
❖ Materials
Clay Tile
Slate
Grit-stone
Horsham slabs
A local variation of slate roof in Surrey and Sussex, sometimes with triple overlapFelt
asphalt
Thatch
Corrugated sheet metal
Profiled sheet metal
Asbestos
Lead
Zinc
Copper
often used on churchessteel
Green roof
Also know as 'Living Roofs'
❖ Further reading
The traditional roof forms section is inspired and aided by "Traditional Buildings of Britain" by R.W. RunskillWikipedia: Gridshell
illustrations © Oast House Archive (all rights reserved)