Roof shapes include flat (or shed), gabled, hipped, arched, domed, and a wide variety of other configurations detailed below. [1]
Roof angles are an integral component of roof shape, and vary from almost flat to steeply pitched.
Roof shapes differ greatly from region to region, depending on the climate, materials available, customs, and many other considerations.
Roof terminology is not rigidly defined. Usages vary from region to region, nation to nation, and from one builder or architect to another.
Flat roof | Single-pitched (shed, skillion) roof | Gable roof | Gable roof with catslide |
Ridged, multi-gable or m-type roof | Gambrel roof | Clerestory roof | Saw-tooth roof |
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Hip roof | Half-hip roof | Tented or pavilion roof | Gablet roof or Dutch gable example with recessed (upper) gable and eaves |
Rhombic roof/Rhenish helm | Arched roof | Barrel roof | Bow roof |
Conical roof | Spire | Onion dome | Welsh spire |
Gable roof with eaves | Cross-gabled building with squatter projecting wing and T-shaped plan | Hip and pent hip roof ( Brit: hipped) | Butterfly roof or trough roof (rare) |
Prow or "flying" Gable roof | Monitor roof | Compluvium roof | Displuvium roof (rare) |
Hemisperical dome (on a wall) | Sail vault | Compound dome | Cloister vault |
A roof is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temperature, and wind. A roof is part of the building envelope.
A mansard or mansard roof is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer windows. The steep roofline and windows allow for additional floors of habitable space, and reduce the overall height of the roof for a given number of habitable storeys. The upper slope of the roof may not be visible from street level when viewed from close proximity to the building.
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window is a form of roof window.
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesthetic concerns. The term gable wall or gable end more commonly refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall below it. Some types of roof do not have a gable. One common type of roof with gables, the 'gable roof', is named after its prominent gables.
A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck, roof covering and its associated loads. A pair of rafters is called a couple. In home construction, rafters are normally made of wood. Exposed rafters are a feature of some traditional roof styles.
A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maximizing headroom inside the building's upper level and shortening what would otherwise be a tall roof. The name comes from the Medieval Latin word gamba, meaning horse's hock or leg. The term gambrel is of American origin, the older, European name being a curb roof.
Roof pitch is the steepness of a roof expressed as a ratio of inch(es) rise per horizontal foot, or as the angle in degrees its surface deviates from the horizontal. A flat roof has a pitch of zero in either instance; all other roofs are pitched.
This page is a glossary of architecture.
Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Revival", a subtype of the Colonial Revival style.
French architecture consists of numerous architectural styles that either originated in France or elsewhere and were developed within the territories of France.
The Gilbert Millspaugh House is located on Church Street in Walden, New York, United States. It is a 2005 addition to the National Register of Historic Places, built in a Victorian style for a local man named Richard Masten. Later it was home to Gilbert Millspaugh, son of a local furniture retailer.
The Historic Walden United Methodist Church is located on West Main Street in Walden, New York, United States. It was desanctified in 2013 and sold by the congregation the following year. A new church was built outside the village and consecrated in 2022. The former building is being repurposed as a mosque by a Muslim congregation.
The First Presbyterian Church of Margaretville, now Margaretville New Kingston Presbyterian Church, is located on Orchard Street in Margaretville, New York, United States. It is an ornate wooden church built late in the 19th century.
The North Grove Street Historic District is located along the north end of that street in Tarrytown, New York, United States. It consists of five mid-19th century residences, on both sides of the street, and a carriage barn. In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Rumah adat are traditional houses built in any of the vernacular architecture styles of Indonesia, collectively belonging to the Austronesian architecture. The traditional houses and settlements of the several hundreds ethnic groups of Indonesia are extremely varied and all have their own specific history. It is the Indonesian variants of the whole Austronesian architecture found all over places where Austronesian people inhabited from the Pacific to Madagascar each having their own history, culture and style.
Bennington No. 4, also known as the Bennington School, is a one-room schoolhouse near Waterloo, Iowa. Built in 1911, it served four sections which provided as many as thirty or more students for first through eighth grades. Students in higher grades attended Waterloo East High School. The school served the predominantly German-American community until 1955 when it was closed. While it was open, the school also served as a community center. In 1958 the vacant building was sold to the local Sage family, whose members had attended and taught at the school. Restoration work took place through the 1990s.
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides to the roof.
Nappanee Eastside Historic District is a national historic district located at Nappanee, Elkhart County, Indiana. The district encompasses 138 contributing buildings in a predominantly residential section of Nappanee. It was developed between about 1880 and 1940, and includes notable examples of Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Prairie School style architecture. Located in the district are the separately listed Frank and Katharine Coppes House and Arthur Miller House.
The Southwest Side Historic District is a neighborhood in Stoughton, Wisconsin with over 100 contributing properties in various styles built as early as 1856. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
North Hobart Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 412-414 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 8 November 2011.