The options for roof layout aren’t limited to the two most common ones: pitched (gable, hip) or horizontal. Other shapes and expressions are possible, and if done creatively the roof can be the most striking aspect of a house’s exterior. This ideabook assembles four homes with dramatic roofs, dissecting what pushes them outside creating strong images.
Charles Rose Architects Inc..
In this waterfront house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, architect Charles Rose describes the roof as with a sail-like quality. The house is like a boomerang in plan, and also the roof reaches its high point where the two wings fulfill, the remote point in this picture. But as could be seen, at this end the roof turns to turn into wall-like, acting like a terminus for the terraces.
Charles Rose Architects Inc..
Another view of this turned-down end indicates the way the roof and wall construction contains the distance of this terraces and sends opinions toward the water. This wall may also cause privacy.
Charles Rose Architects Inc..
Within this overall perspective of the Gloucester House, the way the roof rises to the corner is evident, although the angle is rather shallow. But the varying thickness of this roofline past the glass walls helps shade the interior from the high sun.
Arcademia Group Inc..
Talking of roof becoming wall, this house in Toronto, designed by Bortolotto, appears to be all roof. This altitude is the road side, providing the residents plenty of privacy.
Arcademia Group Inc..
A close-up of front elevation shows how the windows happen when the roof and wall are pierced or cut in some fashion. A narrow, vertical window jobs past the dark stone surface; the entrance also pushes forward in the foreground. In between, the roof is cut back to allow light into the living space.
Before Photo
Arcademia Group Inc..
The rear elevation is something different completely. The roof extends slightly past a brick wall and an undulating glass wall. The latter is a rather baroque touch that drains the strong solidity and angularity of the roof on the other side of the house.
Kendle Design Collaborative
While the two previous examples are of multistory homes with large roofs, this reduced and horizontal residence in Scottsdale, Arizona, designed by Kendle Design Collaborative, is broken up with courtyards and smaller roofs. Here we could see three metal-sheathed roofs.
Kendle Design Collaborative
This is another perspective of the exact same courtyard. I like how the thick roof is punctured by an opening, a means of introducing natural light, so the heavy overhang isn’t too dark.
Kendle Design Collaborative
An overall view reveals the profile of the main roof, a shallow butterfly shape that recalls Frank Lloyd Wright’s nearby Taliesin West.
Rudolfsson Alliker Associates Architects
For the Covelly House in Sydney, architect Rudolfsson Alliker added a third story to a two-story home. A double-height space is accentuated and screened with a curved roof. Here we visit the roof at the entrance to the house.
Rudolfsson Alliker Associates Architects
Now just in the entry, we can see the way the curved profile extends within the house. Exposed framing and corrugated metal give way to a white roof coating.
Rudolfsson Alliker Associates Architects
From the back of the house we could see a second curve; this one reaches to the peak of the house and opens up to behave as a semicovered terrace. The roof might look out of place using the boxy volumes used in the rest of the house, however the way the curves extend inside creates some spaces that are distinctive.
More:
9 Cooling Rooftop Gardens
Architect’s Toolbox: Roofs That Join Earth and Sky
Top Layout for the Downspout