Roof Designs For Outdoor Living Timber Frame Shade Creations
A roof is the uppermost part of a building that provides shelter and protection from the heat, rain, wind, a variety of weather conditions. The characteristics implemented in a roof depends upon the intended use of the architectural structure. For instance, a pergola or verandah is designed to admit only partial sunlight. A conservatory has a roof that protects plants form the cold but lets in sunlight. In some places a roof provides more living space or gardening area. With modern technology there are also louvered roofs, a roof that can open up at the push of a button and close again.
The four main elements that for a roof design is the type of material, design of construction and its strength and durability. Roof's have been constructed from a variety of different materials such as, sea grass, banana leaves, bark, sod, straw, wheaten straw or rice reed, stone, slate, laminated glass, concrete, aluminum, copper, animal hides, wood or solar shingles, ceramic tiles and even snow.
The roof's construction is determined much by its underneath support, the space it bridges and weather, whether a roof is pitched or not. Most modern solid roof's in the United States are sloped or pitched to allow for run off.
This is just a small glossary sampling of the variety of complex shapes and designs of roof constructions:
A flat roof is the most common traditional roof in places that have low precipitation. Most "flat roofs" have somewhat of a gentle pitch.
A lean to roof is sloped on one side and commonly attached to a higher wall.
A terraced roof was is a flat roof with a balustrade that is used as an extra living area.
A saw-tooth roof consists of a series of ridges that have a dual pitch on either side. The vertical surface is glazed and faces away from the equator in order to shield from the direct sunlight while admitting natural light from the northern hemisphere into a building or factory.
A gable roof is shaped like an upside down V and is sometimes referred to as a dual pitched, saddle, saddleback or peaked roof.
The half-hipped or clipped gabled roof is a hip roof with a lower gable section.
The dutch gable roof is just the opposite of a half-hipped roof with the gable on top and the hipped roof lower.
The saltbox roof is a gabled roof the one side that is shorter than the other sometimes called a cat-slide roof.
Shade structures also have a seemingly endless array of roof designs that are installed for some beautiful architectural shade creations. In a shade structure, the architectural design is usually what determines whether a shade structure is called a gazebo, pergola or pavilion.
Typically a gazebo has a conical eight sided shaped roof.
A pergola has semi-open roof to allow for sunlight and shade together, the best of both world's.
A pavilion has a completely enclosed roof. At Western Timber Frame™ the timber frame arbor, gazebo, pavilion and gazebo kits are sometimes designed with the roof extending out further on side or sides to give an extension of shade.
Timber is the best material for a roof in an outdoor shade structure for more comfortable temperatures having the natural ability to carry two temperatures at the same time on either side. It has the inherit ability to adjust and regulate temperatures that are more humanly comfortable over inelastic materials.
Western Timber Frame's Design Managers have a seemingly endless pool of ideas and designs for outdoor shade structures.
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