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Pattern 3 : Sheltering Roof
"More than any other single element, the form of the roof - as it is experienced on both the outside and the inside of a home - contains the meaning of shelter."
Elliott Law Office - Sheltering clients as they enter.
Interior shots of Elliott Law Office Lobby/reception area. |
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"Think of the roof as a volume that can be experienced outside and in. From the outside, whether it is simple and traditional or unusual and complex, the roof form should center and organize the overall shape and sequence of the house."
Private Residence, rural Jo Daviess County
Private Residence, rural Stephenson County
Two views of child rooms, Amity Child Care rooms, King Community Campus
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Always Up to Something!
cf+a recently completed a rather remarkable remodeling and addition project in rural Ogle County. Remarkable mostly for the dramatic change it's made for the owners (designed to be totally accessible), and for the striking aesthetic difference created. The addition to this historic brick home incorporates the philosophy behind the "sheltering roof". It's seen, and felt, both outside and inside, and lived within in the soaring, open, and light-filled space created by opening up to the roofline. (Add two photos here)
To see more images of this very special project, visit us on Facebook. Project description to follow at www.fyearch.com
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Sheltering Roof: A Primary Pattern of Home
"For a house to convey the meaning of home, its roof must be more than something tacked on, something applied after the two-dimensional plan of the building had been designed. Think of the roof as a volume that can be experienced outside and in. From the outside, whether it is simple and traditional or unusual and complex, the roof form should center and organize the overall shape and sequence of the house. From the inside, the interior shape of the roof should resonate throughout the house, from the entry to the largest common rooms through to the smallest private nooks."
Women's Day House for the 80's |
From a very early age, children have a sense of what home means - who hasn't tacked to the bulletin board or the front of the refrigerator the drawing of a house made by a child? The rectangular shape, the simple gable roof is the essence of what, to a child, is home. Even children living in high-rise apartments tend to draw a house in this way.
As further evidence of our shared sense of home - a simple house with a single gable roof - the American Sign Language symbol for home begins with the sign for such a roof.
See it here: ALSPro
(click on "H", then house and see it demonstrated)
As adults we still tend to favor gable roofs for our homes; indeed a quick look at the myriad of stock house plans on the internet will show that the vast majority of house designs churned out by designers and contractors feature the simple gable, or some variation thereof. Even literature bears out our sense of the simple gable roof as "home". Nathaniel Hawthorne's romantic classic, "The House of the Seven Gables" set in 17th Century New England tells the tale of intrigue, covetousness and murder inside the fancy seven-gabled house built by the doomed Colonel Pyncheon. Despite it's morals-laden message, that "the wrongdoing of one generation lives into the successive ones, and . . . becomes a pure and uncontrollable mischief", gabled-roof houses still live in our collective memory as good and comforting, as "home".
The roof, be it simple or complex, hip, gable or flat or some variation, serves mainly to shelter us in our homes. Roofs keep us warm and dry. Roofs provide, under their sheltering eaves, attics that become secret hiding places of our youth, storage spaces for all of our inherited treasures ~and trash!), "away" places for adults to think, practice yoga, design, meditate, sew or paint. Roofs really are, plain and simple, the essence of caring and nurturing.
So how does one incorporate this type of thinking - the warmth, comfort and overarching capability of a roof - into the design of a home? It begins, say our authors (Patterns of Home, Jacobson, Silverstein and Winslow) with a pattern. In this issue of Design Matters, we discuss Pattern Three "Sheltering Roof".
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Featured Article
From the Architect
Design Matters
May 2011 The very first house I designed while still in architecture school really exemplifies this pattern with its sloping ceilings and much of the living areas enclosed within the roof spaces. The Woman's Day House for the 80's was designed in the "bungalow" style with lots of dormers which helped make for interesting interior spaces.
As I go back and think about many of the houses I've designed over the past 30 years, they've exhibited many design styles, but a great many of the homes incorporated the "sheltering roof" pattern. These houses range from the House of the 80's to the house I'll design tomorrow - that's how important this pattern is, has been, and will be to me in my design work. Most will tuck the inhabitants into the roof to shelter them, to provide them with a place of refuge, and allow the people living within those spaces to experience the roof from within, which helps a "house" become a "home".
We like to show exposed structure in our designs, even though here in the Midwest we need to insulate to keep our buildings comfortable and energy-efficient. We try to expose the structure because of how it enriches the feeling of the space. When you're in a space with a sheltering roof the feeling generated is one of coziness, of enclosure.
One of the reasons we so enjoy renovating old farmhouse structures is that many of the upstairs rooms of those old homes were tucked beneath the roof. They often were "balloon-framed", a construction method introduced in the 1830s, which is a system of framing a building in which wood studs extend in one piece from the top of the foundation sill-plate to the top roof plate; floor joists are nailed to the studs and are supported by horizontal boards. This type of framing quite often created sloping ceilings with a flat center ceiling of about 8'. These ceilings are much easier to insulate now with the advent of non-toxic spray foam insulation that doesn't harbor moisture and mold.
A recent excellent example of this pattern is the cross-gabled Victorian house for which we designed the renovations this past winter. Sitting high atop a hill in scenic Jo Daviess County, each of the upstairs four rooms had that type of cozy sloped ceiling; two bedrooms, a bath, and the top of the stairs. Each of the rooms has a double-hung window centered in the gable, with roof slopes at 12/12, and a "knee wall" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knee_wall) at 4" high. Being in these spaces is truly wonderful, whether waking to morning sunshine or soaking in a long, leisurely bath - the rooms indeed shelter you physically, but more importantly, emotionally and spiritually.
A similar feeling can be developed in public buildings by designing a symmetrical cathedral ceiling such as a lobby that is surrounded by offices that open into the common spaces, much as we did for the State Bank of Davis (cf+a 1993/2010) or in the Law Offices of Ralph E. Elliott (cf+a 2000). Another example in a commercial building of the "sheltering roof" is the soaring sloped ceiling and exposed structure of the child care rooms at the King Community Campus (cf+a 1995), here in Freeport.
At home, or at work, the sheltering roof pattern has a lot to offer in space utilization and in fostering well-being. |
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Manny's Pizza in Savanna, IL is out for bids to subcontractors! The historic building that housed Manny's for many years was destroyed by fire late last year, but locals and tourists will soon be able to enjoy Manny's famous pizza and tacos in bigger and better spaces for dining in or carry-out, or enjoying a drink and a meal on the outdoor deck. The new banquet room will be great for holding your next big party, whether wedding receptions, reunions, or holiday gatherings - you'll enjoy the new space!
Rockafellow Construction Co. of Savanna is the General Contractor for this project. We look forward to working with Lee and his crew, and the great folks at Manny's Pizza this summer!
Christopher Fye + Associates
(866) 233-2215
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