Pretty much everybody has a roof… it’s what keeps you warm at night, keeps you sheltered from the rain, provides insulation in your home, and can even store goods that are not required around our homes. Sometimes we really do forget the importance of having a roof, what would we do without them? In the UK, pretty much every single household in residential areas has a very similar looking roof, with red-ish tiles and two slopes meeting at a central ridge. This type of roof is called a gable roof. Gable roofs are so popular due to their simple nature and its construction and design process is relatively free of any complexities. They coincide with cost-effectiveness and low material wastage, which is a great benefit. When constructed properly, gable roofs can be extremely effective and last a long duration of time, so if your home ever needs repair work on its gable roof, please ensure that you find a trusted, reliable roofer. If you are in the Bristol area and require a roofer that you can rely on to complete any roofing work that you need to be completed, look no further than Multiform! Multiform are well-established roofing experts in the Bristol area who specialize in roof contracting, flat roofing, roof repairs, chimney repairs, and more. To find out more about the excellent roofing services that we offer.
Across the world, roofs are a wide extensive variety of colors, shapes, and designs. Through history, roofing technology and requirements for a living have changed, therefore the way roofs are designed and the materials they are made from have changed. Before tiled roofs came along in the United Kingdom, many roofs were constructed from thatching. A thatched roof would be constructed from dried vegetation such as palm branches, straw, water reed, sedge, and heather. These roofs were originally effective but became less and less popular due to them not being as effective during extreme weather conditions, as well as being a fire hazard. Disasters such as the Great Fire of London in 1666 were instigated and worsened by roofs made from thatch. As technology has evolved and roofs have become more sustainable, architects across the globe have become more and more creative with what they can design roofs to look like. In this post, we have carefully chosen five roofing designs that have truly blown us away from all across the globe.
THE PENTAGON – VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
By far one of the worlds most famous roofing structures in the world. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense and is also the worlds largest office building. As the name makes it obvious, the building is the shape of a pentagon, with a large pentagon shaped open area in the center. Construction for the building began on September the 11th 1941 and was completed on January the 15th 1943. Sadly, the Pentagon was a victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. It was struck by an airplane exactly 60 years from the year that construction first began. One hundred and eighty-nine people were tragically killed in this attack. Since then the building has been thankfully restored and the true glamour of the Pentagon still remains.
A large amount of the Pentagon’s roof is constructed from flat roofing. Did you know that here at Able Roofing we are experts in flat roofing? Here at Able Roofing, we are renown experts in the Bristol area in Flat Roofing. For several years we have proved our hard work to our customers and gained more and more experience in our field of work. At Multiform, we are also greatly proud to offer Firestone EPDM for our flat roofing services. When it comes to flat roofing materials, it is hard to find one that is as durable as Firestone EPDM, which has been proven to last over 40 years! Flat roofing is excellent for both commercial and residential use. For more information regarding our flat roofing services and Firestone EPDM, please refer to our flat roofing page.
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE – SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Sydney Opera House is undoubtedly one of the most incredible structures in the world. The curvaceous shape’s placed on top of the opera house make this structure unique and extremely well known across the globe. Sydney Opera House has created an image for the city of Sydney and is probably the most visited tourist destination in the city. The different parts of the roof of the building have been named ‘shells’ due to their resemblance to shells. Each of the shells is a precast concrete panel that is covered by a grand total of one million Swedish tiles. After the construction began in March 1959, the construction took fourteen years and cost the local government who funded the opera house, $102 million, this was 13 and a half times the original budget.
DOMED ROOFS – SANTORINI, GREECE
These glamorous white roofs in Santorini may give off a first impression that they are exclusive and the design is specifically for royalty, however, the color and shape is for a much more practical purpose. In Santorini, temperatures can get very hot, with the average temperature in August being 29°. These whitewashed white roofs in Santorini reflect the sun’s rays to keep the interiors of the buildings cool. Rain in Santorini can also be very scarce. The dome shape helps rain to fall and lands in cisterns strategically placed below the domes to catch runoff water. So alongside the beauty of these wonderfully white domed roofs, they also have magnificent benefits for the people who live and use the buildings with them on.
GRAND PALACE – BANGKOK, THAILAND
Built-in 1782 and home of the Thai King, the Royal court and administrative government for 150-years, the Grand Palace is an old treasure in the magnificent South Asian city of Bangkok. Constructed with roofs made of gold, the grand palace is not to miss when in Thailand. It continues to have visitors in awe with its beautiful architecture and intricate detail. For many years the complex remains the spiritual heart of the Thai culture and will remain as the spiritual heart for many years to come. Here at Multiform, we may be specialists in roofing, but roofing with gold is something that we may never come across. If you ever travel to Thailand, we really do recommend visiting the Grand Palace. For tickets to the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
OLYMPIAPARK – MUNICH, GERMANY
Lastly is Olympiapark in Germany, which was constructed for the 1972 summer Olympic Games in Germany. The spider-web looking roofs are made from a ‘skinned’ material that is lightweight and not completely solid. Host cities of the Olympic Game have always created unique designs for the buildings hosting the different sports. An example of this is the ‘birds nest’ stadium that was created for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. If you wish to see ten of the greatest Olympic stadiums to have been built, then check out Bleacher Report’s article on the top 10 greatest Olympic stadiums ever built!
