PLANNING OF HOUSES

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22156, 27 December 1941, Page 3

PLANNING OF HOUSES

SOME REMARKS ABOUT ROOFS Although one may see flat, or nearly fiat, roofs on some modern houses, plenty of people continue to prefer the gable style. An architect, with mucn experience in the designing of houses, says that the gable ends should not face prevailing winds. If the situation prevents that arrangement, it may oe wise to have a hipped roof which has no gable ends and slopes in four directions. Another consideration which a competent architect gives to the roof design is its relation to the entrance—the front door — of the house. In general a house is more economically planned when it has its entrance on one of the longer sides; so it better serves the practical function, if the front door be located on one of these sides. As it is most economical to r-x>f a building across its narrowest span this naturally means that the front door of such a house will bo under the eaves of the house and not under the gable. This has a further practical advantage in that in some cases ' the main roof can be brought down low to cover the porch. This is, of course, particularly easy in the case of the one storey house. But it is not only from the practical point of view that this is such an advantage; for it has the merit of giving the house a finer appearance. The pitch of the roof is another question which has much influent, on its appearance. It may be said that where a building is narrow and long it will bear having a comparatively flat pitch better than a wider building; for wherever a flat pitched roof is used it is most desirable to emphasise its length and the horizontal lint of it. There can be no exact rule to determine whether a roof should be flat or steep pitched; both have their expression and their function. In a gabled roof, however, where a steep pitch is used, the gable as a fca.urc becomes relatively important; whereas in the flatter pitches the gable is a subsidiary feature only.