When it comes to design, more and more architectural engineers aren’t focusing on what you can see at eye level, but the beauty you can create when someone looks up. It goes without saying that roofs are important for the structural integrity and security of a building or property, but modern homes and buildings can utilise their placement to create stunning looks that leave a lasting impression.
Why the 5th façade is important
The roof of any home or building is an unseen part that isn’t utilised to its full potential in many places.
While we spend hours deciding which paint colour to cover our walls, the roof normally gets little to no thought.
It’s easy to look at a wall and decorate to your heart's content as you look at it every day due to its eye-level position, but if you’re not taking advantage of your roof, you're missing a trick. The same can be said when it comes to the original design. Many architects can be creative with walls that create distorted hallways or rooms that blend into each other, but you can take design to a whole new level by utilising the fifth façade in intelligent ways.
The ceiling and roof of any property can completely transform how it feels, both from a design perspective and as a home or living space, as it can be utilised in many different ways as part of your design. Those looking to upgrade a home to a more modern design, need to understand and utilise every aspect, including the fifth façade - to achieve a unique look that has no equals.
Designs that hit differently
A wonderful aspect of designing a roof or ceiling as part of an overall home aesthetic is that it can change the atmosphere of a room effortlessly. A bold design that incorporates other areas of the home will completely transform an area.
Treating the ceiling as a 5th wall – rather than just painting the ceiling in magnolia, painting or creating a ceiling that contrasts your walls can be a bold statement. Even if you are working with a smaller room, you can paint the ceiling the same colour, despite what’s been said about light - this can actually really work!
You can get creative with different materials, utilising timber and aluminium as part of a theme, or use the shapes of the material themselves, taking straight edges to create complex structures that when fitted together create a simplistic style, that leans on convex and concave shapes to design a ceiling or roof that ends up being closer in design to an art gallery than as part of the dining room - nonetheless, it will still look stunning.
Open gable and hip
An open gable design is often the one we opt for when drawing a house. While it’s easy to draw, it’s intricate in its design and when done right provides a classy look that oozes beauty. It’s simple look is due to its dominant triangular shape with two sides sloped to offer a look that just works. Although in recent times, many homeowners have opted for a ‘Hip’ design that slopes all four sides downwards, ditching the gable ends for a more modern take.
Butterfly
Another modern and unique design that has acquired its name thanks to looking like a butterfly in flight. It gives a roof a V shape when looking from the outside with two sloped angles coming together to form a stunning creation that is unmatched in its approach.
Flat
A design choice that isn’t just for the history books. The flat roof has been used for centuries but modern technology and design ideas are refreshing this easy to construct look. Perfect for rooflights, the flat roof is a style that is often associated with more Mediterranean countries like Greece, can easily be utilised to be part of a modern design anywhere in the world.
Combination
There are many roof styles and as you can perhaps tell by the name, a combination roof will combine a unique mesh of two or more of these. Whether you want an aesthetically pleasing look that complements the rest of your home with sloping angles on one side and flat roofs on the other, or you want to combine two similar styles to create a more grounded look, the only limit to your thinking is your imagination.
Other styles such as Hip and Valley, Dormer, Box Gable and Gambrel, all bring their own unique benefits from both a practical and visual viewpoint but it will be up to you to decide what works best for you, your family and your home.
While these roof options all offer something different, incorporating a more nature-driven theme may be a little bit more difficult to integrate into a modern design which needs natural light to boost its appeal. This is a particular challenge if your home isn’t placed in an ideal location in relation to the sun, but no matter what obstacles you face, there is a solution.
Using nature as part of your design
The modern home has more demands than ever before when it comes to design. The days of wallpaper, plant pots or an aromatic candle to create a scent just won’t cut it for most people when it comes to rejuvenating the home.
With more people than ever working from home, it means that the requirements for the modern home need to evolve with the times. It’s not just where the heart is anymore, but life in general. As a result, it needs to offer as much as it possibly can. One way you can achieve this is by bringing the outdoors indoors as much as possible without compromising comfort. But how can you use nature as part of your design? One way is through rooflights.
Warm sunlight and the gentle breeze of spring can be incorporated into the home pleasantly through rooflights. Whether you want your home to be transformed into an ambitious multi rooflight palace, or try your hand with a rectangle rooflight that allows natural light to caress the dining table to create a unique ambience that artificial light can’t replicate, rooflights provide you with options unlike any other. The natural, subtle use of nature through a rooflight, will create a language of harmonic shapes, shadows and light expressing itself, depending on the time of day.
Rooflights don’t just offer a way for natural light to seep into your home though, as the cool air can also be brought in through ventilation within the rooflights themselves. Ventilation features on a Vario by VELUX rooflight will allow you to breathe new life into your home, a perfect way to enjoy the modern home without even needing to step outside.
Modern design made easy
Looking for help when it comes to your modern home? Whether you want to enjoy natural light and ventilation indoors or take your home to a new level aesthetically, talk to our Daylight Experts for more detailed information on how you can make your dream a reality.
