EFFECT OF ROOF DESIGN ON AESTHETIC VALUE OF BUILDINGS IN THE TROPICS: A CASE STUDY OF AWKA METROPOLIS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Roof is considerably the most exposed part of a building to the outside condition and the final topmost covering. Its designs aesthetically influences any building even the natural environment, which is perceived in the intangible experience it arouses when consciously engaged with. Roof designs,aside from their aesthetic and protective contents,are reasonably determined by the varying regional climatic environment. Despite this structural and aesthetic importance, the roof has received the least attention in the evaluation of buildings. This work therefore, is aimed at emphasizing the influence roofs have on the aesthetic value of residential buildings. Positing that, the common denominator apart from aesthetic value is the maintenance of comfortable temperature balance of interior spaces within the tropics. In carrying out the work, this study adopted the descriptive analysis method in its evaluation of various building components, construction techniques and geometric spatial configurations as the relate to the tropical climate, were studied and literatures reviewed to arrive at the conclusion that the value of any building is its roof. Hence, the study demands that appropriate roof design choices should be made since it does more than offer protection.

Keywords: Roof design; Aesthetic value; Building; Tropics