Flat roofs can cantilever into daring overhangs for shade protection and solar gain control.
Roof flat one side.
A gable roof with one side longer than the other and thus closer to the ground unless the pitch on one side is altered.
Their attractiveness traces to the desire to make a two story building function as a one story building to reduce the tax bill.
The sections of roof either side of the vertical wall are typically sloping allowing a large amount of natural light into the windows.
From a structural aspect building columns act as beams to resist wind loads.
The formula for a simple span beam includes the square of the span think of a 16 foot height having to carry four times the load of eight foot.
Using the most common roof slope 4 12 a 24 foot wide building will be eight feet taller on one side than the other.
The workhorse of colonial america the familiar saltbox is a building that features a long pitched roof on one side similar to the lid on a salt storage box.
Flat roofs create long horizontal planes reminiscent of the broad horizon line seen often in nature.