Most of you might be wondering what a cupola does as you drive the streets and notice houses with a cupola on top and matching cupola on the barn. A lot of people believe that it’s just a decorative feature and nothing functional, however, you’d be surprised to know that a cupola has several reasons for its addition to both homes and barns. Although it’s still on the theme of unusual architectural features in home and barns, it’s actually invented with a functional purpose in mind.
In result, cupolas are considered to be extremely popular to homeowners to accent them as wonderful exterior ornamental pieces on homes, garages, offices, barns, gazebos, and etc. After cupolas are constructed, they definitely look like a decorative tiny structure on the top of the house complementing each other. If you want to know more about the practical reasons to install a cupola, then this article will surely guide you!
Cupola Explanation & Its History
According to architectural historian G. E. Kidder Smith, a cupola is a “domed accent on a roof with either round or polygonal base.” Plenty of people recommend that cupolas can be round, square, or multi-sided. In several cases, the whole roof of a tower or spire may be considered a cupola. Most of the time, however, the cupola is a smaller structure that sets on top of the main roof.
If you want a great example of the cupola in American architectural history, take a look at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. Popularly called as the “the cradle of liberty” by the National Park Service, Faneuil Hall has been considered as an assembly place for colonists since 1742.
A dome can have a cupola and a cupola can have a dome, but neither is required. A dome is known to be a roof and structural part of a building. Almost all people have a general understanding that a cupola is an architectural detail that can be moved, removed, or exchanged. Just like the cupola on the roof of the 1742 Faneuil Hall used to be in the centre but it was moved to the end when the Hall was renovated in 1899—steel beams were added to the structure and the cupola was replaced with sheet steel.
Reasons to Install Cupola
Helps Ventilation
Warm, stagnant, damp air is receptive to grow mould and mildew, which eventually decay the wooden framework and damage the structural uprightness. By releasing hot air out and encouraging cool fresh air within, a cupola can extend the durability of building roofing substances and create a cool and comfortable interior. If you badly need ventilation, you might want to ask help from a credible home builder to build a cupola for you.
Create Illumination
Cupolas during the ancient period were usually called lanterns since one of its reasons of use was to radiate light from the interior of the building at night. Nowadays, in the world of decor trends, they are utilized as a matchless piece of sky illumination source aside from lighting stairways and interior of farmhouses, barns, attics, and garages.
Awesome Decoration
The greatest attraction of having cupolas is not only limited to how amazing they look like, but their aesthetic approach should also be measured to how they can go together and provide glamour to your home. If you place it on the apex point, they become the focal point of your house and easily gravitate the attention of the people to the entire design of your abode. To incorporate traditional or modern touch and appeal to your home, you may get cupolas for a cheaper price in profuse designs.
Essential Elements of Cupolas
Generally, cupolas include three sections counting a base, a mid-section or vent and roof in addition to the finale.
Base
The area that’s naturally the bottom division of a cupola. When deciding about the dimension of the base that comes in various extensions, it should depend on the measurement of the roof pitch. The base’s purpose is to increase the completeness and aesthetic to the cupola and transform it to be higher with room underneath.
Vents
These are usually located in window models, louvres and in combination. It’s not surprising that it’s one of the most noticeable and purposeful sections of a cupola that needs you to consider the purpose of buying aside from its design.
Windows
Although windows are amazing to aerate and bring in natural light louvres, they are perfect for basic ventilation and lighting even if they give minimum exposure to the exterior. If you are living in cold weather conditions, louvres are ideal.
Roofs
Fundamentally, roofs are like the cups or top structure of the cupola. Available in a large range of shapes such as hexagonal, concave, square, octagonal, and bell-shaped, the style and shape of the roofline extends your list of choices to complement your home as you desire. When we talk about the right material for your roof, you may pick the leading demanding copper while cups made of steel and aluminium can also be considered great options.
Finale
This is the last and highest part of cupola. As a matter of fact, it gives the final accent to the dome and makes it look amazing! When looking for finales, choose something that’s high-class copper electroplated.
Ivandrea Ollero is a writer for Wincrest Bespoke, one of Sydney’s well-renowned home builders who offer custom-designed homes that blend elegance, space, and functionality to create a perfect match for families, suburbs, lands, and lifestyles. She is also a content crafter who researches and writes custom content about travel, fashion, finance, business, home improvements, health, and beauty in order to provide helpful information and tips for her readers. Ivandrea graduated from St. Scholastica’s College, Manila, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism in 2016.