Interesting roof structure

[AJB Temple]

This is the roof of the so called orangery at Chiddingstone Castle near where we live. The place is a fake castle and has little to commend it, but I liked the front door and this glass roof.

The structure looks like a mixture of rusty iron and stainless steel. Quite odd. The space is totally open at the front and appears to be unused so a lot of money was expended on this roof for no clear reason.

My wife from behind provides scale :lol:






The roof is held up by steel columns, not the original stone walls.

Incidentally, just to confirm why I don't post WIP threads here, I timed how long it took to load this thread. 11 minutes and 14 seconds. By comparison, just to test it, took the same 4 photos (unrotated) from the desktop and published on my bike club site. 15 seconds in total for the whole lot, drag and drop to the thread being fully published online.

The marathon here is to rotate the photos (sometimes works, usually not) Click upload picture, then click choose, then click OK having selected the photo, then wait for an age as each one clunkily uploads, then get annoyed when the upload completion of one photo cancels the text I was just writing, then shift the cursor (which never stays at the bottom of the thread) then click place inline, then do it all again for the next photo including having to shift the cursor every time. Honestly, who wrote this garbage code?

 

[Lurker]

All my pictures that I have posted are taken with the I pad.
They seem to download instantly.
I occasionally get them on their side but the error is all mine.

 

[Mike G]

That's a nice roof, and it works on the same principle as glazed curtain walling: there is an inner frame which provides the structural strength as well as the fixing points which hold the glass. One of the keys to success is to allow for movement, which may be differential between the frame and the glazing. Personally, I'd be disappointed to have steel columns holding it up when there are walls available for the task. That looks a bit clunky to me.

 

[AndyP]

Certainly not as elegant as the one at the British Museum.

 

[Malc2098]

Is it the same principle as the Canary Wharf Station roof?

 

[AJB Temple]

I agree the steel columns are inelegant. And I also thought it was an error to support the roof in that way when there is substantial stone (albeit needing pointing) around the perimeter.

It's odd because the roof looks as if it has been packed out with about 12" of timber between the steel collar and the wall all the way round.

The reason I posted it, is because although the structure is familiar, it's unusual to see it on such a small scale, and the rusty iron grid seems an odd design feature. None of the staff had any idea who designed and built it.

 

[AndyT]

Just a guess but maybe it's on the steel columns rather than the stone walls because it was easier to get permission for a freestanding structure inside, not a built-on addition to a listed building. But still odd if it's not really used. Does it protect the rest of the structure?

 

[AJB Temple]

No it doesn't really protect it - the frontage is completely open to the elements and the stone inside is the same as outside so doesn't really need protecting.

You could well be right about the listing, as it is Grade II* (though hard to see why).