Hammerbeam Roof Forces

Romanesque westminster hall and its roof in westminster ii the art architecture and archaeology of the royal palace eds rodwell and tatton brown pp.

Hammerbeam roof forces. This scale model of a section of such a roof was probably made in the 19th century. Hammer beam roof english medieval timber roof system used when a long span was needed. The late 14th century roof of westminster hall is the most famous example. Basically it s a truss system.

The double hammerbeam roof was the high point of timber open roof design in medieval england. Not a true truss the construction is similar to corbeled masonry see corbel in that each set of beams steps upward and inward by resting on the ones below by means of curved braces and struts. Harris and daniel miles have recently proposed a tie beam roof. A favorite truss is a traditional hammer beam roof truss.

In place of a normal tie beam spanning the entire width of the roof short beams the hammer beams are supported by curved braces from the wall and hammer posts or arch braces are built on top to. The principal apartment of the palaces and educational establishments of that period. The hammerbeam was developed to overcome the problem of spanning wide spaces by cantilevering the upper roof timbers from a beam projecting from the wall. A hammerbeam roof is a roof that has short horizontal beams attached to the main rafters in a ceiling.

It was developed by suffolk carpenters in the 15th century for spanning large buildings such as churches. The hammer beam roof is the crowning achievement in english gothic architecture and open timber roof design. A hammerbeam is a form of timber roof truss allowing a hammerbeam roof to span greater than the length of any individual piece of timber in place of a normal tie beam spanning the entire width of the roof short beams the hammer beams are supported by curved braces from the wall and hammer posts or arch braces are built on top to support the rafters and typically a collar beam. Its design comes from the old style cathedrals in europe and the united states.

Modified hammer beam trusses can use a lower tie beam or steel rods to resolve the spreading forces. It is beautiful with its graceful center arch but like the cathedrals it needs to be buttressed on the. This is a type of truss much used for supporting open timbered roofs especially in gothic halls and churches it is believed to have been first used in the great hall of westminster palace fig. 48 built in 1397 and different forms of it may be seen in many of the english buildings of the fifteenth century.

A truss system is a combination of beams braces and rafters.