What Are the Different Types of Roof Lanterns

Roof lanterns illuminate refurbishments and extensions with their elevated versatility and architectural appeal. Adding another dimension to flat roofs, different types of roof lanterns bring traditional or contemporary aesthetics to a new level. While they vary in style, they consistently bring space, light, and warmth into homes.

Anyone who spends a lot of time in a gloomy room knows the importance of natural light for boosting moods and transforming outlooks. As people spend more time indoors, knowing the different types of roof lanterns provides a strong basis for any renovation journey.

types of roof lantern

Types of Roof Lantern Styles

Each different style of roof lanterns come with benefits and costs, and a chance to accentuate or contrast another element of your house. Before deciding on your type of roof lanterns, it’s worth considering the location, the properties of the room, and your overall architectural look.

The more complex styles with several panes and sections may take longer to assemble and install and offer jaw-dropping elegance and grandeur. Simpler designs help shed ambient light on other elements of the house and help draw guests and residents from room to room.

Octagonal Roof Lanterns

An intricate and multi-faceted design, the octagonal roof lantern provides a regal dome effect to light up a ceiling. The eight sides allow omnidirectional light to bathe rooms. This design also offers sweeping sky views above extensions and conservatories.

Due to the multi-pane design, octagonal roof lanterns create fairly low-angle inclines. This keeps the roof lantern impressive yet somewhat modest and can even help with planning permission, as they do not protrude too far into the sky.

Some customers opt to upgrade their octagonal roof lanterns with a cupola, or second tier, in the centre. This adds lofty heights to internal spaces, crafting a striking yet classic architectural flourish.

Square Roof Lanterns

Square at the base, these types of roof lanterns create a glazed pyramid structure in a simpler style to the octagonal roof lantern. The steeper angular profile helps with the roof lanterns self-cleaning design. Of course, roof lanterns use their structural incline and special glazing finishes to promote natural cleaning as the elements wash them clean. The steeper the incline, the more natural cleaning. Square designs exemplify the roof lanterns marriage of form and function. Appealingly symmetrical, the square roof lantern also effectively helps homes stay cleanly lit.

Square roof lanterns, like octagonal roof lanterns, allow homeowners to highlight and accentuate areas of their building. While both designs scatter ambient light, they draw eyes to the area directly beneath them. This helps designers focus attention on central areas, such as a dining table or seating arrangement. Above a stairwell or internal balcony, they can also help light flow between floors.

Rectangular Roof Lanterns

The most common design, the classic skypod roof lantern structure, offers customisable lengths to suit all rooms, from living spaces to landings and hallways. Their two pitched gable design allows a sleek peak to form along the length of a ceiling. Simple yet effective, this adds a classy, contemporary touch with an architectural pop to any extension or flat roof. With a similar angularity to square designs, rectangular roof lanterns create a path of light rather than a particular highlighted zone. This helps guide eyes through a floorplan while delivering a beautiful panorama from above.

This design stems from Victorian orangeries, manifesting a timeless effect on modern refurbishments. Quintessentially British, the rectangular roof lantern promotes social and literal warmth, at once inspiring yet homely in its clarity.

Customising Options

While roof lanterns can come in preset designs, many customers opt to modify their renovations for a unique look. Modern design innovations allow several forms of customisation, from the frames, to the glass, to the pattern. It’s worth considering ventilation, as roof lantern design helps conserve heat. Many roof lanterns offer top-hung ventilation panels, which homeowners can operate remotely.

Firms offer countless combinations of roof lantern options to tailor your refurbishment to your home’s ideal character. These range from changing the material or finish of the frames, to tinting or reinforcing the glazing.

Conclusions

Roof lanterns, in all their types, add value, space, and light to renovations. They add a showpiece feature without the need for moving house or starting from the ground up. Knowing their building’s unique look, and the versatility of different types of roof lanterns, homeowners have all the tools to bring home the perfect renovation.

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