How It Works Hammerbeam Roof

A short horizontal beam projecting inward at the top of an interior wall used in opposite pairs instead of a tie beam as a support for arched roof.

How it works hammerbeam roof.

The earliest hammer beamed building still standing in england is situated in the cathedral close next to the dean s garden. A truss system is a combination of beams braces and rafters. 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. Hammerbeam synonyms hammerbeam pronunciation hammerbeam translation english dictionary definition of hammerbeam.

Basically it s a truss system. 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. The hammerbeam roof was the culmination of the development of the arch braced truss allowing greater spaces to be spanned. Hammer beam roof english medieval timber roof system used when a long span was needed.

In the three dimensional handling of wall surfaces broken up by canopy work and sculpture and in imaginative spatial planning making use of diagonal axes. 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.