So you’ve decided to go with the look and durability of copper awnings instead of a cloth awning, but you’re wondering what styles and types to choose. Here are several things to consider as you choose the perfect awning for your home or building.
Tip 1: Consider the Architectural Style: The first thing to think about when choosing a copper awning is the architectural style of your home or building. Copper is a very versatile material, so you can choose awnings to match any style.
Some specific architectural style suggestions include:
Victorian style home – choose an awning with ornate details, including carved edges. Contemporary-style home – perhaps you should choose a copper awning with smooth seams and clean lines. Maybe a round dome shape would create the best look. Traditional ranch style home – consider an awning with detailed or raised seams and more ornate iron work.
Tip 2: Evaluate Size and Cost: Copper awnings come in a variety of standard sizes as well as custom sizes – and generally speaking the larger the awning the greater the cost will be. Pricing for awnings will often be based on 48” wide x 24’ high as these are the dimensions needed to adequately cover most standard sized doors or windows. However for double entrance doors, larger windows, businesses or other custom applications you may not find what you need under standard sizes and may need a custom quote.
Tip 3: Review Iron Bracket Choices: Copper awnings can include wrought iron brackets. These brackets can have different styles such as the spear, scroll or fleur de lis styles.
Mixing the richness of copper with the classic style of wrought iron presents a simple and elegant look. You can even match the wrought iron fence or gate on your property. Would you rather create a classic awning look with nothing but copper? Well, then you can choose a canopy or wedge style with copper sides.
Tip 4: Choose a Color: A unique quality to copper is that it changes appearance over time – or “patinas.” As copper is exposed to the elements, it changes color, fading from shiny brown, to darker brown, and eventually to a greenish shade. This patina shell protects the copper interior.
You can choose to treat your copper awnings to maintain that “bright as a penny look”. Alternatively, you can use a product to speed up the patina process to create an instant classic, weathered look.
No matter what your taste – find a copper awning style to suit your needs.
Copper is a versatile metal for awnings. By considering the type of exterior you’re seeking to accent with a copper awning, your own personal style, your desired copper coverage and color, and of course your budget – you can choose something both stylish and functional. Copper awnings can match any style from traditional to contemporary. Best of all, they do so while providing unmatched durability and protection from the elements.
By: Andre Savoie
Posts Tagged ‘Architectural Style’
Tips for choosing a copper awning
December 24th, 2009Jeffersonian Architecture
December 18th, 2009Jeffersonian architectural style was developed by Thomas Jefferson This style was mainly admired during the early American period. The typical features of his designs are the use of octagonal forms, red bricks, use of Chinese railings and the elevation of the main floor which is always above ground level. Jeffersonian architecture is also known as “Palladian” architecture, as it is heavily influenced by the Italian revivalist architect, Andrea Palladio. Jefferson architecture involves the typical use of the octagon and octagonal forms in his designs. Jefferson employed them as a design motif-halving them, elongating them, and employing them in whole as with the dome of Monticello, or the entire house at Poplar Forest. Jefferson architectural designs are a reflection of his personal preferences and tastes. Jefferson believed that in order to make a building look impressive or magnificent, it was important to learn how to make it so without spending a lot of money. Even after Jeffersonian designs went out of vogue for other public buildings, they continued to have an influence on many Protestant church designs on the East Coast through the mid-twentieth century. The style is still employed on some southern college campuses, particularly in Virginia, and has enjoyed a certain re-emergence among some newer twenty-first century evangelical church complexes. Jefferson appears above all as a lover of freedom, whether in politics, in religion, or in research; but the freedom he thus loved from youth was essentially the freedom of reason to reach its logical conclusions, not freedom to degenerate into formless anarchy. Jefferson’s home, “Monticello” was built with many French and European influences absorbed in it. Palladio’s influences are seen in the orders of the columns and molding as well as the dome of the exterior of the house. Jefferson re-constructed Monticello many times in his life, while making trips back and forth from Europe, each time wanting to try something different that he had been experienced to in France and other countries. Jeffersonian architecture is famous for its classical and elegant designs. So, read the above article and know more about Jeffersonian architecture.
A Look at Victorian Architecture Styles
December 17th, 2009Ornate, charming, mysterious, elaborate. All of these words can be used to describe Victorian architecture. But what makes a style Victorian? You might be surprised to find that, not one, but many different styles of architecture are considered Victorian. Just about any home built during or shortly after the reign of England’s Queen Victoria (1840-1900) can be considered Victorian.
With the Industrial Revolution (late 1700′s – early 1800′s) having brought about new machines allowing for mass production and the railroads having improved transportation nationwide, the average person was finally able to get the materials they needed for building fancier and more interesting homes. This availability led to the array of styles we refer to as Victorian. Some of the most notable styles that comprise “Victorian” style architecture are Queen Anne, Second Empire, Italianate, and Stick-Eastlake.
Queen Anne
One of the most widely recognized Victorian styles in the Southern and Western parts of the United States is Queen Anne. Characterized by wide wrap-around porches, multiple balconies and chimneys, round “tower-like” structures, and large bay windows, these homes are what most of us visualize when we think of Victorian architecture. This “gingerbread” style of home is also noted for its unique floor plans consisting of two or more stories.
Second Empire
Named for its notable French elements as in the era of the Second French Empire, this architectural style is seen more in the Northeast and Midwest. Popular for public buildings and state institutions, characteristics of this style include a rectangular tower with a short and steep mansard roof. The crest of the mansard roof was frequently topped with iron trim and sometimes even a lightning rod. Examples include the Old Executive Building in Washington, D. C. and Philadelphia City Hall.
Italianate
In the mid to late 1800′s, the Italianate style began appearing in homes in the Midwest, the East Coast, and the San Francisco area. Inspired by Italian Renaissance characteristics, Italianate style homes have bay windows in front; tall, narrow windows and towers, and small chimneys in rather odd locations. The Garden District of New Orleans contains many fine examples of this style.
Stick-Eastlake
Found predominantly in the Northeast, Stick homes are decorative but not overly ornate. They generally include steeply pitched roofs with overhangs, wooden shingles covering the exterior walls and roof, and squared bay windows. Crown detailing can also be found along the roof peaks. More stylized and decorative versions of the Stick style are usually referred to as Eastlake.
While some architects today still borrow ideas from these styles to create a modern day Victorian home, most Victorian style architecture has become a relic of the past. In some communities you can find neighborhoods filled with beautifully restored historical Victorian homes. Many have become bed and breakfasts, places of business, or simply historical sites for the public to view.
There are several communities throughout the country known for beautifully restored or preserved Victorian architecture. One example is Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where you’ll find the largest array of such architecture in the central United States. The entire town of Eureka Springs is listed on the National Registry of Historical Places, due largely in part to its preservation of its historical Victorian architecture.