Gable

This article is about the architectural feature. For other uses, see Gable (disambiguation).
A single-story house with three gables, although only two can be seen (highlighted in yellow). This arrangement is a crossed gable roof
Gable in Finland
Decorative gable roof at 176–178 St. John's Place between Sixth and Seventh Avenue in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City.

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesthetic concerns. The term gable wall or gable end more commonly refers to the entire wall, including the gable and the wall below it. Some types of roof do not have a gable (for example hip roofs do not). One common type of roof with gables, the 'gable roof', is named after its prominent gables.

A parapet made of a series of curves (Dutch gable) or horizontal steps (crow-stepped gable) may hide the diagonal lines of the roof.

Gable ends of more recent buildings are often treated in the same way as the Classic pediment form. But unlike Classical structures, which operate through trabeation, the gable ends of many buildings are actually bearing-wall structures.

Gable style is also used in the design of fabric structures, with varying degree sloped roofs, dependent on how much snowfall is expected.

Sharp gable roofs are a characteristic of the Gothic and classical Greek styles of architecture.[1]

The opposite or inverted form of a gable roof is a V-roof or butterfly roof.

  1. ^ Passmore, Augustine C. "Twenty Styles of Architecture". Handbook of Technical Terms Used in Architecture and Building and Their Allied Trades and Subjects. London: Scott, Greenwood, and Co., 1904. 360. Print.