House roofs in Australia can get quite cluttered! Once upon a time, a house might have had a chimney or two poking through the roof. These days, items sitting on a roof may well include: vents, whirly birds, an evaporative cooling unit, a TV aerial, skylights, and photovoltaic panels. Other items might be a satellite dish, solar hot water panels, and a hot water tank.
This bulletin is the first in a four-part series on ancillary items on roofs. Next up is photovoltaic panels, then water heating systems. Lastly, we’ll investigate all the other potential clutter, such as vents and evaporative cooling equipment.
House owners have a reasonable expectation to use their roofs to generate power, to heat water, to vent the house, and for many other functions. However, they also have a reasonable expectation that their neighbours’ roofs will not be cluttered and so not detract from the streetscape. How to strike the right balance between the interests of lot owners in using their roofs, and the desire to maintain an attractive estate?
These ancillary items are above the roof ridgeline and are prominent from the public realm.
In a new residential estate, a design review panel (DRP) can balance the private benefit of using the area above a house’s roof with the community’s interest in the overall appearance of the estate. When approving an ancillary item on a roof, a DRP might take into consideration multiple factors, such as:
- prominence from the public realm;
- the siting, size, height, shape, reflectivity, and colour of the element;
- the height of the home; and
- the roof profile.
A design standard can specify where to place an ancillary item on a roof. For example, the standard might specify that the item be:
- colour matched to the roof;
- below the roof ridge line; or
- in the rear of the roof
On a corner lot, ancillary items can be sited in areas less visible from the public realm.
The aerial and vent pipe are very conspicuous on this house.
The Design Review Group has been the DRP for the Atticus estate at Woodstock, Victoria. Atticus provides a good example of a design standard to control ancillary items:
“All ancillary items must be designed, coloured and positioned to be inconspicuous when viewed from the public realm and from neighbouring lots. They must be positioned behind the return fence, or where a return fence would be, and below the nearest roof ridgeline” (Atticus, Woodstock, Victoria)
Ancillary items should generally be inconspicuous from the adjacent public realm. Design codes typically prohibit these items from being above the roof ridgeline and on roof planes that face the public realm. A higher standard is to ensure ancillary items are inconspicuous when viewed from neighbouring properties.
