The stunning copper roofing turret featured in today's architectural blog article is fashioned from custom diamond shaped copper roof tiles and is topped with a spear shaped copper finial turret roof cap. This lovely turret copper roofing graces and enhances this beautiful new home undergoing final stages of construction. Additional custom copper work includes copper flashing, half round copper gutters, round copper downspouts and copper leader heads adorned with copper lion head castings. Radius round copper gutter encircling the base of the copper turret roof is planned.

Copper chimney caps provide enhanced elegance and architectural interest to fine homes and commercial buildings. The beautiful home featured in this blog received two custom chimney caps made from pure copper to nicely accent it's charming stone tiled roof deck and multi-hued clay roof tile. As the copper chimney caps transition through the many stages of copper patination or weathering, these chimney caps will dynamically coordinate with the various colors presented in the roofing tile and roof decking. 

Gargoyles at Sunrise

One of Rutland's clients graciously sent in some gorgeous pictures of her collection of copper gargoyle water spouts mounted at the ends of copper rain gutters. The copper gargoyles rain gutter spouts are installed on a lovely gazebo up high on a hillside overlooking the ocean. The pictures capture the dramatic view of a gazebo built at the edge of a cliff with an elegant pool situated between the gazebo and this lovely coastal home. This gorgeous property overlooking a panoramic view of the ocean dotted with small outlying islands and the lush valley floor below is ultra inviting and peaceful. The gargoyle spouts are shown off most optimally in this gorgeous setting and this photo collage has been appropriately and aptly titled, "Gargoyles at Sunrise".

Decorative roof finials are typically made out of pure copper or aluminum and provide a decorative enhancement to any residential, commercial or public building architecture. Custom finials of nearly any size and design may be fabricated by metal work artisans along with integral custom finial bases. Decorative finial types include roof finials, garden finials, fence or post finials. Finial bases for roof finials may constructed to fit or conform to the shape and pitch of the roof on which they will be mounted, providing a more streamlined, tight fitting and elegant appearance. The finial bases may also provide appropriate weather resistant integral flashing in their design. To illustrate this point, a copper finial, model FL023 custom designed by Rutland, is shown below with a custom roof finial base designed for mounting at junction of intersecting roof peaks.

Copper chimney caps and stainless steel chimney caps can be fashioned in all shapes, sizes and styles by metal and copper work craftsmen. Chimneys can take on a whole new appearance with a custom chimney cap mounted on the chimney top, made from high quality pure copper or thick gauge stainless steel. Instead of a minimal afterthought, chimney caps can become an attractive focal point and provide additional architectural interest and elegance to fine homes and commercial buildings.

Today we share a few pictures of some wonderful seamless gutter system installation, copper roofing and other types of copper work in the South West Florida coastal area including Naples and Ft Myers. The corrosive salt air environment being right on the Gulf of Mexico makes copper gutter systems and other architectural copper work the longest lasting and best solution due to copper's excellent corrosion resistance, durability and weatherability. Copper is also a very green building material and all the copper can be recycled 100% at the end of it's up to 90 plus year lifespan.

Roof domes are one of the most visually striking and appealing architectural structures around. Domes have been around for thousands of years. Ancient cultures constructed mostly corbel or arched dome dwellings using locally available materials such as mud, clay or adobe. The earliest discovered domed structures may date from around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago in the Ukraine, constructed from mammoth bones and tusks. In ancient times people lived in such domed structures and in more modern times Native Americans constructed wigwams from curved branches and hides and much farther north, igloos from compressed blocks of snow. Pygmies in Africa used mango leaves to cover their similar dome shaped structures. Ancient domes discovered in the Middle East were used for modest structures, such as tombs. The early Romans while constructing smaller domed structures for villas, palaces, baths and tombs also constructed very large, advanced true domes over large interior spaces such as temples and public buildings. True domes are traditionally considered to be a self-supporting hemi-spherical shape structure or roof. Half a hemispherical dome is called a semi-dome and other variations of that are generally called false domes. All of the different types of domes essentially still have a curving or rounded top. Over hundreds of centuries domes have been constructed from a large variety of building materials including mud, clay, stone, brick, wood, concrete, metal, glass and in recent times even plastic. Next we look at some early, historic or notable domed buildings and feature especially those with copper roof domes.

The European Copper in Architecture Awards are biennial awards which recognize excellence in design for European architectural projects incorporating copper roofing, copper wall cladding and other copper architectural design elements. The 15th iteration of the awards will officially be launched in September 2010 for architectural projects completed between April 2009 and May 2011 with the judging and presentation of awards occurring in 2011. The previously concluded 14th European Copper in Architecture Award competition celebrated the use of copper in architecture in all of it's forms and selected the best in contemporary copper architecture from across Europe. Some of the European Copper In Architecture award winners are described and shown below.

Each year the North American Copper in Architecture Awards acknowledges and spotlights selected North American building projects for innovative and exceptional use of architectural copper. The architectural copper awards program highlights a wide scope of projects which highlight craftsmanship, attention to detail, and architectural vision. Copper has historically long been used for its great natural beauty and finish, it's durability and performance, copper's long service life and recyclability. Copper is still today a superior building material and also one of most eco-friendly and green building materials, which is being utilized and adapted for an ever wider variety of contemporary and cutting edge building and architectural applications. Three of the twelve copper in architecture award winners are described and shown below.

Waipolu Gallery and Studio, Oahu, Hawaii
(photo credits Nic Lehoux, Vancouver, BC - Courtesy Copper.org)

The Waipolu Gallery above uses copper wall cladding and copper roofing which were chosen for this project as copper will perform well over a very long time and with very little maintenance in a very corrosive ocean side location. Copper's beauty and fluidity compliment the modern art contained within the structure. The copper provides a softer contrast to the other more linear materials used. Excellent workability or malleability of copper was advantageous allowing easy re-working or shaping on site. The building architects also like there will be changes in copper's patina or color over time, producing an ever evolving work of art. The studio with it's stainless steel, glass and concrete linear space is joined by a floating glass bridge to the copper clad gallery. The glass bridge rises above a limestone staircase which connects the building's three levels.

The Mark Olsen Project exhibits excellent old world craftsmanship, with a copper roof and other architectural copper features such as copper finials, copper gutters and ornamental downspouts with copper conductor heads, copper crown molding, fascia and soffit, copper chimney top shroud and extended copper window box. This stately home has exquisite detailing and exudes quiet elegance from it's naturally weathered copper features. 16,000 pounds worth of hand crafted architectural copper work are used for this home's architecture. The copper roof is comprised of diamond shaped interlocking copper shingles, copper ridge vents and flashing. Of note, no sealants were used, only traditional craftsmanship and installation techniques were employed along with some soldering work on the copper gutters providing very long term durability with little to no maintenance required.

One hundred fifty years in the making, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, South Carolina has at long last been restored after being completely destroyed by fire in 1861. A soaring neo-gothic style copper spire, which had long been planned, was finally realized this past spring. The stunning beauty of the copper spire with it's gold leaf finished copper cross can be seen across the Charleston skyline and out to Sullivan Island. The cathedral's tower was finished with a stone veneer and at it's top there are four copper clad archways with copper torch finials. The copper spire with gold-leaf copper cross finial is perched on top at center of the copper arches. The 200 square feet of gold leaf which covers the cross will last at least 40 years without touch-up while the crowning copper art work comprised of arches, finials, spire and cross at the peak of the cathedral will last and stay beautiful for generations to come.

CAD is an abbreviation for computer aided design and is sometimes also referred to as CADD, or computer aided drafting and design. CAD is used to create technical drawings for printed distribution or electronically by computer file. CAD is used in many industries to design almost any kind of product, proving very useful in rendering different shapes and configurations for new product concepts from perfume bottles to automobiles to space ships. CAD is also being used to create computer animation or special effects for movies, web sites and advertising. Architectural CAD drawings provide multiple or three dimensional views of individual architectural structures or whole buildings. Construction, engineering and architectural CAD show multiple views or images of objects exactly to scale and like manual drafting they may specify dimensions, materials, tolerances and attachments. Architectural CAD working drawings provide useful, detailed information for all phases of architectural design, planning, building material requisition, construction details and installation.

Before downspouts were implemented, rain spouts used to throw water off a roof top with parapet walls or directly from rain gutters mounted around the edges of a roof line. Ancient rain spouts typically took the form of lions, eagles or mythical creatures. Then some grotesque creatures such as gargoyles, griffins, centaurs or chimeras became common centuries ago. Today downspouts are  typically used to drain rain water from flat roof openings or from gutters, away from building walls and foundations. You will still see rain spouts and gutter spouts implemented occasionally, as unique or distinctive architectural features of homes and buildings, especially those located in warmer climates. 

Today we give a shout out to Rutland Guttering in Florida. Rutland Guttering is an affiliated sister company to Rutland Gutter Supply, providing extensive product installation services while operating from several regional offices located across Florida. Rutland Guttering performs seamless rain gutter installation and architectural copper work throughout the whole state of Florida, including all types and sizes of commercial gutters and residential gutter systems. Rutland Guttering has extensive expertise with both commercial and home gutter systems as well as outdoor copper work. They also perform gutter service, gutter repairs, gutter system design, gutter inspections and the occasional gutter cleaning for larger gutter systems. Rutland Guttering's residential seamless gutter installations provide homeowners with complete lifetime warranty protection. Rutland Guttering provides complimentary gutter system evaluation, free gutter quotes and copper work estimates at the customer's own site.  Rutland Guttering assists builders, contractors, renovators and architects with gutter design and architectural copper work planning utilizing Rutland's expertise and in-house CAD gutter design and architectural drawing capability.

Rutland Guttering provides their residential and commercial customers with truly the largest selection of gutter styles, gutter materials, gutter sizes, gutter types, gutter colors and architectural copper work selection throughout the state of Florida. Gutter types include common K-Style or Ogee gutters, elegant half round gutters and quarter round gutters and more commercial box gutters to accommodate heavy rain water volume. Unlike most gutter companies, Rutland Guttering has the fabrication capabilities to make a large range gutter sizes from 5" to 12" wide as well as custom sizes to accommodate any seamless guttering project. Rutland also offers a wide range of gutter downspout material options including aluminum, copper, galvanized steel, galvalume, stainless steel, Freedom Gray - zinc coated copper and zinc. Rutland's decorative architectural copper work includes but not limited to: cupolas; roof finials; chimney caps; chimney pots; dome roofs; turret roofs; gazebo roofs; roof caps; door and window awnings; copper deck railing or roof widows walk; wall vents; soffit vents; roof vents; copper dormers; copper gutters; outdoor copper accents; garden sculpture; copper canopy; copper fire pit bowls and covers.

Rutland Guttering maintains a large fleet of architectural copper work and seamless gutter installation trucks along with well trained installation crews. Rutland has at it's disposal a large scale metal fabrication facility including custom paint shop.


Rutland Guttering has installed seamless rain gutter systems and expansive array of architectural copper work throughout the state of Florida and across the Caribbean for over 15 years. Rutland Guttering has extensive experience with all types and sizes of residential homes, businesses, churches, hotels, public and commercial buildings. Rutland Guttering also lends it's expertise to precise historical preservation and restoration work. Wherever or whenever local installation contractor resources are either unavailable or otherwise unacceptable, Rutland Guttering crews are also available to travel across the U.S. and even world wide depending upon the scope of the project. Rutland can drop ship all required products and materials ahead of time, waiting for installation crew arrival to any remote location. Visit Rutland Guttering's "Seamless Gutter Installation - Architectural Copper Work" website for contact and additional information.

LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environment Design is a third party certification and building rating program for building performance across several key areas. LEED attempts to measure a building's performance and sustainability across such areas as: optimizing energy efficiency as well as use of renewable energy; efficient and sustainable use of building materials and resources, including reuse, renewability, recycling and durability; innovation of design, incorporation of high recycled and regional content; water conservation; ensuring infrastructure and limiting neighborhood and environmental site impact; indoor air and environmental quality, including occupant comfort; reduction in CO2 emissions; efficient operation with low or reduced maintenance and energy costs. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is a voluntary certification which strives to verify and promote sustainable high performance buildings or communities with less environmental impact, improved livability and long term savings. While LEED is still evolving, incomplete and not nearly perfect, building rating systems, certification and verification are raising our awareness and expectations for building performance and helping shift the construction market and demand toward healthy sustainable building, our long-term well-being and environmental responsibility.

Green, green home, green building, going green, sustainability and LEED are all catch phrases that seem to be catching steam and quickly building momentum these days. What does go green and green building specifically mean? Green building is the philosophy, design and implementation of the most efficient use of resources, that are both environmentally responsible and positively affect our health throughout the building's entire life cycle. The building's life cycle starts with siting, includes design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and then finally demolition. The total long term environmental cost of all building components is calculated and factors into green building design. Green building extends traditional building's short term concerns of economy, utility, durability and comfort with long term goals of sustainability, high performance, human health and environmental impact. The environment is impacted by the production and consumption of materials, natural resources, energy, water and land. Our environment is adversely altered by the building's inhabitants generation of waste products, water pollution, air pollution, heat and noise. Ultimate effects may include harm to human health, degradation of the environment including the atmosphere and loss of natural resources. Green building's goal is to reduce or eliminate any adverse health and environmental impact for every kind of building including residential, public, governmental, religious and commercial.

Rutland Gutter Supply has now added nine additional leader heads to their large growing selection of leader head. Rutland has 64 decorative leaderheads in stock to upgrade the finest aluminum and copper gutter systems and enhance the architectural features of your home or commercial building. Leader heads are also sometimes referred to as conductor head, rainhead, hopper head, scupper box or as a rain collector box. Leader head are installed inline on the downspouts or downpipes of guttering or eavestroughs - see second picture below for example. Leader heads collect and disperse the water from rain gutters through one or more downspouts. Functionally, leader head assist in draining large volumes of water and aesthetically they truly dress up a home's exterior. Leader head installed with attractive guttering and downspouts and often in conjunction with decorative gutter hangers and decorative downspout brackets too have been described as jewelry for the home or "bling".  See the first picture below of a home with lovely half round copper gutters, decorative gutter hangers, round copper downspout pipe and decorative downspout brackets. The second picture below shows a similarly outfitted round copper gutter system but with a copper leader head also installed on the copper downspout, enhancing the beauty of the home's architectural copper work even still more. The best quality leader heads use thicker metals and have TIG welded, polished invisible seams for the longest lasting beauty.

Re-using old guttering or buying cheap aluminum or plastic guttering are tempting options but may perhaps not be the best option. It is recommended you stay away from any kind of painted, rusted guttering or lead coated guttering for obvious health reasons if you are growing produce. Many plastics have unhealthy emissions and plastic gutters can also break down from the weight, UV sunlight and trowel work. It is best to use a gutter made from a pure metal that does not have any chemicals or paint applied, does not corrode or rust over time, is durable, long lasting, naturally weathers well, is aesthetically pleasing and is a genuinely attractive feature of your home. Steel and aluminum are relatively low priced but most varieties require some type of coating to resist rust and corrosion and coatings oxidize, scratch, are not durable, long lasting and mostly unhealthy too for a gutter garden. Galvalume is a zinc-aluminum coated steel that is a better candidate than either steel or aluminum alone, combining the corrosion and rust resistance of zinc and aluminum with the strength of steel but with an industrial looking gray metallic appearance and you would probably be tempted to paint this material. Three even better choices for your gutter garden are zinc, stainless steel and copper. Everyone is familiar with the appearance and attributes of stainless steel and it is a viable option. Stainless steel does not rust providing it's surface is not damaged and it is generally considered a healthy, sanitary material. Stainless steel's shiny appearance may be attractive or it may not blend in or complement your home's exterior. Pure zinc is a viable, healthy option that is durable, weathers well and zinc develops an attractive protective, grey patina that is somewhat pewter like though zinc is priced higher than galvalume and stainless steel. Then we have pure copper which may be the best choice for a multitude of reasons: copper has proven itself for centuries to be the most durable and longest lasting metal; copper weathers extremely well, forming a protective attractive patina; requires little to no maintenance; copper is attractive, aesthetically pleasing, elegant and complements most home decor well; copper is EPA approved antimicrobial, germicidal, antibacterial and fungicidal; copper is a key nutrient for plant life; copper is considered eco-friendly and is a green building material. These are all attractive and most desirable traits for use in your gutter garden. Copper although being our highest rated choice also has the highest initial cost of all the metals and metal alloys mentioned above. Copper's many and unique advantages, help justify it's premium cost, especially considering the relatively short lengths required for most gutter gardens, which put copper gutters' premium price within reach and affordability.


Once you have decided on the material for your gutter, you will then likely choose between three common styles of gutter: K-style gutter, half-round gutter and box gutter. A box gutter will give you the most volume with which to garden with, and as it's name suggests, it has a rectangular box appearance or if you like a plain box planter. K-style gutters are probably the most common residential gutters used in the U.S. and are somewhat boxy as well, though with a angled stepped front for a little more pizzazz. Half round gutters do look just like they sound, like half of a round cylinder or pipe and half-round gutters also have the most elegant appearance of all the various gutter types. There are also quarter round gutters which also are very attractive with their curved front. Quarter round and K-style gutters are generally available from 5 inches to 8 inches wide, half round gutters usually from 5 inches to 10 inches wide and box gutters are usually manufactured to size. Custom widths are also available through Rutland Gutter Supply.  Compare the different appearances of K-style, box gutters, half-round, quarter round and embossed gutters, all pictured below.

For the framework we will be using aluminum tubing, plywood sheathing and waterproof membrane. We begin by precisely cutting square aluminum tubing to size and bending the tubes using a roll forming machine to form the base and the many vertical support cross members. A partially completed aluminum frame is shown below.


After all the plywood sheathing panels have been securely fastened in place with self-tapping screws, we then apply to the partially completed dome a self-sealing waterproof membrane, taking care to completely seal the dome. After the membrane is in place, we draw guidelines and begin carefully attaching the hand-cut copper tile to the dome and to each other. The copper tile have been designed to interlock securely with each other and we use copper ring shank nails to fasten them to the plywood.