Roofing in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago, the southernmost Caribbean state, has a colonial built heritage that includes steep-roofed Victorian houses, Gothic Revival churches and the early 20th-century mansions known as the Magnificent Seven in Port of Spain.

Climate and hazards

The islands have a hot, humid tropical climate with a pronounced wet season.

Roofing history

Before European colonisation the islands were inhabited by Indigenous peoples. In Port of Spain, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, completed in 1818 in the Gothic Revival style, has a hammerbeam roof of local timber. President's House is roofed in Welsh slate. Several of the Magnificent Seven mansions date from 1904, with Whitehall from 1907 and Hayes Court from 1910. Victorian-era houses have steep gables topped with finials, and the gingerbread houses popularised by George Brown have peaked roofs, dormers and galleries. In the city centre, verandahs on Frederick Street project over the pavement to shelter pedestrians.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Gingerbread house: steep peaked roofs with dormers and fretwork, associated with George Brown.
• Victorian gabled house: steep pitched gables with finials.

Notable roofs

• Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Port of Spain (1818): hammerbeam roof of local wood.
• President's House, Port of Spain: Welsh slate roof.
• The Magnificent Seven, Queen's Park Savannah: early 20th-century mansions.

Sources and gaps

Present-day roofing: published information is limited. Published sources on hurricane and seismic roof design for the country: published information is limited. National data on roof materials were not found in published sources.

Indigenous roofing, present-day materials, codes and hazard design: published information is limited.