Roofing in Morocco

Morocco has two distinct roofing worlds. In the pre-Saharan valleys south of the Atlas, rammed-earth kasbahs and fortified villages (ksour) carry flat roofs of timber and earth. In the imperial cities, mosques, fountains and shrines are marked by pitched wooden roofs covered in green glazed tiles. Modern Morocco builds mainly in reinforced concrete with flat roofs, a pattern reinforced by colonial planning rules.

Climate and hazards

The climate ranges from Mediterranean on the coasts to cold winters in the Atlas and extreme heat in the pre-Saharan south. Earth buildings need constant maintenance against rain erosion. Morocco is also seismically active: the September 2023 earthquake caused cracks and partial collapses at the ksar of Aït Benhaddou, among many other buildings.

Roofing history

Medieval mosques. Traditional Moroccan mosques have prayer halls with wooden ceilings and horseshoe arches. At the Qarawiyyin Mosque in Fez, founded in the 9th century and expanded in 1134-1143, plain timber ceilings in the central nave were replaced with muqarnas ceilings and ribbed domes. The Al-Hamra Mosque in Fez, usually dated to the 14th century (Marinid period), has pitched wooden roofs topped with green ceramic tiles, a style common to Moroccan mosques (see Moroccan green roof tiles).

Ceilings. Many mosques and mausoleums have sloped wood-frame ceilings called berchla, often painted; a famous example is in the 16th-century Saadian Tombs in Marrakesh. Wood came mostly from Moroccan cedar, once widespread but now largely limited to the Middle Atlas. Large residences also used reed ceilings of woven reed stems painted red and black; the Kasbah Taourirt in Ouarzazate has both wood and reed ceilings.

Earth architecture. Rammed earth (tabia, pisé) was one of the most common construction methods, used for city ramparts and kasbahs. Kasbahs built without lime can crumble within a couple of decades of abandonment. At Aït Benhaddou, fortified since the 11th century, the surviving buildings date from no earlier than the 17th century; taller buildings used rammed earth to the first floor and lighter adobe above to reduce wall loads.

Colonial regulation. An urban planning decree of April 1914 required the roofs of all buildings in new districts to be flat, capped heights at four storeys and required 20% of planned areas to be courtyards or gardens.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Flat earth roofs: timber or palm joists, reeds or palm fronds, and compacted earth on kasbahs and ksour (see Roofing in North Africa).
• Green-tiled pitched roofs: on mosque prayer halls, minaret caps, fountains and shrines.
• Berchla: sloped, painted timber ceilings.
• Domes: pierced domes and vaults over hammams (from about the 14th century in Fez) and domed saints' tombs (marabouts).

Roofing today

Reinforced concrete frames with flat, waterproofed roofs are the norm in Moroccan towns (see Roofing in North Africa).

Codes, standards and regulation

Morocco's paraseismic construction regulation, RPS2000, sets the seismic actions ordinary buildings must resist and minimum design and construction provisions. At Aït Benhaddou, attempts to introduce cement have so far failed, and the site's authenticity has been kept largely by avoiding new concrete.

Notable roofs

• Ksar of Aït Benhaddou: earth buildings within high walls, a World Heritage site since 1987.
• Al-Hamra Mosque, Fez: green-tiled pitched roofs.
• Nejjarine Fountain, Fez: carved wood canopy with a short green-tiled roof (19th century).
• Saadian Tombs, Marrakesh: ornate berchla ceiling.

Local roofing terms

• berchla (bershla): sloped wood-frame ceiling.
• tabia: rammed earth.
• ksar (plural ksour): fortified village.

Sources and gaps

No information on domestic roofing manufacturers was found in published sources.

Details of flat earth roof layers in Moroccan kasbahs, the Arabic or Amazigh names for green roof tiles, modern roof-material shares, and post-2023 changes to building rules are not documented in published sources.