Roofing in Suriname

Suriname, the former Dutch colony on the north-east coast of South America, is best known architecturally for the historic inner city of Paramaribo, a Dutch colonial town built almost entirely of wood. Its steep-roofed timber houses on brick bases reflect Dutch building traditions adapted to a hot, wet tropical climate.

Climate and hazards

• Heavy tropical rain and humidity, favouring steep roofs and raised floors.
• Fire: UNESCO notes that Paramaribo's timber buildings are vulnerable to fire, and fires in 1821 and 1832 destroyed some 450 houses.
• Low coastal land along rivers and the Atlantic.

Roofing history

Paramaribo was laid out from 1683. Fort Zeelandia dates from 1667, the Presidential Palace from 1730 (stone with a wooden upper floor), the Reformed Church from 1837 and the brick Ministry of Finance from 1841. The Roman Catholic cathedral of 1885 is a Gothic Revival building in wood.

After the great fires of 1821 and 1832, much of the town was rebuilt by local craftsmen in timber. The ICOMOS evaluation prepared for the UNESCO nomination in 2002 describes the typical building as rectangular and symmetrical in plan, entirely of wood on a brick substructure, with steep roofs mostly of corrugated iron sheet. Walls are generally painted white, with brick elements in red and doors and shutters in dark green. More than 250 buildings are listed as of historic interest. Some timber buildings have been replaced with concrete.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Paramaribo timber house: steep roof, now usually of corrugated iron, over a white-painted timber house on a brick base.

Roofing today

Corrugated metal sheet is the dominant roof in the historic city.

Notable roofs

• Historic Inner City of Paramaribo (UNESCO 2002): timber houses and public buildings with steep roofs.
• Roman Catholic cathedral, Paramaribo (1885), a wooden Gothic Revival church.