Roofing in Uruguay

Uruguay has a temperate, humid climate and very little earthquake risk. Its best-known historic roofs are the tiled colonial houses of Colonia del Sacramento, where Portuguese and Spanish traditions meet.

Climate and hazards

• Rain and wind typical of a temperate coastal climate.
• Low seismicity: a 2012 review of Latin American building codes excluded Uruguay as a low-seismicity country.

Roofing history

Colonial. Colonia del Sacramento was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 on the north shore of the Río de la Plata, opposite Buenos Aires, and UNESCO describes buildings that fuse the two traditions: mostly modest single-storey houses, with civil and religious buildings that combine long stone walls, timber roof structures and tiled roofs. The historic quarter was inscribed by UNESCO in 1995. In the Río de la Plata region, Spanish tiles generally have a parabolic profile and Portuguese tiles a semicircular one.

19th century. Immigrant artisans arriving in the second half of the 19th century added their own building styles to Colonia and other towns.

Industrial era. The Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape, a former meat-processing complex, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2015.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Teja roofs on single-storey colonial houses with stone walls.

Roofing today

Concrete slabs, metal sheet and clay or concrete tile are all in use.

Notable roofs

• Historic Quarter of Colonia del Sacramento (UNESCO 1995): stone houses with tiled roofs.
• Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape (UNESCO 2015).

Local roofing terms

• Teja: clay tile.
• Chapa: metal roofing sheet (Río de la Plata usage).