Building a Barrel Vault with an Igloo

Most of you are probably already confused by the title of this blog. "A barrel vault with an igloo??? What in the world is that??" Well the best way to describe this architectural gem is to compare it to a home of an Eskimo. Yep… I said an Eskimo home. See the picture to the left, the opening of the Eskimo’s home barrels into another curve, so we call this an igloo. Don’t confuse this with a groin vault. A groin vault’s definition is two intersecting barrel vaults that pass through one another at the same height. An igloo is formed by two barrels intersecting at two different heights.

Now with the igloo definition out of the way, let’s get to my story. I received an email from a builder this afternoon who was ecstatic about the igloo he had is framer install using www.archwaysandceilings.com . He was happy to see such a tricky ceiling completed in a quick timely manner, and not to mention with a real affordable cost. Everything was precut and shipped to the jobsite ready to install in less than 5 days.

Errrrrrr……….REWIND….

The builder gave us strict instructions that he would like the barrel to match the radius of the door he had ordered, and that he would like it to intersect it with archways on either side. Besides getting the measurements for us, that was all he needed to tell us. We then manufactured the product, supplied a 2D Cad illustrating the layout of the arched pieces and shipped it. Builder received the product and “BAM” ceiling was done! It is nice to say that we have another satisfied customer

Check out these Before and After pictures of a completed Igloo: