Architecture of Bermuda - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

has developed over the past four centuries. The archipelago's isolation, environment and scarce resources have been key driving points, though inspiration from Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas is evident. Distinctive elements appeared with initial settlement in the early 17th century, and by the second half of that century features that remain common today began to appear.

Pastel Bermuda cottage

Cottage

__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...

s are often regarded as a hallmark of the island, along with pink beaches and Bermuda shorts

Bermuda shorts

Bermuda Shorts, also known as walking shorts or dress shorts, are a particular type of short trousers, now widely worn as semi-casual attire by both men and women...

; the style has even been described as the country's only indigenous art form. In addition to the local style, historical military buildings and forts and modern office buildings

Modern architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

are highly visible. The historical architecture of Bermuda has received recognition from UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

, with the Town of St. George

St. George's, Bermuda

St. George's , located on the island and within the parish of the same names, was the first permanent settlement on the islands of Bermuda, and is often described as the third successful English settlement in the Americas, after St. John's, Newfoundland, and Jamestown, Virginia. However, St...

and some twenty-two forts and military facilities in St. George's Parish

St. George's Parish, Bermuda

St. George's Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after the founder of the Bermuda colony, Admiral Sir George Somers.It is located in the north-easternmost part of the island chain, containing a small part of the main island around Tucker's Town and the Tucker's Town...

being declared World Heritage Sites.

Bermuda style

The archetypical Bermuda house is a low, squared building with a stepped, white roof and pastel-painted walls, both of which are made out of stone. Between roof and wall are a series of eaves painted a third colour, which is also used on the wooden shutters of relatively small windows. Often built on a slope, there is a set of stairs, wider at the base than at the top, leading up to a porch or verandah around the front door. Rare embellishments include a brick pattern down the corners of the building, and narrow moulding to highlight features such as windows.

The roofs are designed to catch water, of which there is no fresh supply in Bermuda apart from rain. The walls are designed to restrict damage from hurricanes and are required by law to be able to withstand windspeeds of over 100 mi/h. Houses are often given names.

Initial development: 1600-1700

The predominance of stone as a building material came about early in Bermuda's history. The first settlers built using the native and abundant Bermuda cedar, but such structures were rarely able to withstand either the normal winds or the occasional hurricane. Furthermore, the Somers Isles Company

Somers Isles Company

The Somers Isles Company was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles, also known as Bermuda, as a commercial venture. It held a royal charter for Bermuda until 1684, when it was dissolved, and the Crown assumed responsibility for the administration of Bermuda as a royal...

intended to exploit the value of cedar wood, particularly for shipbuilding, and soon passed laws that forbade the felling and use of that wood without express permission. The only material left for settlers to use was Bermuda's limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

foundation (often called "coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

" for its origin), with the stone being cut into square bricks – typically about 2 feet (609.6 mm) by 10 inches (254 mm).

This method of using large stone blocks proved expensive, with one 1890 estimate being that a Bermuda house cost three times more than it should. The main cause of this expense was high labour costs, though the rarity of building-quality limestone also contributed. Interestingly enough, this did not prove expensive enough to price the poor – particularly blacks – out of the market, thus restricting the growth of shanty towns.

The archetypical house of the late 17th century had several distinguishing features. The building was usually quite simple in design, with a similar plan to a contemporary English farmhouse. Though usually only one storey tall, most were built facing out from slopes (possibly to preserve the comparatively fertile valleys for agriculture, a dominant industry until the 20th century), thus necessitating a set of steps to the front entrance. These staircases were styled to curve out, so ending up far wider at the base than at the top. This flared style, known locally today as "Welcoming Arm" stairs, remains common. Less common variants used parallel arms, and in the narrow streets of the Town of St. George staircases were often flush with the wall. At the top of the stairs would be a porch-like vestibule

Vestibule (architecture)

A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...

, larger than was common elsewhere, where visitors and passersby could rest in the shade. These porch areas were continuously expanded with furniture and muslin

Muslin

Muslin |sewing patterns]], such as for clothing, curtains, or upholstery. Because air moves easily through muslin, muslin clothing is suitable for hot, dry climates.- Etymology and history :...

mosquito nets. Wooden window shutters became common, particularly "jalousies" — which were hinged at the top — that were probably imported from the West Indies. Food was often stored in a buttery removed from the main house, which were designed to keep food cool. This was achieved by keeping the actual storage room raised above the ground, typically five or six steps worth of height, and using a pointed roof, enabling convective heat transfer

Convective heat transfer

Convective heat transfer, often referred to as convection, is the transfer of heat from one place to another by the movement of fluids. The presence of bulk motion of the fluid enhances the heat transfer between the solid surface and the fluid. Convection is usually the dominant form of heat...

to keep warm air from the food. Kitchens were also distinctive, occasionally placed in out-buildings or in basements and noted for the use of wide, raised chimneys possibly inspired by the open hearth

Hearth

In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...

The earliest roofing was made of palmetto

Palmetto

-Botany:Members of several genera of small palms:*the genus Sabal of the Arecaceae family**Dwarf Palmetto**Sabal palmetto*Saw Palmetto, Serenoa repens*Silver saw palmetto, Acoelorraphe wrightii-Place names:United States...

thatch but, partially from encouragement from the colonial government, stone shingles slowly came to be preferred. By 1687, only 29 of the 579 houses in Bermuda had been upgraded to stone and only 63 were shingled.

The buildings were originally quite plain, due to the brittleness of limestone and lingering Puritanical asceticism

Asceticism

Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...

. Only two means of decor have been observed in 17th century buildings: "Eyebrow Windows" and gable-ends

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

. The former may have been inspired by the Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

of churches. By the turn of the century, the latter, inspired by contemporary Stuart architecture and demonstrating resistance to hurricane damage when buttressed by a chimney, had splintered into three distinct styles: stepped, bowed and scalloped, with evident similarities to Spanish and Portuguese colonial architecture.

Early water tanks were placed not underground, but in adjacent stone structures later likened by one American observer to a lean-to

Lean-to

A lean-to is a term used to describe a roof with a single slope. The term also applies to a variety of structures that are built using a lean-to roof....

. These tanks were fed via a stone gutter from the roof. Sunk six to eight feet down, they were typically rectangular and appeared barrel-vaulted above the surface.

Interior wooden elements such as the ceiling and floors would be made of wood, often pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

or hemlock

Tsuga

Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. The common name hemlock is derived from a perceived similarity in the smell of its crushed foliage to that of the unrelated plant poison hemlock....

from the continent

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

Middle period: 1700-1900

Into the 18th century, the settlement in Bermuda, and thus the architecture of Bermuda, had been developing for a century. In 1712 and 1714, two particularly bad hurricane strikes showcased the need for the resilient local structures in lieu of European designs, thus ensuring that local architecture would continue to progress.

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

, at least in the British sense, did not catch on in Bermuda, though the contemporary local style did resemble the "colonial Georgian" of North America. During the 18th century embellishing buildings with decoration and adopting elements from Chinese

Chinese architecture

Chinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in East Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details...

and Neo-Classical architecture became common. Finials, a chinoiserie

Chinoiserie

Chinoiserie, a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", and pronounced ) refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences...

fad in both Europe and North America, appeared on gable-ends and buttery pinnacles. While the original, ten-to-fifty inch Chinese finials were elaborate designs of porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

glazed yellow, green, red, blue, orange and buff, those in Bermuda, made of brittle local limestone, remained stone-coloured and rarely exceeded fifteen inches (381 mm) . Another Chinese architectural import was the now-iconic Moongate

Moon gate

A Moon Gate is a circular opening in a garden wall that acts as a pedestrian passageway, and a traditional architectural element in Chinese gardens. Moon Gates have many different spiritual meanings for every piece of tile on the gate and on the shape of it...

. Again, the Bermudian version was made of limestone and, unlike the Asian originals, not sunken into walls.

Stone pillars came into vogue, adorning driveway entrances. Square, instead of the cylindrical of their Neo-Classical inspiration, these pillars were crowned with capitals

Capital (architecture)

In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...

of heterodox stone slabs stacked on top of each other to give a geometric pattern. While eaves

Eaves

The eaves of a roof are its lower edges. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry rain water away.-Etymology:"Eaves" is derived from Old English and is both the singular and plural form of the word.- Function :...

in the West Indies tended to be made large enough to provide shade, those in Bermuda were kept shallow — less than a foot — to reduce damage from hurricane wind, which could push against larger eaves and lift the roof off. Jack-rafters, also known as rafter-feet, were toyed with as decoration. They were left exposed, similar to corbel

Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...

s, and painted a colour that contrasted with the roof and walls.

Internally, well-steeped tray ceilings replaced the open-beamed Tudor style

Tudor style architecture

The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...

. Above this, the roofs changed considerably. The hip roof

Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...

, shallower than its predecessors, was adopted, and roofing slates of thin, handcut limestone slabs replaced shingles. These slates with slightly over an inch thick, and ten to twelve inches (305 mm) long; laid over a cedar frame in an overlapping pattern, they gave a down-stepped appearance. Finally, the roofs were coated with a mixture of lime, sand and water and, when available, turtle and whale oil

Whale oil

Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of right whale and the bowhead whale prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of baleen whale...

to provide extra weather-proofing. Apart from the animal oil, this method of roof construction continues to be used. The walls, likewise, were often whitewash

Whitewash

Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a very low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk . Various other additives are also used...

ed, giving the island a faux snowcover if seen from a distance, though American author Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

preferred to liken it to cake

Cake

Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...

icing

Icing (food)

Icing, also called frosting in the United States, is a sweet often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients such as butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings and is used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies...

, "the white of marble...modest and retiring [in comparison]". French botanist André Michaux

André Michaux

André Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...

, on the other hand, found the reflective glare of the roofs fatiguing. A common alternative to the whitewash was a simple lime plaster

Lime plaster

Lime plaster is type of plaster composed of hydrated lime, sand and water. Lime plaster is similar to Lime mortar, the main difference is the based on use rather than composition. Traditional lime plaster contains also horse hair to reinforce plaster....

made — much like the wash — of lime, red clay and turtle or whale oil. If well-maintained, this plaster kept walls free of moisture, but if cracked, moisture would be retained.

As the water available for domestic use was obtained via the roof, the only way to expand the amount available was to expand the house laterally. Rooms were added to the existing block, first giving buildings a cruciform

Cruciform

Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...

appearance and later leaving no standard floor plan for the archetypical house. By 1711, propertied Bermudians often lived in houses of three to six rooms, the central of which was called the "hall"; this "hall" served as the principle sitting and formal dining room. Porches were often closed in with stone walls and window rather than being open-air. Common rooms included the "parlour", a bedroom, two or three "bedchambers", an "entry" distinct from the porch and a peripheral "outlet" room often at the back of the house.

Archways came to be featured heavily in doorways. Porches, backdoors and even basements featured simple arches, rarely decorated with capitals or voussoir

Voussoir

A voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch or vault.Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the center stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. A...

-style keystones, that show inspiration from both Colonial Mexico and Saxon-Roman styles. These arches continued outward, appearing as garden gateways.

The 18th century saw the use of the casement window

Casement window

A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a...

adjoined to the wall plate

Wall plate

A wall plate, a structural element in the light frame construction method known as platform framing, is a horizontally laid structural element at right angles to the load-bearing part of the vertical load of a building...

between the wall and rafters. In time, the casement would be replaced by the sash window

Sash window

A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...

, and improved building techniques allowed window- and door-frames to be removed from the wallplate.

Neo-classical styles, then in vogue in both Britain and America, appeared, particularly among the wealthy. Portico

Portico

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...

s with simple limestone Doric order

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...

pillars topped by comparatively elaborate capitals were built, and upstairs windows were made smaller to recreate Classical optical perspective. The corners of buildings were also adorned with mock columns, and gateways were made more ornate. To further accent building geometry, narrow strips of moulding were used to highlight features such as storeys and windows.

Garden walls replaced fences that had been erected to keep out animals. These walls were initially low and augmented by fairly tall stone posts, between which picket fencing

Picket fence

A picket fence is a variety of fence that has been used mostly for domestic boundaries. Until the introduction of advertising on fences in the 1980s, a Cricket field was also usually surrounded by a picket fence, giving rise to the expression rattling the pickets for a ball hit firmly into the...

was installed. Victorian notions of privacy, however, would see many of these hybrid fences replaced by tall, solid stone walls, particularly in the east. Substantial — often pretentious — gateposts and wooden gates were standard elements. Towards the end of the century, verandah

Verandah

A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...

s replaced the built-up porches at the top of the front staircase. First appearing in buildings designed by the British military, the verandahs originated in India and were popular in the West Indies. Initially most used either a plain square baluster

Baluster

A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...

or a "Chinese Chippendale

Thomas Chippendale

Thomas Chippendale was a London cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs, titled The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director...

" style, increasingly elaborate forms took precedence during the Victorian era

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

During the 19th century the earlier design features were refined and softened. Gable-ends (now strengthened by concrete and making a fashionable comeback), pillars and gateways were rounded while capitals became standard for porch pillars. The mock columns on the corners of buildings were replaced with quoins

Quoin (architecture)

Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...

, also called "quoinces" and "longs and shorts", that alternated between being Headers or Stretchers

Brickwork

Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...

. This style seems to have its origins in Anglo-Saxon England

History of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...

.

Porches had been in decline since the second half of the 18th century, and by the early 19th century the inner entryway

Entryway

An entryway is a hall that is generally located at the front entrance of a house. An entryway often has a coat closet, and usually has linoleum or tile flooring rather than carpet, making it an easy-to-clean transition space between the outdoor and indoor areas...

was also disappearing in favour of a direct entrance to the central hall.

During the 1880s, Bermuda followed Britain in adopting the use of imported, clay-baked tiles for building decoration. Few examples of this, however, have survived. Another British import was the Gothic revival in Bermuda's Anglican community. Seen most prominently in the Cathedral in Hamilton, many of the islands churches were redesigned with more elaborate edifices.

Modern developments:1900-

During the 20th century, expanded contact with the outside world has led to a considerable diversification of Bermuda's architecture, moreso with commercial developments than residential, to the detriment of traditional styles. Concern for the loss of Bermudian identity led to the 1937 creation of the Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust, predecessor to the present-day Bermuda National Trust

Bermuda National Trust

The Bermuda National Trust is an organisation which works to preserve and protect the heritage of Bermuda.According to its website:"The Bermuda National Trust is a charity, established in 1970 to preserve natural, architectural and historic treasures and to encourage public appreciation of them...

, to purchase and preserve important examples of indigenous architecture. Initially, though, earlier styles made a resurgence, as did the Colonial Spanish arch. The Edwardian period

Edwardian period

The Edwardian era or Edwardian period in the United Kingdom is the period covering the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910.The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 and the succession of her son Edward marked the end of the Victorian era...

saw the introduction of hybrid British-American bungalows marketed to the middle class; features included exposed eaves, windows gathered together and low roofs that were extended to cover porches.

The early century also saw the perhaps counterintuitive growth of wooden buildings. Often these buildings were to provide cheap housing for imported labour, such as from the West Indies in the 1900s and 1930s, or during the Second World War for the builders of Kindley Air Force Base

Kindley Air Force Base

Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Force as Kindley Field.-World War II:...

. Such designs were usually looked down up: the wooden neighbourhood on King's Point was described as a shanty town. Wooden buildings became most prolific in Sandys parish, near to the Royal Naval Dockyard

Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda

HMD Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609...

, followed by St. George's near the Kindley Field (used to house not only labourers but displaced residents) and finally Pembroke. In the subsequent decades, many of these wooden buildings would be demolished.

Pre-fabricated buildings, often imported from the United States appeared early. Typically, they have been used as temporary, low-cost residences. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Cox Outerbridge imported wooden pre-fabricated buildings and created an affordable community on his estate in Pembroke

Pembroke Parish, Bermuda

Pembroke Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named after English aristocrat William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke ....

. As recently as 2005, the government of Bermuda has imported pre-fabricated buildings in a somewhat controversial attempt to address the country's housing crisis. The need for these alternatives is quite clear: by 2004, the cost of traditional construction was over $

Bermuda dollar

The dollar is the currency of Bermuda. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $ or, alternatively, BD$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents...

175 per square foot, combined with land prices of $1 million per acre. By the beginning of 2007, this left the average cost of a house at over $1.5 million, and approaching $2 million by August of that year. By late 2008, construction costs had reached $250 per square foot.

In 1933, a large sum of money was bequeathed

Bequest

A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...

to the city of Hamilton for the construction of a new city hall. The new structure, begun in the late 1950s and finished in 1960, was designed by Bermudian architect Wil Onions to copy styles from the traditional Bermuda cottage. Onions been demonstrating his skills at marrying modern needs with traditional decor for many years, and his work inspired a revitalised interest in traditional architecture; unfortunately, while Onions' work was regarded as genius, his inspirations were not.

Modern civil architecture appeared in Bermuda in the 1960s, though it has been mostly limited to the city of Hamilton and its immediate outskirts. Generally used for private commercial purposes, the overseas styles began to take over the Hamilton skyline as international business grew, restricted only by a government mandate that no building be taller than the city's Cathedral.

In 2000, the Town of St. George and the east-end fortifications were nominated for inclusion on UNESCO's

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

list of World Heritage Sites, under the grounds of architecture that illustrates human history (criterion iv) and direct association with events and traditions (criterion vi). During the selection process, the delegate from Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

questioned why the site was not part of a serial nomination of Caribbean fortifications (considered by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

to be part of a different region, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, from Bermuda, Northern America

Northern America

Northern America is the northernmost region of the Americas, and is part of the North American continent. It lies directly north of the region of Middle America; the land border between the two regions coincides with the border between the United States and Mexico...

, per the United Nations geoscheme) and the delegate from Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

questioned why ICOMOS wanted to apply criterion vi; it was decided to inscribe the site on the World Heritage List under criterion iv only.

In 2004, the renovation of "Harbour View" in St. George's was followed by the American home improvement franchise This Old House
This Old House
This Old House is an American home improvement magazine and television series aired on the American television station Public Broadcasting Service which follows remodeling projects of houses over a number of weeks.-Overview:...

. The coverage was featured in four issues of the This Old House magazine and eight episodes of its television series, Ask This Old House. It was only the second time that the program had ventured outside of the United States. The renovation was designed by a local architect, Colin Campbell, and largely performed by local companies.

Most recently, focus on sustainable development

Sustainable development

Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...

has led to experiments in green architecture

Green building

Green building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition...

. In late 2008, the country's first LEED

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....

-accredited building was completed in Hamilton, but the adoption of green technologies such as solar panels has been extremely slow.

Military construction

Local and British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

needs for military development long drove Bermuda's construction industry. During the age of colonisation

Early modern period

In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...

, risk of attack by the Spanish

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

, French

Early Modern France

Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...

and Dutch

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

led to a ring of wooden fortifications being built along the coastline. The first forts, Paget Fort and Smith's Fort, were built in 1612 — the first year of colonisation — to protect St. George's Harbour. These first forts were built simply, starting out as platforms cut into stone where cannons were then placed. They were then haphazardly expanded to the point were they could not withstand the elements and collapsed. Fortification was slowly expanded to guard the entrance of Castle Harbour

Castle Harbour, Bermuda

Castle Harbour is a large natural harbour in Bermuda. It is located between the northeastern end of the main island and St. David's Island. Originally called Southampton Port, it was renamed as a result of its heavy fortification in the early decades of the Seventeenth century.-Geography:A gem of...

, in time to fend of a Spanish expedition in 1614. King's Castle was raised that same year, but subsequent attempts to improve the fort were unsuccessful; six years later, Southampton Fort and the Devonshire Redoubt

Redoubt

A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...

were added to Castle Harbour's defence

Castle Islands Fortifications, Bermuda

Several of the islands strung across the South entrance of Castle Harbour, Bermuda were fortified in the early days of the territory, hence the harbour's name. When official settlement of the archipelago by England began in 1612 the first permanent town, St...

.

By the 18th century few wooden forts — indeed, few of the original structures — remained. The ring alternated between high towers and squat, hexagonal or square forts. The eastern part of the archipelago was particularly well-fortified. King's Castle continued to be expanded, with an underground magazine and an outhouse cut of the stone that strongly resembles a local buttery. A total of twenty forts — nearly one for each of Bermuda's square miles — would be erected by 1800, most of them to guard St. Georges. By 1783, over half of the colony's cannons ringed the eastern parish. These forts did not follow the conventional bastion

Bastion

A bastion, or a bulwark, is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defence against assaulting troops...

-style that then prevailed in Europe; instead they most resembled the fortifications built under Henry VIII along the coast of southern England

Southern England

Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...

in the early 16th century.

During and following the American War for Independence, the British began to use the island as a major naval outpost. The most notable construction of this period was the Royal Naval Dockyard

Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda

. The site surveyed in 1796, construction began in 1812 without regard to the local architectural developments. Instead, it was built with conventional methods using brick and slate imported from Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Construction of the Dockyard continued until the 1860s and relied heavily on penal labour

Penal labour

Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...

, using prisoners from Britain housed in floating hulks

Hulk (ship)

A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...

. Construction resumed at the end of the century and was done by imported West Indian workers. One of the most prominent buildings of the Dockyard was the Commissioner's House, designed by the Royal Navy's chief architect Edward Holl. At 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²), the verandah-wrapped building was far larger and grander than either the Government House, residence of Bermuda's Governor, or the Admiralty House used by the head of the North American Station. The Commissioner's House introduced the use of cast iron in buildings and was built largely using prison labour. Internally, the building featured Soane styling

John Soane

Sir John Soane, RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, massing of simple form, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources...

, flushing toilets

Flush toilet

A flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location. Flushing mechanisms are found more often on western toilets , but many squat toilets also are made for automated flushing...

and hot water

Water heating

Water heating is a thermodynamic process using an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water are for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating...

. By the time the building was finished in 1832, the final cost was nearly £50,000 ($250,000); the Navy Board

Navy Board

The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...

was outraged, and the building came to be regarded as a white elephant

White elephant

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth...

. The building was subsequently used as barracks by the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

and the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

until its commissioning by the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

as HMS Malabar

HMS Malabar

Five ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Malabar, after Malabar, a region of India: was a 54-gun Fourth Rate, previously the East Indiaman Royal Charlotte. She was purchased in 1795 and foundered under tow in 1796. was a 56-gun Fourth Rate, previously the East...

during the First World War.

Other military construction also followed the traditional British patterns, and had negligible effect on local architecture. Through the 19th century, the British military continued to construct and expand fortifications and lay roads and bridges, most notably the causeway

The Causeway, Bermuda

The Causeway is a narrow strip of reclaimed land and bridges in the north of Bermuda linking Hamilton Parish on the mainland in the southwest and Bermuda International Airport on St. David's Island in St. George's Parish in the northeast, which are otherwise divided by Castle Harbour.The need for...

connecting Long Bird Island and St. David's Island

St. David's Island, Bermuda

St. David's Island is one of the main islands of Bermuda. It is located in the far north of the territory, one of the two similarly sized islands that makeup the majority of St...

to the main island. St. George's was also re-fortified by the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

. New or replacement forts included Upper Paget Fort/Fort Cunningham, built above the remains of the first Paget Fort, Fort Victoria and Fort Albert to the east and Fort St. Catherine, on the northern tip of St. George's. St. George's also saw the construction of Fort George and Fort William as well as seaward artillery batteries at Buildings Bay and on St. David's Island. In the 1820s, Bermuda's only Martello tower

Martello tower

Martello towers are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards....

was built to cover Ferry Reach.

In the aftermath of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, concerns over a landward attack on the Royal Naval Dockyard led to large tracts of the central parish of Devonshire being acquired by the British military. Fort Prospect and Fort Langton, both built to an out-dated design, and the Military Hospital were constructed in the area, and local houses were used as officers' residences.

Not all of the British military buildings were fortifications, of course. Barracks, hospitals and officer houses were built to British military standard, which fared poorly in Bermuda. Verandahs were often supported by iron columns that required constant painting, while roofs were lined with Welsh slate that was lost after every hurricane. Though a few pretentious copycats appeared among Bermuda's residences, by the turn of the 20th century even the military was abandoning the style in favour of local techniques.

One of the largest and perhaps most traumatic military developments was the construction of Kindley Air Force Base

Kindley Air Force Base

Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Force as Kindley Field.-World War II:...

by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Seizing large areas of the eastern islands, many traditional houses were demolished and replaced by American-style buildings. The new buildings were given some superfluous local traits, such as white roofs and coloured walls, but otherwise inherited nothing from local design. As with the earlier British works, there was no lasting influence of these buildings on local architecture.

St. George's (town and parish)

The State House
State House, Bermuda
The State House in St. George's was the first purpose-built home of the House of Assembly, which then constituted the only chamber of the Parliament of Bermuda. Other than fortifications, it was Bermuda's first stone building...

, built in an Italian style, once housed Bermuda's Parliament; since 1797 it has been rented by a Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

at the rate of one peppercorn per year, which is collected by the governor in a small ceremony (see: peppercorn (legal)
Peppercorn (legal)
A peppercorn in legal parlance is a metaphor for a very small payment, a nominal consideration, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. "A peppercorn does not cease to be good consideration if it is established that the promisee does not like pepper and will throw...

).
The Old Rectory, built in 1699 by failed privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

and slave trader George Dew, is one of Bermuda's oldest houses.
The Globe Hotel, built c. 1700 by Governor
Governor of Bermuda
The Governor of Bermuda is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. The Governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government...

Samuel Day
Samuel Day
Samuel Hulme Day , a.k.a. Sammy Day, was a professional cricketer for Kent and an English international footballer, who played as an inside forward.-Cricket Career:Day was born in Peckham Rye, London...

, is one of Bermuda's oldest stone buildings. Day used public funds to construct the building as his personal home, which he kept after being ousted from office. In 1951 it was purchased by the Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust and converted into a museum about Bermuda's role during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.
St. Peter's Church
St. Peter's Church, St. George's
St. Peter's Church, in St. George's, Bermuda, is the oldest surviving Anglican church in continuous use outside the British Isles. It is also reportedly the oldest continuously used Protestant church in the New World. A UNESCO World Heritage Site , St...

was the last in a succession of churches at the site; built in 1713 and extensively renovated in the 19th century.
Fort St. Catherine was built in the 1830s at the northern tip of the archipelago; now part of the World Heritage Site, it houses a museum.
The Unfinished Church was begun in 1874 as a Gothic replacement for St. Peter's Church; financial difficulties and storm damage led to the project being abandoned and the site left to ruin.
Arcadia House, a Grade One-listed building built in 1900 and used as officers' housing. It was demolished in 2008.

Elsewhere

Verdmont, in Smith's
Smith's Parish, Bermuda
Smith's Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named for English aristocrat Sir Thomas Smith/Smythe .-Description:...

, a mansion built in 1710 now run as a museum by the Bermuda National Trust, which has changed little in the past three centuries.
The Bermuda headquarters of Bacardi
Bacardi
Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...

, in Hamilton
Hamilton, Bermuda
Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...

, follows an International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

design by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....

, closely resembling his Neue Nationalgalerie
Neue Nationalgalerie
Neue Nationalgalerie at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin...

, and was declared (presumably humorously) "the most Bermudian of all Bermudian buildings" by its builders.
The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity was completed in 1894 so that Hamilton could be conferred "city status"; it is by law the tallest building in the city.
The Keep, including the Commissioner's House, is the home of the Bermuda Maritime Museum
Bermuda Maritime Museum
The Bermuda Maritime Museum is the largest museum in Bermuda and explores Bermuda's history. The maritime museum is located within the grounds of the fortress Keep of the former Royal Naval Dockyard in Sandys Parish on the Ireland Island at the western end of Bermuda...

; other buildings at the Dockyard
Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda
HMD Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride the homeward leg taken by many European vessels from the New World since before its settlement by England in 1609...

on Ireland Island
Ireland Island, Bermuda
Ireland Island is the northwesternmost island in the chain which comprises Bermuda. It forms a long finger of land pointing northeastwards from the main island, the last link in a chain which also includes Boaz Island and Somerset Island. It lies within Sandys Parish, and forms the northwestern...

remain standing but have been converted for commercial purposes.