THE DISTINCTIVE zinc roofs of Paris and the roofers who skilfully install them, are being nominated to be added to the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The zinc roofs of Paris city centre have formed the French capital’s skyline unique character for hundreds of years.
Now the roofs and the roofers who create and maintain them are set to join a worldwide elite status which recognises each nation’s exclusive heritage.
The French Ministry of Culture has chosen the practice of zinc roofers as the country’s entry for the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Their inclusion will be decided at the UN body’s next meeting in Paraguay, in December.
The UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage includes Italian opera singers, Jamaican reggae music and Spanish flamenco dancing.
The roofing skills that have crafted the famous French capital’s rooftop vista will be among 67 other nominations identified as iconic national heritage sites, such as India’s Taj Mahal.
According to the French municipal agency Apur, Paris has 128,000 roofs covering a surface area of 32 million square metres, of which 21.4 million are of the traditional zinc-covered type.
Delphine Burkli, mayor of the capital’s ninth district, who helped to formulate the UNESCO bid, said: “When Paris is seen from above, it’s obvious you’re not in another city.”
The campaign to raise the Parisian roofs and roofers to the heady heights of world heritage, hopes to elevate their status and attract more people to enter the trade.
The trade in France, as in the UK, is facing an ongoing recruitment crisis. It is estimated that the capital alone needs around 500 more roofers to meet demand every day.
The French roofer’s UNESCO nomination also aims to encourage thinking about Paris’s architectural future and a trade being forced to adapt in the face of climate change, adds Burkli.
Climate Change
The zinc covering over two-thirds of Parisian roofs is contributing to overheating in buildings.
Because of its dark hue, it absorbs more of the sun’s energy than a lighter coloured roof would. The issue has come to a head during Parisian summer heatwaves when temperatures have reached 400C+. The extreme high temperatures are becoming more frequent and longer lasting as the planet warms up. In Paris, summer heat has exceeded 400C three times since 1947.
Research in 2022 by Apur, the Paris urbanism agency, found that 42 percent of roofs in Paris had a weak ‘reflection capacity’, meaning they absorbed more heat.
The roofs are poorly insulated and “contribute to the rise in temperatures in homes”, according to a study carried out by the Council of Paris in 2022 called ‘Paris at 50C’.
Lack of Insulation
Roofscapes, a French start-up launched at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tested the thermal properties of zinc roofs in 2023.
The experiment used an eight-storey building covered in zinc with an attic roof void that acted as a thermal buffer zone.
The study showed that a zinc roof heated the surrounding air during the day, up to 10 0C above the internal temperature and 70C warmer than outside.
Nightfall brought little relief: the homes under the roofs were found to be 60C hotter than the temperatures on the lower floors.
“At night, the zinc at the surface cools down. On the other hand, the heat continues to penetrate inside and that’s where there’s overheating in the homes,” explained Eytan Levi, an architect and co-founder of Roofscapes.
However, the study concludes that the zinc roofs themselves are not the problem, rather the absence of insulation in old buildings.
Roofers are now being urged to propose insulation when re-roofing or maintaining Parisian heritage buildings.
The ‘Paris at 50C’ study also suggests repainting the existing zinc roofs with a lighter-coloured coating to reflect heat without damaging their heritage value.
Additionally, green roofs – recognised for reducing the urban heat island effect – are also being considered.
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