Tropical Verandahs

As per the dictionary, Verandah is the covered entrance along the exterior of a shop or a house. It can also be termed as big gallery or terrace on the same plane as the ground floor. It is said to have originated from two native Indian languages, Hindi and Bengali, baranda, but in reality it is just an altered copy of Portuguese and older Spanish veranda that is a balustrade or balcony.

In the Oxford English Dictionary, the second meaning of Verandah is a covering built at the side of the building, particularly one built over the street outside the trading site found particularly in Australia and New Zealand. There is yet another meaning to this word in the dictionary, it is, an open porch extending in the front and the sides of a building, giving protection against the sun and the rain. The decisive origin of this word is most probably European or maybe Latin meaning barra-, which means barrier.

Tropics as we all know are famous for its high degree of oppressive heat and humidity. At the same time, nature has blessed them with the gift of breeze early in the mornings and in the evening. The houses built in the tropics aim to maximize this gift of nature and ensure that verandah is an essential part of the house. The houses are built with addition of verandahs, eaves, louvers and colonnades to get better ventilation, since the tropical climate is unkind during the day.

The verandahs are very inviting and you will find most of the family members relaxing and enjoying their cup of coffee or tea here early in the morning before they get ready to face the heat of the day. In some tropical places, the Verandahs are wide in the front and face south -east to allow for the cool breeze in the morning and evening to blow freely to take care of the oppressive humidity and heat faced later in the day.

In some parts, the verandahs are large enough to enjoy the space for, dining, lounging and enjoying ones hobbies thus making it a very well used area. The verandahs are nicely shaded, which make it very cool and relaxing and away from the direct glare of the sun. Open balustrades allow free inflow of cool breeze which spreads all over the house. Thus, the verandahs in Tropical homes are very essential as they make the house livable.

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