List of octagonal buildings and structures explained

Octagon buildings and structures are characterized by an octagonal plan form, whether a perfect geometric octagon or a regular eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides.

The oldest known octagon-shaped building is the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece, which was constructed circa 300 B.C. Octagon houses were popularized in the United States in the mid-19th century and there are too many to list here, see instead List of octagon houses. There are also octagonal houses built in other times and cultures.

Below is a list of octagonal buildings and structures worldwide, excluding houses and windmills.

Australia

• The office pods of Callam Offices in Canberra
• Chinaman's Hat an octagonal gazebo-like structure in the South Channel of Port Phillip Bay
• The Octagon Theatre at the University of Western Australia.
• The old site of Hotel Saville in South Yarra, Melbourne, now unofficially referred to as The Blocktagon, which was renovated into a residential dwelling made up of six octagonal apartments during the eleventh season of reality show The Block.
• Nauru House 80 Collins Street, Melbourne

Canada

At least 19 historic octagon houses are known to exist in Canada distributed across 4 eastern provinces.^[1] For a list of these houses, See: List of octagon houses. In Canada, the octagon house craze also engendered an octagonal deadhouse phenomenon. This included octagonal deadhouses, pre-burial edifices, built in the mid to late 1800s along Yonge Street in south-central Ontario, from just north of Toronto to Aurora.

• Bastion Nanaimo, British Columbia
• Chapel at Dundurn, Hamilton, Ontario
• Miscou Island Lighthouse – strategic Baie des Chaleurs octagonal colonial lighthouse
• Huron County Gaol – distinctive octagonal jail design, 1839–41
• Pachena Point Light on Vancouver Island, British Columbia
• Speedside United Church, in Centre Wellington, Ontario

China

• Liaodi Pagoda, China (1000s)
• Lingxiao Pagoda, China (860)
• Also many other pagodas

Egypt

• Lighthouse of Alexandria
• Pharos of Abusir
• The Octagon

Ethiopia

• St. George's Cathedral, Addis Ababa

Germany

• Palatine Chapel in Aachen, built c. 972
• Dragon House, 1870 garden folly, Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, Germany
• Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, built 1961

Greece

• Tower of the Winds, Athens, Greece

Hungary

• Rumbach Street synagogue, Budapest

India

• Satyagnana Sabha, Vadalur, Vadalur, Tamil Nadu

Iran

• Ferdows Religious School, Toon
• Jabalieh

Palestine

• Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. 687-691 CE
• Chapel of the Ascension, Jerusalem c. 382 CE by Saint Helena; original octagonal shrine has been reconstructed multiple times.

Italy

• Octagonal Hall, Baths of Diocletian (300), Rome
• Lateran Baptistery (440), Rome
• The Baptistery (5th century), Albenga
• Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence (1059)
• The Battistero or Baptistery of Parma (1196)
• Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna (547)
• Castel del Monte (Apulia), Andria (BT) (1240s)
• Church of St. Giacomo, Vicovaro (1400s)
• Tribuna of the Uffizi, Florence (1584)

Japan

• Yumedono at Hōryū-ji, Ikaruga (739)
• Octagonal Hall of Eisan-ji, Gojō (760-764)
• Hokuendō of Kōfuku-ji, Nara (1210)
• Saiendō of Hōryū-ji, Ikaruga (1250)
• Main Hall of Keikyuin of Kōryū-ji, Kyoto (1251)
• Three-Story Pagoda of Anraku-ji, Ueda (1290s)
• Aizendō of Tōfuku-ji, Kyoto (1333-92)
• Main Hall of Busshō-ji, Mito (1585)
• Nanendō of Kōfuku-ji, Nara (1789)
• Nippon Budokan, Tokyo (1964)
• Pagoda of Genjo Sanzoin Complex in Yakushi-ji, Nara (1991)
• Sugamo Ohdai Kannondō in Taisho University, Tokyo (2013)

New Zealand

• The Octagon, the former Trinity Congregational Church in Christchurch, New Zealand

Norway

See main article: Octagonal churches in Norway.

• Ankenes Church
• Bardu Church
• Buvik Church
• Dolstad Church, mixed octagonal-cruciform
• Klæbu Church
• Røssvoll Church
• Støren Church
• Trinity Church (Oslo), octagonal-cruciform combined
• Vinje Church (Hemne)

Portugal

• Convent of Christ (Tomar, Portugal), 12th-15th Century. The adjacent chapel is only one of two octagonal chapels in the world. The other is in Jerusalem.
• Charola, Portuguese Info on the Chapel of the Convent of Christ.

Singapore

• Lau Pa Sat, a dining hall and market

Spain

• Alcazar of Jerez de la Frontera has an Octagonal Tower, in Almohad style
• El Micalet is the bell tower of Valencia Cathedral.

Sri Lanka

• Temple of the Tooth

Sweden

• Hedvig Eleonora Church, Stockholm (1737)

United Kingdom

• Abbot's Kitchen, Glastonbury
• Abbot's Kitchen, Oxford
• Avenue Methodist Church in Sale, Greater Manchester
• Dutch Cottage, Rayleigh, Essex
• 18th century replicas of the Athenian Tower of the Winds in the ornamental gardens of the following stately homes:
  • Mount Stewart
  • Shugborough Hall
  • West Wycombe Park
• Naze tower, Walton on the Naze
• Octagon, Birmingham the world's tallest octagonal residential skyscraper currently under construction.
• Octagonal chapter houses at the following cathedrals:^[2]
  • Liverpool Cathedral
  • Salisbury Cathedral
  • Southwell Minster
  • Truro Cathedral
  • Wells Cathedral
  • York Minster
• Octagon Centre, Sheffield
• Octagonal lantern tower, Ely Cathedral, Ely
• Octagon Chapel, Norwich
• Octagon Temple at Cliveden
• Dreghorn & Springside Parish Church
• St James Church, Teignmouth
• Great Pagoda, Kew Gardens, London
• Storm Tower at Compass Point, Bude, Cornwall
• St. John’s Methodist Church, Arbroath
• United Reformed Church in Cheadle Hulme
• The main tower of Hadlow Castle, Kent
• The Butter Market, Barnard Castle, County Durham
• Hertford College's Middle Common Room, Oxford
• Octagonal Tower, Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, built by Robert Beauchamp 1425
• Octagonal drawing room, Castell Coch, Tongwynlais, Cardiff, built by William Burges for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, 1870s
• All seven towers of Caernarfon Castle, Caernarfon, built by James of St George for Edward I, late 13thC
• Porth-y-Tŵr, St Davids, Wales, 13thC

United States

See main article: List of octagonal buildings and structures in the United States.

See also

• Octagon house
• List of octagon houses

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kline. Robert V.. Inventory of Older Octagon, Hexagon, and Round Houses. rvkline. November 2, 2010.
2. Ousby, Ian, Blue Guide: England, 11th ed. 1995, various pages, London: A & C Black ; New York: WW Norton