List of octagonal buildings and structures



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. 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



 * 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:
 * 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