William of Sens

[2] William planned the choir, as well as other parts of the structure which are still in place, including the flying buttresses copied from the early Gothic cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris.

He introduced the six-part rib vault to the building, a key feature of Gothic architecture, which support the roof and which spread the weight downwards and outwards to the Buttresses outside and the columns below.

[citation needed] The innovations of William at Canterbury included the motif of pale Caen stone contrasted with dark column shafts of Purbeck marble, and the sexpartite rib-vaults, which form paired bays in the nave.

[2] The combination of these two limestones was influential in subsequent Gothic architecture, which Canterbury helped to spread through its prominence as the episcopal see of the Primate of All England.

Its unusual form resembles the rotundas placed in the eastern end of churches in William's native province of Burgundy.