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Below are some
terms that are commonly used in architectural metal
and glass design, architectural metal and glass installation,
and metal and glass fabrication. Having some familiarity
with these terms can be helpful when working with
an architectural metal and glass design, installation,
or fabrication company. |
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Bays:
A means of quantifying the number of openings
(windows and doors) on a building. For example,
a house with a window on either side of a center
door would have three bays.
Belfry:
A small structure atop a roof that houses a bell,
or, a small bell tower. Commonly seen on schoolhouses
and churches.
Board
and Batten:
A method of construction wherein wood is arranged
in vertical boards and is held in place with a
batten, which is a horizontal board.
Brackets:
Supports, often made of either pressed metal or
of wood, that appear at the cornice line of a
building. They may be decorated with a pattern
or may be simpler.
Bulkhead:
A set of metal doors that provides an outdoor
entrance to a cellar.
Buttress:
Typically made of stone or brick, a buttress is
a wall support that is situated on the exterior
of a building. |
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Chimney:
A stone, brick, or cinder block column located
in the center interior of a building. The chimney
pulls smoke and other gasses out of the home.
Clapboard:
A wooden board with one edge thinner than the
other. Installed on the outside walls of a building
to create weatherproofing.
Column:
A pillar that offers support. Often used decoratively
on porches.
Column
Capitals:
Round columns often have a top that is decorative,
known as a capital.
Coping:
A means of weather protection that involves capping
at the top of a wall.
Corbel:
Using brick on top of windows or chimneys to create
the decorative shape of a bracket or dentil beneath
a cornice.
Cornice:
F inishing the edge of a roof where the roof meets
an exterior wall creates a cornice. These finishes
are decorative and vary in size.
Crenalated
Parapet:
A retaining wall that rests low at the edge of
a porch or a roof. A crenalated parapet has a
uniform pattern of openings, which creates a battlement.
Cresting:
A decorative roof fencing with a lacy pattern.
Constructed of wrought iron. Rims the edge of
the peak of a roof.
Cupola:
Small tower projection situated on the top of
a roof or building. |
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Dormer:
A window in the roof or at roof level. Typically
topped by either a front gable or a shed roof.
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Eaves:
A roof edge that overhangs the exterior walls
of a building. Is sometimes accompanied by exposed
rafters. |
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Façade:
The face of a building. Often, façade is
used to refer to as the front of the building.
Fanlight:
A window that is the shape of a fan and is placed
on top of a door.
Fenestration
Pattern:
Windows arranged across the façade of a
building.
Finial:
Decorative piece that is situated on top of a
cupola, gate, gable, or spire.
Floor
Plan:
A scaled drawing or rendering of the various levels
of a building, depending the location of rooms,
where walls are placed, and where chimneys, porches,
and staircases are located.
Fluting:
Decorative trim in which parallel grooves are
carved vertically along the surface of a wooden
column.
Frieze:
A panel beneath a cornice at the top of an exterior
wall. Often ornamented with modallions, dentils,
or brackets. |
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Lintel:
A flat piece situated horizontally atop a window. |
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Masonry:
Construction utilizing brick, tile, stone or concrete
block and mortar.
Molding:
A raised surface that is decorative along the
edge of a window, door, column, wall, or other
architectural feature.
Mullions:
Wood divisions between glass panes on a window.
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Oriel
Window:
A bay window that projects and is supported by
a triangual support piece or by brackets. |
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Parapet:
Low brick or stone wall at the top of a building.
Pediment:
A triangular space that is the result of a front
facing gable roof.
Pendant:
A decorative piece of metal or wood that hangs
down from a porch, bracket, or cornice.
Pent Roof:
A narrow shed roof that is placed above the first
floor of a building. Protects doors, windows,
and lower walls. Often covers all four sides of
a building.
Pilar:
A support column that does not have any classical
detailing.
Pilaster:
A narrowly protruding column that is attached
to a wall. It gives the illusion that it is a
freestanding support column.
Pointed
Arch:
An arch with a strong center point.
Porch:
A space that is outside the main support walls
of a building that has a roof.
Portico:
A small porch used for entrances. |
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Quoins:
Decorative squares or rectangles that are made
of either wood, concrete, stone, or brick and
are placed on the corners of buildings. |
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Rafters:
Support beams for a roof, often made of wood and
occasionally visible on the exterior. |
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Segmental
Arch:
An arch over a window or door that is slightly
rounded.
Semi-Elliptical
Arch:
An arch over a window or door that is an elongated
round shape.
Sill:
A flat horizontal piece at the bottom of a door
or window.
Stoop:
Wide steps that lead to the front of a building
and are uncovered.
Stories:
The number of stacked floors in a building. Often
used as a means of describing the height of a
building.
Stucco:
Thin plaster coating that is applied to exterior
walls. |
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Tourelle:
A small tower that is trimmed with corbelling.
Tracery Window:
A pointed arch window that is filled with curving
stone mullions.
Transom
Light:
A flat glass panel situated above a door. Typically
multi-paned.
Tudor
Arch:
An arch that is flattened but has a center point
above a door or window.
Turret:
A small tower that is located at the corner of
a building. |
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Weatherboard:
An exterior horizontal wooden board that is applied
with the lower edge overlapping the board below
it. Used to form exterior walls. |
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