Common Architecture Terms

1. Common Architecture Terms

2. Fenestration • The design and placement of windows in a building.

3. Examples

4. CMU -Concrete Masonry Unit: a large rectangular brick used in construction. -Made from cast concrete

6. COR-TEN • Best known as weathering steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable rust-like appearance if exposed to the weather for several years.

7. COR-TEN Steel Siding

8. Baluster: -A short pillar or column in a series supporting a rail or coping.

10. Parapet A parapet is a barrier usually on a roof or balcony. They are also built on bridges as guard rails to prevent cars and people from falling off. On buildings, they are mainly used to prevent fires from spreading, and used to be for defending the building from attack.

12. Pitch: Degree of roof slant stated in inches rise per foot

14. Cantilever Definition: A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support the over hanging section of the building.

16. Definition of Section • A section or cross section is a term used in architectural drawing for describing when a vertical line cuts through an object • In the drawing, the dark line represents the floor cutting through the building’s walls

18. Column and Post Column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is an structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below.

20. Curtain Wall A wall that encloses the space within a building but does not support the roof, it is not load bearing. They are typically featured on modern high-rise buildings.

22. Eaves Eaves of a roof are the part of a roof that overhangs the exterior of a house. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry away rain water

23. Pictures of Eaves

24. Beam and Joist In architecture and engineering, a joist is one of the horizontal supporting members that run from wall to wall, wall to beam, and beam to beam. A beam is a horizontal or vertical structural element that is capable of withstanding a load by resisting bending.

25. Beam and Joist

26. Gable- The portion of the front or side of a building enclosed by or masking the end of a pitched roof.

27. Gable Roof

28. Gambrel Roof Definition • a gable roof with two slopes on each side and the lower slope being steeper.

30. Grade The slope of soil on a site or next to a building

32. Header and Lintel • Definition: horizontal beam that contributes to the construction of framing buildings • Used above windows and doors or other entryways as support • Can also be used as decoration (ex. Fireplace mantles)

34. Hip Roof • A roof where all the sides slope downward usually on a fairly gentle slope. It has no gables or vertical sides of the roof.

35. Hip Roof

36. Mansard Roof A mansard roof (also known as a French roof) is a Gambrel style roof characterized by two slopes on each side with a lower slope.

37. vv

38. Clerestory Window: an upper portion of a wall containing windows for supplying natural to a building

40. Mullion A major vertical bar between two window units

41. Mullion

42. Muntin The Muntin is a strip of wood or metal that holds glass panes into place

44. RAFTER A rafter is a system of repetitive smaller beams that support the roof of a building

46. Retaining wall A retaining wall is a wall that holds back earth or water on one side of it. It is designed to restrain soil to unnatural slopes.

48. Saw-tooth Roof • A roofcomposed of a series of small parallel roofs of triangular crosssection,usuallyasymmetricalwiththeshorterslopeglazed • It allows for natural lighting to shine through while still having a solid roof

50. Truss • A Truss is any structure that has at least one triangular unit that has its ends connected by joint, otherwise called nodes.