36
votes
Term for a side motor entrance?
Derived from the French porte-cochère mentioned in Spagirl's answer, I've mostly commonly heard this termed as the anglicized carport.
Carport is defined by Merriam-Webster as:
an open-sided ...
- 2,193
23
votes
Accepted
Term for a side motor entrance?
There may be other names, the one I am familar with is Porte cochere
Definition of porte cochere Merriam-Webster
1 : a passageway through a building or screen wall designed to let
vehicles pass from ...
- 11.7k
23
votes
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
There is a picture of a "trémie" at https://www.archiexpo.com/prod/rector/product-56991-2265269.html essentially it is a hole.
A trémie is a hatchway.
OED
hatchway, n.
Originally and ...
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19
votes
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
My French is not great, but it's good enough to recognize that you are using the trémie corresponding to this definition from the Larousse dictionary:
[...] espace réservé dans un plancher pour une ...
- 1,041
15
votes
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
Bonjour,
Floor opening is the term to use. Much of what follows was written before I reached that conclusion, thanks to Lambie's comment below.
I do technical and other translations French to English ...
- 369
15
votes
What does one call the left and right sides of a building, in order to fix a point of view?
The directions of the compass are commonly used to avoid ambiguity - North, South, East, and West, as in the well known TV show, "The West Wing", referring to a particular section of the ...
- 1,049
12
votes
Accepted
What is the term for the little viewing window with a sliding cover in a castle or convent?
I believe the most common term would be a peephole, even when talking about historical architecture. The one with a sliding cover could be called a sliding peephole.
A medieval door with a peephole ...
- 65.5k
12
votes
Accepted
Looking for term to describe a line of lights and optional glass panes that border the underside of building canopies
Uninterestingly, they are called canopy lights. This includes those used under bridges, in tunnels, in arcades, and the like. They can be decorative or industrial.
- 17k
10
votes
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
If you are looking for the opening in the floor between levels, it is indeed the aperture or opening (PDF link). I was unsure of this (empty space doesn’t tend to have many specific names in ...
- 555
10
votes
What does one call the left and right sides of a building, in order to fix a point of view?
There is no simple set of commonly used terms that unambiguously define the sides of a house or other building. For many suburban houses the front and back/rear are understood to be the sides facing ...
- 5,740
8
votes
Accepted
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
This is a slab opening, or a floor void
In construction, a floor void is typically a vertical opening or hole that is left in the floor construction either to accommodate services, or allow the ...
- 943
7
votes
What is the term for the little viewing window with a sliding cover in a castle or convent?
It might be called a Judas window or Judas hole. Collins Dictionary has
judas
a peephole or a very small window in a door
Also called: judas window, judas hole
Wiktionary has
Judas window
A window ...
- 22.1k
7
votes
Looking for term to describe a line of lights and optional glass panes that border the underside of building canopies
An interesting question; I live in a neighborhood where every building has a canopy (or awning), and while most are cloth (soft/tensile), a handful are solid (permanent/structural), and a subset of ...
- 28.5k
6
votes
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
That's a hole. In the floor. For a staircase.
Depending on the linguistic register one is speaking or writing in, some people might also call that an opening, which is also perfectly fine. The ...
- 1,650
5
votes
Accepted
What is this architectural element called?
It's an example of a portico:
A roofed entrance porch supported on at least one side by columns
Classical Greek architeture: A portico was the principal porch or
entrance to a Greek temple, ...
- 41k
4
votes
What do you call the floor-level space that allows someone to traverse from one floor to another with stairs?
This is a scuttle, or access hole. It would also be understandable to call it a "stairway opening", as Dúthomhas suggested. (Stairway aperture is technically correct, and possibly ...
- 618
4
votes
Accepted
Is this bit of jargon a misuse of English?
The words whose primary meaning is the name of a field of study often have a secondary meaning which means, roughly, 'the properties that would be of interest to that field of study'. Compare with the ...
- 12.6k
4
votes
The term for the space beneath a “cathedral” ceiling
Up in the eaves
Yes, I know what eaves are to an architect and builder, but when you are talking about the interior of a building, up in the eaves means above the roof/wall joint. A google image ...
- 17k
4
votes
What is the name of this thing like a building on top of a roof?
Although the most common use of the word penthouse is the biggest, most luxurious apartment at the top of a tall building, in British English at least, it is also used to describe the building your ...
- 3,822
3
votes
Accepted
Is there a word that describes a conspicuous building that is out of its place?
His Royal Highness the Price of Wales in a 1984 speech to the Royal Institute of British Architects described a proposed extension to the National Gallery in London as
a monstrous carbuncle on ...
- 4,353
3
votes
What is the name of this thing like a building on top of a roof?
The Scottish Building regulations manual calls this a
rooftop plant room.
Scottish Building Regulations
- 24.9k
2
votes
Term for a side motor entrance?
side entrance
Whether or not the pictured structure is a carport or a garage, what it provides that's an important feature is a side entrance to the house. This enables groceries, laundry, and the ...
- 16.3k
2
votes
Describing a group of windows?
I think a row of windows would be most recognizable. People would infer that the windows are horizontally side-by-side.
Another word that comes to mind is clump, but that could mean vertical and ...
- 465
2
votes
What is the name of this thing like a building on top of a roof?
The term mechanical penthouse (or MPH) is common in North America, especially on taller buildings.
- 21
2
votes
Accepted
Atrium and ventricle
The atrium, in the anatomy of the heart, is where blood first flows in and probably, by analogy, the term was used as it indicated the first main entrance room in an ancient Roman house.
Atrium:
The ...
- 68.1k
2
votes
Accepted
What do you call the layout that organizes the decorative moldings and ornamental features of a building?
As Edwin suggests in a comment, there is at lot of mix and match as seen in Google Books, e.g. design elements, ornamental features, design features, architectural elements, etc. However, I think your ...
- 24.1k
2
votes
What would you call an open urban space that is not exactly in a residential area?
It could be called a brownfield site.
Merriam-Webster has
brownfield
a tract of land that has been developed for industrial purposes, polluted, and then abandoned
Collins has
Brownfield land is ...
- 22.1k
1
vote
Atrium and ventricle
Well, the word ventricle is derived from the Latin word ventriculus meaning "a digestive cavity (such as a gizzard or stomach)." Because of that, I doubt if you will find any other usage for ...
- 267
1
vote
The site entrance
If it's covered with a roof, I believe the architectural term is "porte-cochère" (from French).
With no roof though, I'm not sure. Colloquially, it would just be called something like "driveway," "...
- 141
1
vote
Why and how did "Shinto shrine" largely replace "Shinto temple"?
A shrine is a memorial to the dead, a temple is a place or worship. After the 1930s and WW2 the Japanese had a lot more dead to memorialize, hence a lot more temples were converted into shrines. Also, ...
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