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NYC - Buildings terms Category: Architecture and Buildings > Buildings Date & country: 25/09/2013, USA Words: 222

Latticework
Thin strips of wood arranged in a netlike grid pattern, often set diagonally.

Leade
A horizontal or vertical cylinder, usually made of metal, which carries water from the gutter to the ground.

Leaded window
A window composed of small panes, usually diamond-shaped or rectangular, held in place by narrow strips of cast lead.

Light
A pane of glass; a window, or a compartment of a window.

Lighting
The method or equipment for providing artificial illumination.

Lintel
A horizontal structural element over an opening which carries the weight of the wall above it.

Loggia
1. An arcaded or colonnaded structure, open on one or more sides, sometimes with an upper story. 2. An arcaded or colonnaded porch or gallery attached to a larger structure.

LPC Staff
The staff of the Landmarks Preservation Commission acting in the Commission's agency capacity.

Lunette
A crescent-shaped or semicircular area or opening on a wall surface.

Mansard
A roof having a double slope on all four sides, the lower slope being much steeper. In rowhouse design, a double-sloped roof on the building front, below a flat roof.

Match
Either an exact or approximate replication. If not an exact replication, the approximate replication shall be so designed as to achieve a suitable, harmonious and balanced result.

Materials
The substances used to fabricate the various elements and details of a building

Mechanical equipment
Includes, but not be limited to, heating, venting and air conditioning equipment, water tanks and their supporting structures, satellite dishes, stair and elevator bulkheads, screens, dunnages, baffles and other accessory installations but shall not include telecommunication equipment and conventional television antennas. Mechanical equipment can also include unenclosed decks, garden trellises, or associated railings.

Meeting rail
A sash rail in a double-hung window designed to interlock with an adjacent sash rail.

Member
A component part of a window.

Minimally Visible
Refers to any rooftop addition which when viewed from any public thoroughfare, projects into the maximum line of sight from such public thoroughfare by not more than 12 inches in height, or, due to its placement and size does not call attention to itself nor detract from any significant architectural features.

Modification
Any work to an existing improvement or landscape improvement other than (a) ordinary maintenance or repair; or (b) any Addition.

Modillion
A projecting scroll-shaped bracket or simple horizontal block arranged in series under the soffit of a cornice.

Molding
A piece of trim that introduces varieties of outline or curved contours in edges or surfaces as on window jambs and heads. Moldings are generally divided into three categories

Mullion
A vertical primary framing member that separates paired or multiple windows within a single opening.

Muntin
A tertiary framing member that subdivides the sash into individual panes, lights or panels. Note

Newel
The main post at the foot of a stairway or stoop.

Non-significant features
The interior architectural features of the designated interior that the LPC has determined do not contribute to the special historic, cultural, and/or aesthetic character for which the interior was designated. These features comprise all of the interior architectural features of the interior with the exception of those features that are underscored in the designation report.

Notice of Compliance
A letter or notice from LPC that certifies that completed work complies with a permit

Notice of Violation
A notice from the Landmarks Preservation Commission that work on a landmark site or within an historic district was performed without a permit or was not performed in accordance with a permit issued by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Oblique
View in which a three-dimensional object is represented by a drawing (oblique drawing) in which the face, usually parallel to the picture plane, is represented in accurate or exact proportion, and all other faces are shown at any convenient angle other than 90°.

Occupiable space
A room, or enclosure and accessory installations thereof, which are intended for human occupancy or habitation

Oriel
A projecting bay window carried on corbels or brackets.

Original appearance
The visual appearance of a structure or site at approximately the time of its completed initial construction.

Palladian Window
A three-part window opening with a tall, round-arched center window flanked by smaller rectangular windows and separated by posts or pilasters.

Panel
A portion of a flat surface recessed, or raised from the surrounding area, distinctly set off by molding or some other decorative device.

Panning
An applied material, usually metal, that covers the front (exterior) surface of an existing window frame or mullion

Parapet
A low wall that serves as a vertical barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, or other raised area; in an exterior wall, the part entirely above the roof.

Parting strip
The small member, usually wood and usually removable, that separates the upper and lower sash pockets in the jamb of a double-hung window

Paver
A block of stone used in sidewalk or areaway paving.

Pediment
1. The triangular space forming the gable end of a roof above the horizontal cornice. 2. An ornamental gable, usually triangular, above a door or window.

Permit
Any permit other than a Notice to Proceed issued by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in accordance with the Landmarks Law

Pier
1. A column designed to support concentrated load. 2. A member, usually in the form of a thickened section, which forms an integral part of a wall; usually placed at intervals along the wall to provide lateral support or to take concentrated vertical loads. 3. A vertical supporting member or element (usually of brick, stone, or metal) placed at intervals along a wall, which typically separate each storefront opening from the adjacent storefront opening.

Pilaster
An engaged pier or pillar, often with capital and base.

Pitched
Sloping, especially referring to a roof.

Plinth
A platform base supporting a column or pilaster.

Pointing
The treatment of joints between bricks, stone, or other masonry components by filling with mortar; also, called tuck-pointing

Portico
A small porch composed of a roof supported by columns, often found in front of a doorway.

Post-1939 Building
Any building in the Riverdale Historic District built on or after January 1, 1940.

Pre-1940 Building
Any building in the Riverdale Historic District built, in whole or in part, prior to January 1, 1940 including buildings which have undergone subsequent remodeling and alterations.

Primary Façade
A facade facing a street or a public thoroughfare that is not necessarily a municipally dedicated space, such as a mews or court.

Principal Façade
A facade facing a street or a public thoroughfare that is not necessarily a municipally dedicated space, such as a mews or court.

Public Thoroughfare
Any publicly accessible right of way including, but not limited to a street, sidewalk, public park, and path.

Rail
A horizontal sash member.

Relief
Carved or molded ornament that projects from a flat surface.

Repointing
Process of renewing mortar joints; see pointing

Residential Awning
Any awning on a residential building and any awning on a commercial or mixed-use building except for storefront awnings.

Restoration
The process of returning, as nearly as possible, a building or any of its parts to its original form and condition.

Retractable Awning
An awning attached to a frame which allows it to be extended out or folded or rolled back tight against the building façade

Return
The part of a molding cornice, or wall surface that changes direction, usually at a right angle, toward the building wall.

Reveal
The side of an opening for a door or window between the frame and the outer surface of a wall, showing the wall’s thickness.

Reversible Alteration
An alteration in which the altered feature can be readily returned to its appearance prior to the alteration.

Rock-faced
Masonry treated with a rough surface that retains or simulates the irregular texture of natural stone.

Roll-down gate
A security gate with a mechanism that allows it to roll up and down.

Roof Plan
A drawing showing the arrangement of fixtures on the roof

Rooftop addition
A construction or an installation of mechanical equipment and/or occupiable space situated on any structure's roof.

Rosette
A round floral ornament, usually carved or painted.

Round arch
A semicircular arch.

Rowhouse
One of a group of an unbroken line of attached houses that share common side walls, known as party walls.

Rubble stone
Irregularly shaped, rough-textured stone laid in an irregular manner.

Rustication
Rusticated stonework composed of large blocks of masonry separated by wide, recessed joints; often imitated in other materials for decorative purposes.

Sash
The secondary part of a window which holds the glazing in place; may be operable or fixed; usually constructed of horizontal and vertical members; sash may be subdivided with muntins.

Scissor Gate
A security gate with a sideways retractable mechanism.

Secondary Façade
A facade that does not face a public thoroughfare or mews or court and that does not possess significant architectural features.

Section Drawing
A drawing representing a vertical plane cut through the structure

Security gate
A movable metal fixture installed in front of a storefront or inside the display window or door to protect the store from theft or vandalism when the store is closed. A security gate can be either the roll-down or scissor variety.

Security gate housing
The container that houses the rolling mechanism of a roll-down security gate.

Security gate tracks
The interior or exterior tracks along the sides of the storefront (for roll-down gates) or along the top and bottom of the storefront (for scissor gates) that hold the edges of the gates.

Segmental arch
An arch that’s in the form of a segment of a semicircle

Segmental or Curved-Head Window
A window with a non-rectilinear sash or frame as illustrated and defined as a special window in Appendices A and C of Chapter 3 of these rules.

Semi-detached
A building attached to a similar one on one side but unattached on the other.

Shaft
The vertical segment of a column or pilaster between the base and the capital.

Shed Dormer
A dormer window covered by a single roof slope without a gable.

Shingle
A unit composed of wood, cement, asphalt compound, slate, tile or the like, employed in an overlapping series to cover roofs and walls.

Shouldered Arch
An arch composed of a square-headed lintel supported at each end by a concave corbel.

Shutter Dogs
The metal attachments which hold shutters in an open position against the face of a building.

Sidelight
A vertically framed area of fixed glass, often subdivided into panes, flanking a door.

Sight line drawing
A drawing representing an uninterrupted view from eye level

Sign
A fixture or area containing lettering or logos used to advertise a store, goods, or services.

Sign band
The flat, horizontal area on the facade usually located immediately above the storefront and below the second story window sill where signs were historically attached. A sign band may also occur within a decorative bandcourse above a storefront.

Signage
Any lettering or logos in general, used to advertise a store, goods, or services.

Significant Feature
An exterior architectural component of a building that contributes to its special historic, cultural, and/or aesthetic character, or in the case of an historic district, that reinforces the special characteristics for which the historic district was designated.

Significant landscape improvement
Any landscape improvement which is a character-defining element in its historic district, contributing to the special aesthetic and historic character for which the district was designated, and including but not limited to those landscape improvements identified as landscape features in the designation report.

Sill
1.The lower horizontal part of a window frame or window opening; also the accessory member which extends as a weather barrier from frame to outside face of wall. 2. The horizontal member at the bottom of a window or door.

Site Plan
A drawing of the footprint of the subject building and immediate adjacent buildings indicating the location of the proposed work.

Skirt
A bottom finishing piece of fabric that hangs from the lower edge of an awning.

Soffit
1. The exposed underside of any architectural element, especially a roof. 2. The underside of a structural component such as a beam, arch, or recessed area.

Spalling
The chipping or erosion of masonry caused by abuse or weathering

Spandrel
1. A panel between the top of one window and the sill of another window on the story directly above it. 2. An irregular, triangular wall segment adjacent to an arched opening.

Spandrel Area
The portion of the facade below the sill of an upper story window and above the lintel of the window or display window directly below it or above the lintel of a window or display window and the building cornice or top of building.

Special Natural Area District
A district designated by the New York City Planning Commission pursuant to Article X, Chapter 5 of the New York City Zoning Resolution which is mapped in areas where outstanding natural features or areas of natural beauty are to be protected.

Special windows
(1) those windows in which the complexity of the muntin pattern or the molding profiles is one of the characteristics of the style and age of the building; or (2) windows having one or more of the following or similar attributes, including but not limited to

Stile
A main vertical member of a door or window

Stoop
The steps which lead to the front door; from the Dutch `stoep.”

Storefront
The first story area of the façade that provides access or natural illumination into a space used for retail or other commercial purposes.