GLOSSARY OF ARCHITECTURAL
Terms   B

• BALUSTRADE A railing composed of POSTS (balusters) and a handrail.

• BARGEBOARD Boards or other decorative woodwork fixed to the edges or projecting rafters of a gabled roof. Sometimes called gingerbread.

• BARREL VAULTA masonry vault in the form of a semicircular arch.

• BASTION In military architecture, an angular and pointed projection, often diamond-shaped and usually located at a corner, that enabled gunners to defend the ramparts and curtains of a fortification.

• BATTLEMENT A notched parapet, originally intended for defence; the notches are called battlements or crenellations. Hence a battlemented parapet is also known as a crenellated parapet.

• BAY A window, door, or other opening, comprising one visual division of an elevation or a facade.

• BEAM A principal horizontal structural member.

• BELLCAST An eave that curves, or flares, outward like the flanges of a bell.

• BELT COURSE In a masonry wall, a distinctive course that usually projects slightly and may be decorated, forming a distinct horizontal band; also called a string course.

• BOARD AND BATTEN See siding.

• BOSS In masonry construction, a projecting ornament, often located at the intersection of two components.

• BROACHSPIRE A polygonal spire set on top of a square tower; the transitional elements are called broaches.

• BRACKET A member often triangular in form,that projects from a wall or other vertical surface and supports another component, such as an EAVE.

• BUTTRESS A vertical strip of heavy masonry applied to the wall of a building to provide structural reinforcement against lateral forces (as from a vault or an arch). When the buttress is a free-standing pier attached to the wall by one or more arches, it is called a flying buttress.