Glossary 207Ceiling coffer A form of concrete roof construction, where, to add
strength without increased weight, square holes or ‘coffers’ are omitted
leaving a ‘waffle’ shape into which services can be placed.
Clerestorey (also clear-storey, and pronounced this way) The upper
storey with windows above the side aisle roofs, giving high level daylight
particularly in a church.
Conservation The protection of works of art against the deleterous
effects of the environment. The control of light levels (particularly ultra
violet) is a major component of conservation.
Dimensional cooardination The manner in which different building
materials are planned to fit together.
Floor plate A modern term meaning the plan of a building at each of its
levels.
Flying buttress An external abutment designed to take the horizontal
thrust from an internal arch in a building. This was a device used in the
mediaeval cathedral to permit lightweight construction of the external
wall, akin to the curtain walls of today.
Folded plate Ceiling development of shell concrete construction.
Glass brick The development of ‘bricks’ made from glass in the 1930s
allowed architects to design structural ‘see-through’ walls. The Maison
Verre in Paris is a well-known modern example; although not widely
used today they remain a useful architects tool.
Lighting gantry A light weight ‘bridge’ independent of the main struc-
ture of a building, providing support and electric power to light fittings.
Roof monitors/laylights The roof construction in which daylight is per-
mitted to enter a space from overhead. In the case of factories they would
be designed to control the entry of sunlight.
Roof truss A development of the beam supports to a roof allowing an
openwork lattice to accept services.
Scale Scale is a matter of ‘proportion,’ the larger the scale, the less
human the building will appear. It is sometimes difficult to judge the
size of a particular building or interior until a person is added to give it
‘scale’.
Shell concrete A thin skin of reinforced concrete, formed in a curve to
span the roofs of large areas.
Spandrel The infill defining the floor level in modern building.
Sprinkler system Fire control by means of a system of water pipes
which are designed to deluge water to douse a fire, when design tem-
peratures are exceeded.
Sustainable building Applied to development which meets the needs
of the present, and is at least as valuable to future generations, as the
value of the environment exploitation that results. This can be applied to
the concept of ‘‘net zero energy demand’’.
Undercroft A term in mediaeval architecture depicting the lower level
vaulting of a cathedral, above which the main edifice is built.