GLOSSARY OF ARCHITECTURAL
Terms   A

• ACROTERION An ornamental projection at the corner, or peak, of a roof; or the base that supports the ornament.

• ALTER To change in any manner, without limiting this, includes and action that detracts from the heritage value or heritage character of heritage property.

• AMERICAN RICHARDSONIAN SCHOOL The style developed by the American architect Henry Richardson (1836-1886). Architectural features of the style include massive forms composed from the juxtaposition of rough cast stone, cyclopean archways, and heavy tower elements.

• APSE In a church, a semicircular or polygonal projection at the altar (usually east) end, beyond the sanctuary.

• ARCADE A row of arches.

• ARCH A form of curved construction, usually made from masonry, that spans an opening in a wall and distributes the weight above it on the walls or PIERS at either side.

• ARCH-AND-SPANDREL A wall treatment similar to a pier-and-spandrel motif, but in which the piers are joined at the top by arches.

• ARCHITRAVE A horizontal beam or lintel, that rests on columns or piers; or the lowest portion of an entablature; or a decorative moulding around a door, a window, or an arch.

• ARCHIVOLT One of several parallel curved, and often decorated, mouldings on the inside of an arched opening; a curved architrave.

• ASHLAR Stone that has been cut square and dressed.

• ATRIUM In classical architecture, an interior courtyard that is open to the weather. In contemporary architecture, a significant interior space, often skylighted, used for circulation.