Floor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In architecture, a floor is generally the lower horizontal surface of a room (see also flooring).
The various levels in a building are also called floors, levels or stories/storeys[1]: "ground floor or main floor," "first story," "mezzanine floor," etc.
Confusion arises from the two forms of floor numbering in use worldwide.
In most of continental Europe, as well as the British Isles and much of the Commonwealth, the floor at the ground level is the ground floor and the floor above is the first floor, which maintains the continental European use that dates from the days of the construction of palaces. For example, in French, the term for the ground floor is rez de chaussée. But in North American usage (except in Quebec), the floor at the ground level is usually, but not always, the first floor and the floor above is the second floor; this system is also used in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. China follows the American system, except that the numbers used are cardinals (one, two, three, etc.) rather than ordinals (first, second, third).
The principal floor is the story that contains the chief apartments, whether on the ground floor or the floor above; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the piano nobile. The story below the ground floor is called the basement even if only a little below ground level, or the cellar; the story in a roof is known as the attic or the loft.
In the U.S., the expressions one pair, two pair, etc., apply to the stories above the first flight of stairs from the ground (see also carpentry).
[edit] See also
- Blueprint
- Flooring
- Glass floor
- Raised floor
- Thirteenth floor
- Floor coverings/materials:
[edit] References
- ^ Singular: story or storey; plural: stories or storeys, respectively. See American and British English spelling differences.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
