Building

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some buildings in Rotterdam

Buildings and other structures are things built by people, that do not move, and are usually bigger than most humans.

The word building is mostly used for inside places where people live, work, or visit. Structure is more likely to be used for things like towers, bridges, and amphitheaters.

A building usually has walls and a roof. The walls stop things like wind and noise. Many buildings have windows because walls also stop light and people need light to see. Of course, they can also use light bulbs. The roof of a building keeps out things like rain and snow and other weather. Most buildings also have doors to let people in and out.

The inside of a building is called "indoors". Places not inside a building are called "outdoors".

Houses and offices are buildings. So are stores, hospitals, fire stations, schools, and lots of other places that are not outside.

Some buildings have a place where people can walk that is above the ground, whether other people can walk. These are called 'floors' or 'stories'. You have to use stairs or elevators, or something else that can make you move up and down, to visit a different floor. In big cities, some buildings can have many floors above other floors, and the buildings are very tall. Floors in buildings, especially big ones, usually have their own numbers. The numbers get bigger as you go up.

Sometimes buildings also have floors that are underneath the floor on the ground. These are called 'basements', 'cellars', or 'sublevels'. Sometimes they also have numbers which get bigger as you go down, but the numbers are different (they might have a letter in front).

In small buildings that have more than one floor, like some houses, the floor on top of you is called "upstairs" and the floor underneath you is called "downstairs".