What is a utility riser shaft?
A utility riser shaft (Dutch: stijgkast) carries the incoming utility lines vertically through a multi-storey building, with a meter cupboard connected on each floor.
What is the pitch of a stair?
The pitch of a stair is its angle of inclination in degrees from the horizontal. It follows from the ratio of the rise to the going.
What is stiffness?
Stiffness is the resistance of a structure or member to deformation, such as deflection, under load. Being stiff is not the same as being strong.
What is a roof diaphragm?
A roof diaphragm is a roof plane that is stiff in its own plane, so horizontal forces such as wind are carried through the roof to the walls.
What is a stiepel?
A stiepel is the removable timber centre post between the two leaves of the large barn door of a farmhouse in the east of the Netherlands.
What is a drywall deadman?
A drywall deadman is a temporary T-shaped prop, usually cut on site from timber, that holds a plasterboard sheet against the ceiling while it is fixed.
What is a strength class?
A strength class is a standardised grading of a building material by strength, such as C25/30 for concrete, C24 for timber, S355 for steel or M10 for masonry mortar.
What is a stellar vault?
A stellar vault, or star vault, is a Gothic rib vault in which extra ribs (tiercerons and liernes) form a star pattern in each bay.
What is a stereobate?
A stereobate is the lower step or steps of the crepidoma, the stepped base of a Greek temple, below the stylobate on which the columns stand.
What is a Japanese rock garden?
A Japanese rock garden (karesansui, dry landscape or Zen garden) is a stylised landscape of rocks and raked gravel representing water, made to be viewed rather than walked in.