Types

research institutes (buildings)

Buildings designed as separate, independent, and generally self-sufficient places to facilitate basic or applied research under contract or as nonprofit organizations.

research institutes (institutions)

Separate, independent, and generally self-sufficient institutions engaging in basic or applied research under contract or as nonprofit organizations. For institutions that support research conducted as part of a larger organization, use "research centers."

research laboratories

Laboratories equipped for both basic and applied research, usually set up in support of a larger organization which may then test and implement the research results.

research libraries (buildings)

Buildings or spaces housing libraries consisting of specialized documents, and providing facilities for undertaking exhaustive investigation and research.

research libraries (institutions)

Libraries consisting of specialized documents, and providing facilities for undertaking exhaustive investigation and research.

research parks

Industrial parks whose facilities are devoted primarily to research and development.

research stations

Refers to relatively isolated places with facilities for personnel habitation on site and for conducting on-site observations of natural phenomena in specific fields. Distinct from "experiment stations" which are primarily for research and experimenting and generally are not physically isolated.

research structures

Built works designed and used specifically for research.

reservoirs (water distribution structures)

Artificial ponds or lakes where water is accumulated and retained until needed.

residential districts

Areas of a town or city zoned for or used primarily for single- or multiple-family dwellings.

residential structures

Architecture or other accommodations produced for or adapted to provide shelter and security for the basic physical functions of life for an individual, family, or clan and their dependents, human and animal. Among the functions provided for are a place to sleep, prepare food, eat, and sometimes to work, usually having a door, window, or other source of light and with protection from the weather.

residential towers

No description is available for this term.

resorts

Buildings and other facilities located in a scenic, sporting, or other desirable area, and providing lodgings, entertainment, and other amenities for vacationers.

rest homes

Extended care facilities in a residential environment for the elderly, ill, or convalescing who need special, often medical, attention. Distinguished from "nursing homes" which emphasize round-the-clock skilled nursing care in primarily institutional environments.

rest rooms

Public facilities containing toilets and lavatories, such as are found in office buildings, schools, transportation facilities, and other nonresidential locations.

restaurants

Buildings housing businesses where meals or refreshments are sold and eaten.

restoration (process)

The process of making changes to an object or structure so that it will closely approximate its original state or other state at a specific time in its history. For changes not considering historical correctness, see "remodeling" or "renovation." When changes are made to prevent further deterioration, see "preservation." More generally, for treatment, preventive care, and research directed toward long-term safekeeping of cultural and natural heritage, see "conservation."

retail stores

Places of business where goods are sold directly to the ultimate consumers.

retaining walls

No description is available for this term.

retirement communities

Self-contained residential communities for retired people which provide for most of the daily needs of the residents. For similar facilities offering more comprehensive services, use "life care communities."

retirement homes

Multi-unit dwellings for the able-bodied elderly, often providing some common facilities for residents, as for social activities and meals.

retreats (events)

Periods of withdrawal to a place of seclusion for the purpose of spiritual rest and restoration.

ribbed vaults

Vaults that include ribs either as supporting or decorative elements.

ribbon windows

Several windows set directly adjacent, without intervening wall space, so as to form a horizontal band of fenestration; found in buildings of Modernist style.

ridges (landforms)

Ridges are elongated strips of elevated ground that may be either on dry land or underwater.

riding clubs

Complexes designed to board horses and accommodate equestrian events such as competitions, dressage, and recreational riding.

riding rings

Refers to enclosed, oval, circular, or rectangular spaces designed and equipped for horseback riding.

rifle ranges

Areas designed or used primarily for the shooting of rifles at targets.

riprap

Layers, facings, or protective embankments comprised of large irregular and randomly placed stones to prevent erosion, scour, or sloughing; also the stone so used.

river towns

Towns situated near or on a river.

riverbanks

The land margins of rivers.

riverfronts

Spaces, land, or part of a city or town on the edge of a river.

rivers

Bodies of water flowing in direct course or a series of divergents or converging channels.

road bridges

Bridges that carry a road.

road transportation structures

Buildings and structures used for functions related to road transportation.

roadhouses

Restaurants, inns, or hotels located beside or near roads or highways, often providing entertainment in addition to food and shelter.

roads

General term referring to all long outdoor passages used by and generally created by humans, intended to allow people to pass between different places, usually one wide enough to admit of the passage of wheeled vehicles, horses, or travellers on foot.

roadside rest areas

Turn-outs along roadways used as public rest stops; often having shade trees or shelters, toilets, picnic tables, and trash cans.

roadways

Those portions of thoroughfares over which vehicular traffic passes.

rock art

Paintings or carvings worked on living rock.

rock engravings

Images carved in low relief or inscribed into living rock with relatively linear incisions.

rock gardens

Gardens decorated with rocks, usually a wide variety of multicolored and differently shaped rocks.

rock shelters

Caves, sheltering overhangs, or other naturally occurring protected areas in the living rock that are or were used as shelters or dwellings by humans, other hominids, or animals.

rodeos

Public exhibitions of skill and competition that may include the riding of unbroken horses or bulls, roping of calves, wrestling with steers, and a round-up, which is the driving together of cattle in order to separate, count, inspect, or mark them. Public exhibitions of skill and competition that may include the riding of unbroken horses or bulls, roping of calves, wrestling with steers, and a round-up, which is the driving together of cattle in order to separate, count, inspect, or mark them.

roller coasters

Amusement park rides having a gravity train that moves along a closed loop on a sharply winding trestle built with steep inclines that produce sudden speedy plunges for thrill-seeking passengers.

roller-skating rinks

Buildings with large unobstructed spaces specially surfaced usually with hardwood or another smooth durable material for roller skating.

rolling mills

Steel mills where, usually hot, metal is passed between rollers to produce steel of a prescribed thickness or cross-sectional form.

roof gardens

Gardens, situated on rooftops, typically in urban areas above private houses or commercial buildings. The depth of soil is limited to keep the weight low and the plants are usually set in tubs or similar containers, but elaborate roof gardens have been constructed with small pools and beds.

rooftops

Areas located on the roof of a building, usually flat areas that are accessible to inhabitants of the building.

rooming houses

Houses, sometimes family homes or other relatively small buildings, that offer for a fixed fee apartments or rooms and sometimes meals. Rooming houses typically differ from boardinghouses in that a rooming house offers fewer amenities and less social contact with the family or other operators. However, in nineteenth-century American usage, the term may overlap in meaning with "boardinghouses."

root cellars

Cellars, partially or wholly underground and usually covered with dirt, where root crops and other crops are stored.

ropewalks

Long, usually narrow, buildings or spaces in which ropes are made, generally by spinning fibers into yarns, twisting yarns into strands, and twisting three or more strands into rope; usually producing rope for marine and seafaring industries and often located at or near seaports. Distinct from "roperies" which are used generally for any type of rope-making plant housed in any type of structure or space.

rose gardens

Flower gardens in which a majority of beds are designated for the cultivation of roses.

rose windows

Circular windows containing patterned tracery, particularly stained glass windows that are divided into compartments by mullions radiating from a center, or filled with tracery suggestive of the form of a rose or wheel.

rosette (motif)

Motif in the form of a stylized rose with petals radiating from the center, or for similar circular ornaments having a design radiating from the center.

rotundas (buildings)

Round buildings, especially those that are round both outside and inside and covered by domes.

rotundas (interior spaces)

Generally refers to large round rooms.

round barns

Historic barn design that flourished between the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States and Canada. Round barns were built in a variety of shapes: octagonal, polygonal, or circular.

round towers

Circular stone towers which taper toward the top, have a conical stone cap, four to five internal floors, and an entry door high above the ground; common in Ireland, associated with churches, and probably built between the 10th and 12th centuries.

roundhouses

Circular buildings for housing and repairing locomotives.

row houses

Urban dwellings attached in a series of three or more. For individual freestanding urban dwellings use "town houses."

royal palaces

Palaces for royalty, especially a monarch, usually grander in scale than other palaces and including accommodations for the royal court and its officers.

royal residences

Residences built for or inhabited by royalty.

ruins

The remains of buildings or groups of buildings that have been destroyed or are in a state of great disrepair or decay.

running tracks

Outdoor sports and recreation spaces, usually an extended oval in plan and having special surfacing and markings, designed for foot racing; for similar recreation spaces indoors, use "indoor tracks."

runways (airport runways)

Specially prepared surfaces on an airfield for the taking off and landing of aircraft.

runways (stage components)

Narrow projections of the stage extending out into the orchestra pit or the audience seating area, used by performers and fashion models.

rural areas

Settlement areas characterized by country life or agriculture.

rural communities

Communities, usually small in size, located outside urban areas in isolated or undeveloped areas.

rural land use

The use of a lot or parcel of real property for farming or agriculture.

rural schools (buildings)

Small buildings that house educational facilities, built in sparsely populated nonurban areas to provide public, usually elementary, education to local residents. Use when emphasizing the function or location of such buildings; when emphasizing the small size or form of some early examples, prefer "one-room schools."

sacristies (religious spaces)

Rooms in or attached to churches where the sacred vessels and other treasures are kept. Vestments may also be stored here and the space used by the celebrants to dress for the services. For rooms used primarily for dressing for the services, use "vestries (dressing rooms)," although in modern usage, particularly for newer and smaller churches, the vestry and the sacristy are often the same room.

saddleries

No description is available for this term.

sail lofts

Large rooms where sails are cut out, fabricated, and maintained.

salons (rooms for entertaining)

Spacious, usually formal and elegantly furnished rooms, used primarily for entertaining.

saloons (bars)

Public refreshment places with more emphasis on drinking, normally alcoholic beverages, than on eating, and offering a stage show or other type of public entertainment in the main room, but providing no overnight accommodations; use "pubs" for similar facilities, but generally offering no staged entertainment; use "taverns" for establishments offering overnight accommodations as well as food and drink but no staged entertainment.

saltbox houses

Denotes houses with two stories in front and one in back and with an asymmetrical gable roof where the rear slope is longer than the front slope.

saltworks

Factories where salt is made on a commercial scale.

sample rooms

Showrooms in hotels specially arranged for the display of merchandise by traveling salesmen.

sanatoriums

Health care facilities for the chronically ill.

sanctuaries (religious building spaces)

Refers to the most sacred spaces of religious buildings; in a Christian church, the area containing the main altar.

sanitary landfills

Refuse dumps over which layers of earth or ashes are heaped regularly to control pests and odors.

sarcophagi (coffins)

Coffins made of stone or terracotta, generally ornamented with sculpture or carving and of a size large enough to contain the entire body. Antique examples were often extensively decorated with relief sculpture, which were highly influential on Renaissance artists. Many sarcophagi were also produced in the Baroque and Neoclassical eras. Pliny explains that the derivation of the word ("flesh eating" in Greek) refers specifically to coffins of limestone from the Troad (the region around Troy), which was believed to cause rapid dissolving of the body; more probably, the term refers to various religious and folkloristic ideas that resulted in calling any coffin a body eater. The word came into general use as the name for any large stone coffin in imperial Rome, and is now generally used to refer to large, ornate stone coffins from any period or place.

sash windows

Windows in a sliding frame, having a vertically or horizontally hung sash, but usually not a double-hung window.

satellite tracking stations

Buildings and other structures used for tracking satellites in orbit.

saunas (spaces)

Rooms for bathing in which steam is produced from water thrown on heated stones or other similar materials.

savannas

Category of grasslands having scattered individual trees, found in warm or hot climates where the annual rainfall is 51 to 127 cm. Rainfall is concentrated in six or eight months of the year, followed by a long period of drought when fires can occur; if the rain were well distributed throughout the year, many such areas would become tropical forest.

savings banks

Buildings that house banks having the primary purpose of taking charge of relatively small sums of money that comprise the savings of members of the population, in contrast to money belonging to corporations or wealthy individuals.

sawmills (factories)

Factories in which logs are converted to lumber by running them through a series of saws.

scenic byways

Roads of aesthetic, cultural, or historic value, that contain outstanding scenic vistas, unusual geologic formations or other elements providing enjoyment for the traveler.

school camps

Camps run by a particular school, and typically promoting or supplementing the educational program of the school; typical school camps are outdoors and designed for children. Camps run by a particular school, and typically promoting or supplementing the educational program of the school; typical school camps are outdoors and designed for children.

school districts

Administrative areas having their own board and power of taxation and serving as the smallest units for administration of a public school system.

school farms

Farms attached to education facilities either for the purpose of teaching agriculture or providing meats and produce to the parent institution. Farms attached to education facilities either for the purpose of teaching agriculture or providing meats and produce to the parent institution.

schoolhouses

Buildings used to house schools, usually of the elementary level, either devised or appropriated for this use. The term is generally applied to a-frame structures often with one interior space found in rural areas of the United States and Canada, but may be applied to any building type in the context of primary education.

schools (buildings)

Individual buildings or groups of buildings designed or used as places of instruction, typically having one or more classrooms where students may sit at desks and listen to an instructor, often including a library and other areas having books, computers, or other items necessary for the lessons.

schools (institutions)

Organizations or establishments that provide instruction.

schoolyards

Open outdoor spaces adjacent to school buildings used for free or regimented play, or for other purposes.

science buildings

No description is available for this term.

science museums (buildings)

Buildings housing museums containing collections dealing with the development and application of science, scientific ideas, technology, and instrumentation.

science museums (institutions)

Museums containing collections dealing with the development and application of science, scientific ideas, technology, and instrumentation. Like museums of natural science and natural history, science museums have their origins in the Enlightenment. Some of them developed from the collections of learned societies, others from private collections