Types

pleasure gardens

Gardens, whether public or private, intended for enjoyment and amusement. Pleasure gardens may focus on flowers, shrubs, vegetables, and fruit trees, together with pedestrian paths, water features, mazes, vistas, etc.; typically enclosed by a wall or hedge. For larger areas having a similar purpose but without an enclosing wall and including woods, use "pleasure parks." Later pleasure gardens were sometimes open to the public and charged a fee for admittance.

podiums (building divisions)

Continuous pedestals or bases of buildings; appropriate for such elements in Roman or Etruscan temples. For similar features found in Greek temples prefer "stylobates."

pointed arches

Arches composed of two intersecting arcs of a circle, struck so that the apex of the arch is a point.

police academies (buildings)

Buildings that house schools for training individuals to become policemen, usually in accordance with state requirements.

police stations

Headquarters for the police of a particular district, from which police officers are dispatched and to which persons under arrest are brought.

polo fields

Outdoor or indoor areas of turf for play of the equestrian sport of polo. The outdoor polo field has dimensions of 300 x 160 yards, with goals located at each end between two vertical goal posts that are 24 feet apart and light enough to break in case of collision. Outdoor or indoor areas of turf for play of the equestrian sport of polo. The outdoor polo field has dimensions of 300 x 160 yards, with goals located at each end between two vertical goal posts that are 24 feet apart and light enough to break in case of collision.

polyclinics

Buildings that house clinics treating diseases and injuries of many sorts, offering broad general care that is usually on an outpatient basis. Polyclinics include hospital outpatient departments at a general practitioner health center or hospital in an urban or town environment, as well as facilities attached to major factories or other work places. They often contain reception and waiting rooms, a registration desk, consulting and treatment rooms, a pathological laboratory, X-ray facilities, physiotherapy areas, and small operating theaters.

polygonal

Having the form of a plane figure with three or more straight sides and the same number of angles.

polygons

Geometric plane figures having three or more straight sides and the same number of angles.

polytechnics (buildings)

Buildings that are distinguished from "universities" by traditionally providing space for training technicians in business, industry, and commerce for an immediate local area, having fewer residence facilities, and offering more part-time classes. For buildings housing educational institutions emphasizing training in agriculture or specific trades, use "vocational schools."

ponds (water)

Relatively small bodies of water, usually surrounded on all sides by land.

pool halls

Refers to public establishments equipped with pool and/or billiard tables.

pools (bodies of water)

Still bodies of water smaller than ponds.

porches

Use to designate roofed spaces, open along two or more sides and adjunct to a building, commonly serving either to shelter an entrance or used as living space.

portable buildings

Buildings designed to be movable rather than permanently located.

porte-cochères

Projecting roofs or porchlike structures that shelter vehicles and passengers at the entrances to buildings; also for short vehicular tunnels through buildings, sheltering an entrance.

porticoes

Roofed porchlike spaces, open along at least one side and usually associated with an entrance, supported by columns and often surmounted by a pediment; porticoes may project from the main building mass or be recessed in it.

ports (settlements)

Settlement areas possessing a harbor and terminal facilities used for loading or unloading, or water transportation. By extension, the term is also applied to such areas facilitating air transportation.

ports of entry

Places such as harbors, airports, or border crossing facilities through which people and goods may lawfully enter a country.

post exchanges

Shops at military posts where goods and services are available to military personnel and authorized civilians, whether the goods are provided by the military or by a sutler.

post offices

Public buildings within a government postal system at which mail is received and sorted, from which it is distributed, and at which stamps are sold and other services rendered.

post-and-beam structures

Structures based on upright posts or columns supporting horizontal beams or lintels; these exclude balloon frames and platform frames, in which support is by stud walls.

potter's fields

Public burial places for paupers, unknown persons, and criminals.

potteries (manufactories)

Establishments that specialize in making clay pottery, such as earthen pots or vessels.

poultry houses

Structures constructed for or used to shelter poultry, having either a large open space provided with food, water, and roosting areas, often with an accessible opening to the outdoors, or a series of small pens containing one or two animals raised for meat or to produce eggs.

powder magazines

Military storage buildings for priming powder and similar explosives.

powder mills

Refers to factories in which gunpowder is made.

power plants

Complexes of buildings and other structures with machinery for generating electricity. For individual buildings in which electricity, or other forms of power, are generated for the operation of machinery or vehicles, or supplying power to other buildings in a complex, use "powerhouses."

powerhouses

Buildings in which electricity or other forms of power are generated for the operation of machinery or vehicles, or supplying power to other buildings in a complex; distinguished from "power plants" which are complexes producing power on a much larger scale.

praetoriums

In the ancient Roman Empire, the official residences of provincial governors.

prairies

Extensive unwooded grasslands, usually flat or gently rolling; found in the central portions of North America.

Pratt trusses

Trusses having parallel chords, vertical members in compression, and diagonal members (which slant toward the center) in tension.

Pre-Columbian (American)

Refers to the aboriginal Native American cultures that developed in North, South and Central America before the arrival of Europeans beginning in the late 15th century CE. The term is sometimes used more narrowly to only refer to early cultures from Mexico and Central and South America.

precincts

Districts within a city, town, or other community marked out for specific governmental or administrative purposes, such as for electoral, school, or police services.

prefabrication

The making of components, usually standardized and factory-made, that are later assembled during the construction of an object or structure.

prehistoric sites

Sites that contain evidence of prehistoric human activity, often through archaeological investigation.

preparatory schools (buildings)

Buildings that house private schools intended to prepare students for more advanced formal education.

presidential libraries (buildings)

Buildings housing institutions that are typically more like museums or archives than libraries, containing the papers and sometimes exhibits about a given U.S. president and his administration.

presidential residences

Dwellings built for or inhabited by the president of a nation.

presidios

Military settlements established by the Spanish in America often as garrisoned forts or outposts.

press boxes

The quarters assigned as working space for media personnel, as at sporting events and political conventions, and usually equipped with communications facilities.

print shops (stores)

Printsellers' shops, that is, stores in which the primary items for sale are prints.

printing plants

Facilities, office, or business where the printing of books or other works takes place.

printing presses

Devices used to transfer an impression from type, blocks, plates, or stones to a surface, usually paper.

priories

Religious houses that rank immediately below abbeys and are presided over by a prior or prioress.

prisons (buildings)

Buildings or other facilities to which people are legally committed as punishment for a crime or while awaiting trial. In North America, the term specifically denotes a facility run by the state or federal government for those who have been convicted of serious crimes, in contrast to a locally run facility for those awaiting trial or convicted of minor offences. As developed since the late 18th century, prisons are generally characterized by cell and corridor plans with separation by offense and sex, and programs of rehabilitation provided as means toward prisoner reform. Use "jails (buildings)" for places for offenders sentenced either for lesser crimes or relatively short terms.

prisons (institutions)

Institutions having facilities where people are legally committed as punishment for a crime or while awaiting trial. In North America, the term specifically denotes a facility run by the state or federal government for those who have been convicted of serious crimes, in contrast to a locally run facility for those awaiting trial or convicted of minor offences. Use "jails (institutions)" for facilities for offenders sentenced either for lesser crimes or relatively short terms.

private chapels

Rooms or other relatively small places set aside for worship by an individual, family, or small group, where no public services are provided. A private chapel may be within the confines of a larger church, home, or other larger building; it may also be a free standing structure.

private gardens

Originally, gardens designed to reflect the power and largesse of the aristocracy. Contemporary usage extends to gardens maintained by individuals that are somehow enclosed or secluded, regardless of size, and that may evoke the fanciful or fantastic. Variations of the private garden may be designed to house a collection of artworks, or to highlight a particular plant genus.

private libraries (buildings)

Buildings or spaces housing lbraries that are formed by the collections of individuals rather than as a public institution.

private libraries (institutions)

Libraries formed by the collections of individuals rather than as a public institution and often devoted to a particular subject or interest.

private schools (buildings)

Buildings that house schools that are established, conducted, and primarily supported by a nongovernmental agency and available to a limited set of students.

private schools (institutions)

Educational institutions that are established, conducted, and primarily supported by a nongovernmental agency and available to a limited set of students.

privies

Rooms or spaces that are within buildings and have one or more seats and a pit used as toilets which lack plumbing facilities, distinguished from "outhouses" which are separate structures in domestic contexts containing similar arrangements of toilet facilities. For rooms or spaces with toilets having plumbing, use "bathrooms" or "lavatories (rooms)."

processing plants

Facilities established or used to transform, alter, or treat a product or other thing by using a special process or technique, including operating upon the thing mechanically or chemically.

projection booths

Rooms at the rear of auditoriums or classrooms for the operation of, usually, motion-picture projectors, slide projectors, or spotlights.

promenades (walkways)

Places for strolling; public walks.

promontories

Bluffs or prominent hills overlooking or projecting into a lowland. For high features projecting into a sea, use "headlands."

psychiatric hospitals

Hospital facilities where those with mental disorders are confined for observation and treatment.

public art

Art and architectural elements having the purpose of beautifying and enriching public places rather than private spaces, whether or not the works are also functional. For art undertaken in conjunction with particular communities, usually to produce an effect or inspire response specifically within those communities, use "community art." For art associated with urban design, planning, and preservation, use "municipal art."

public baths

Buildings equipped with swimming pools and other facilities for bathing and swimming, traditionally the primary hygienic facility in a city or town.

public buildings (governmental buildings)

Buildings or groups of buildings owned and operated by a governing body, carrying out official duties, and often occupied by a governmental agency.

public gardens

Planned spaces that are open to the public, usually located outdoors, and focused on plants and other natural or landscaped features.

public housing

Low cost housing, owned, sponsored, or administered by a municipal or other governmental agency.

public land

Land owned by the government.

public libraries (buildings)

Buildings or spaces housing collections of books that are available to the public and typically maintained by public funds, as distinguished from libraries available only to a certain group or individual.

public libraries (institutions)

Libraries that are available to the public and typically maintained by public funds, as distinguished from libraries available only to a certain group or individual.

public parks

No description is available for this term.

public safety buildings

Buildings housing offices concerned with health matters, disaster management, and other issues surrounding the public safety of a community.

public schools (buildings)

Buildings that house schools maintained at public expense for the education of children of a community or district as part of a free education system; generally includes elementary and high schools.

public schools (institutions)

Educational institutions maintained at public expense for the education of children of a community or district as part of a free education system; generally includes elementary and high schools.

public sculpture

Sculptural works installed in public places and thus accessible and visible to all members of the community.

public spaces

Open spaces designed for public use or are accesible to the public, often designed to foster a sense of community.

public transit (infrastructure)

Transit systems, buses, trains, etc., that run on fixed routes at set times and may be used by any person, either free or subject to a fare.

publishing houses

Businesses that make books and other works of writers and songwriters available to the public, traditionally through books or other printed materials.

pubs

Public refreshment facilities with more emphasis on drinking, normally alcoholic beverages, than on eating or entertainment, which if provided usually occurs in separate, often back rooms, and offering no accommodations; use "saloons" for similar places but with staged entertainment provided in the main room; use "taverns" for establishments offering public accommodations as well as general refreshments, but no entertainment other than social gatherings.

pueblos (housing complexes)

Multistory, multiroom complex dwellings, often built on mesas or in cliffs, common among certain Indian cultures of the southwestern United States; distinguished from "Great Houses (complexes)" by their location and agglutinated construction.

pueblos (settlements)

Spanish civilian colonial settlements in the southwestern United States founded primarily for farming and trading.

pulp mills

Mills or factories where wood is reduced to paper pulp.

pulpits

Elevated stands enclosed by a guardrail and a platform on which to rest a book, intended for clergy to preach to the congregation; usually situated within a church and may be fixed or movable (movable pulpit). It often has a staircase, a backboard, and a sounding-board.

pump rooms

Rooms at a spa designed for drinking mineral waters, as at Bath, England.

pumping stations

Installations with equipment for raising water in water distribution systems to a higher elevation; may be used for similar structures in sewage systems.

pylons

Monumental gateways to Egyptian temples, consisting of a pair of towerlike structures with slanting walls flanking the entrance portal; may also be used more loosely for any large isolated structures used to mark a boundary, as at approaches to bridges or avenues.

pyramids (tombs or platforms)

Monumental structures with a square or triangular base and inclined triangular sides, usually meeting at a point. The most famous pyramids are those used as mausolea in ancient Egypt; they were focal points of much larger funerary complexes. However, pyramids, usually with flat tops, are also found in Central America, where they were used as platforms for altars or temples, occasionally also covering the burial chamber of a ruler.