Types

ski runs

Downhill paths on a mountain or large hill that are maintained for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports, usually marked, patrolled, and graded according to difficulty.

ski trails

Trails or slopes prepared for skiing, particularly trails through the landscape or trees, as distinguished from ski runs that are always downhill, and usually marked, patrolled, and graded according to difficulty.

ski-lift stations

Refers to structures located along ski lifts and designed for loading and unloading skiers, which usually include ski-lift controls and shelter for operators.

skipjacks

No description is available for this term.

skirt-roofs

Small, usually false portions of roofing between the stories of a building. Small, usually false portions of roofing between the stories of a building.

skybridges

Bridgelike structures for pedestrians built to link one building with another across an alley or street; (RHDEL2) for the network of interconnecting walkways incorporating skybridges, use "skywalks."

skylights

Openings in a roof, glazed or filled with other transparent or translucent material, serving to admit light to a space below.

skylines

Outlines, especially of a series of buildings, as seen against the sky.

skyscrapers

Exceptionally tall buildings of skeletal frame construction.

skywalks

Denotes generally enclosed and climate-controlled pedestrian walkways or networks of them consisting of bridgelike structures over streets, second-story corridors within buildings, and various activity hubs connecting retail and service establishments, usually in a downtown area; for the individual bridgelike structures over streets, use "skybridges."

slaughterhouses

Places where animals are killed for food.

slave quarters

Houses or parts of houses occupied by slaves, who are people treated as the property of another person, whether by capture, purchase, or birth.

sleeping porches

Porches or rooms having open sides or many windows arranged to permit sleeping in the open air.

slips (waterfront spaces)

Unoccupied open water spaces set between adjacent piers or perpendicular to landing places, especially those spaces which can accommodate only one vessel at a time; when such spaces are alongside land places, use "berths (waterfront spaces)." Use "docks" for open water spaces when occupied by vessels made fast to landing places.

slopes (landforms)

Deviations from the horizontal or perpendicular, particularly stretches of rising or falling ground, including any portion of the earth's surface marked by a gradual ascent or descent, whether natural or artificial.

sloughs

Pieces of soft, miry, or muddy ground, particularly areas of thoroughfares that are filled with wet mud or mire and impassable by vehicles, horses, etc.

sluices

Artificial passages of wood or masonry, a dam or embankment, used for impounding the water of river, stream, or canal, and fitted with a valve or gate for stopping or regulating the flow.

slums

Densely populated usually urban areas characerized by crowding, dirty run-down housing, poverty, and social disorganization.

smart cities

No description is available for this term.

smelters (metalworking plants)

Metalworking plants where ore is melted or fused, often with an accompanying chemical change, usually to separate the metal from the other material.

smithies

Workshops of a blacksmith, who is an ironsmith who makes iron into tools or other objects.

Smithsonian

No description is available for this term.

smock mills

Windmills having a polygonal tower with sloping sides, with sails mounted on a rotating cap.

smokehouses

Buildings or rooms built or used for the containment of smoke, usually such buildings or rooms where meat or fish is dried or cured by means of dense smoke. Also, rooms or structures in a tannery that are heated by smoldering bark and used to unhair hides.

smoking rooms

Rooms set apart for smoking, as in hotels or clubhouses.

snack bars

Eating facilities where quick, light meals, refreshments, or snacks are served, usually at a counter.

snow fences

Fences of laths wired together, set perpendicular to the direction of prevailing winds to catch drifting snow.

soccer fields

Playing areas upon which soccer is played, comprising turf grounds of a standard size, determined by the official rules of the game, typically 105 x 68 meters (115 x 74 yards) for professional play.

societies' buildings

Buildings belonging to or used by members of professional, fraternal, or trades organizations.

soda fountains

Restaurants with counters at which soda water, ice cream, and light meals are served; may also be used to designate the dispensing equipment or counter itself, especially when found as fixtures in commercial buildings, such as drugstores.

softball fields

Refers to the entire playing area upon which softball is played.

solar buildings

Buildings designed to store and use solar radiation for heat or electricity.

solar houses

Houses designed to store and use solar radiation for heat or electricity.

solariums (building spaces)

Sunny rooms or balconies designed for exposure to the rays of the sun. In ancient Greek and Roman houses, solariums were open sunporches or apartments on the roofs of buildings. In modern usage, may also refer to rooms having large windows, particularly rooms provided for patients in hospitals or clinics.

soldiers' monuments

Monuments honoring soldiers, often of a particular military branch, regiment or other group, or battle.

sorority houses

Dwellings in the United States owned and operated by societies for women for the benefit of their constituents and not open to the general public. They generally serve as a dormitory for sorority members in a college or university setting.

sound studios

Buildings or spaces designed or used for audio recording, typically conforming to special acoustical requirements and having specialized equipment.

spas (health resorts)

Resorts or other facilities possessing or located near natural mineral springs or pools that are valued because of the believed restorative or curative powers of the water; also, artificial pools or other aquatic facilities containing waters believed to have restorative powers. The term is derived from the proper name of Spa, Liège province, Belgium, celebrated for the believed curative properties of its mineral springs.

special libraries (buildings)

Buildings housing privately owned libraries established to meet the needs of the members or staff of the owning institution.

special libraries (institutions)

Privately owned libraries established, supported, and administered by a business firm, private corporation, association, government agency, etc., to meet the needs of its members or staff in pursuing the goals of the organization.

special needs

No description is available for this term.

specialty stores

Stores that carry a deep assortment within a narrow line of goods, such as furniture stores, florists, sporting goods stores, and bookstores.

speedways (roads)

Tracks or roads prepared for fast transportation, including roads for horses or motor vehicles where the dirt surface has been packed or covered with asphalt or another material, and the course is generally straight and flat, where possible.

spheres (geometric figures)

A geometrical figure comprising the set of all points in three-dimensional space lying the same distance (the radius) from a given point (the center), or the result of rotating a circle about one of its diameters.

spinning mills

Textile mills in which thread is spun.

spiral stairs

Staircases that are circular in plan, consisting entirely of winders or wedge-shaped steps.

spires

Tall structures that are at least roughly pyramidal, polygonal, or conical and that rise from towers or roofs.

spirit houses (religious structures)

Small or miniature houses in which guardian or deceased spirits are invited to live. They may be set on wooden posts; they may exist in groups together in house compounds. The practice is common in several cutures, including among Native Americans, in Japan, in Thailand, and in other locations.

spirit ways

The processional approaches to tomb sites, flanked by pillars, stelae, and stone carvings which often take the form of guardian figures.

split-level houses

Houses in which the floor levels of adjacent living areas differ by less than a full story.

sporting goods stores

Stores specializing in the retail sale of sporting equipment, such as rackets, balls, clubs, etc., and specialized clothing designed to be worn while playing sports.

sports buildings

Designates buildings providing facilities for athletic events or training and, usually, support facilities for participants and spectators.

sports complexes

Building complexes and associated grounds that are designed for playing sports and the accommodation of large crowds of viewers, including seating or other viewing areas, dining facilities, tracks, pools, or various other playing areas. For inhabited places having sports as a focus, use "sporting centers (inhabited places)."

springhouses

Buildings enclosing a natural spring; sufficiently cool for use as a storehouse of milk and other dairy products.

springs (bodies of water)

Water issuing naturally from the rock or soil upon the land or into a body of surface water.

squares (open spaces)

Open public spaces in cities or towns, usually rectilinear, surrounded by buildings, and located at the junction of two or more thoroughfares.

squash courts

Four-walled, enclosed courts marked for the racket and ball game of squash racquets.

stable and barn spaces

No description is available for this term.

stables (animal housing)

Buildings or portions of buildings for the housing and feeding of horses, cattle, and other such domestic animals, and often also for storing riding equipment and vehicles, and which occasionally have living quarters for associated personnel. For barnlike structures used primarily for housing farmstock and feed, see, for example, "horse barns" or "cattle barns."

stacks (shelves)

Areas of shelves in a library.

stadiums

Large usually unroofed buildings with tiers of seats for spectators built in various shapes and enclosing a field used for sports events.

stage houses

Parts of theaters holding the stage and the space above it.

stage stations

Stations or inns located on a stage route that provide change of horses for couriers and provisions for passengers.

stages (performance spaces)

Theatrical platforms, visible to an audience and commonly framed by a proscenium arch, on which performances are carried out.

stair towers

Clearly articulated, often towerlike, building appendages containing only stairs.

stairwells

Spaces, extending through one or more floors, that contain staircases.

stalls (stable spaces)

Divisions of stables or barns, each accommodating one animal.

standpipes (plumbing)

Tanks or vertical pipes connected to water-supply systems and used to insure uniform pressure or to store water for emergency use.

state capitols

Buildings housing state legislatures in the U.S. states.

state colleges (buildings)

Buildings that house colleges that are financially supported by a state government, either the government of a U.S. state or the national government of certain other nations.

state libraries (buildings)

Buildings housing libraries maintained by state funds.

state parks

Parks owned or maintained by the state, particularly a U.S. state.

state prisons (buildings)

Buildings that house prisons administered by the state, particularly a state in the U.S.

state universities (buildings)

Buildings that house universities that are financially supported by a state government.

state universities (institutions)

Universities that are financially supported by a state government.

staterooms

Rooms in a palace or great house, often splendidly decorated and used for official and State entertaining.

stations (transportation buildings)

Intermediate stopping places along transportation routes; for the end points of such routes, use "terminals."

statues

Sculpture in the round, usually but not always depicting humans, animals, mythical beings, or small figure groups. Statues are relatively large in scale, being life-size, larger than life-size, or only slightly smaller than life-size. For small-scale representations of humans, animals, or mythical beings, use "figurines," "statuettes," or another appropriate term. For depictions of humans, animals, or mythical beings in media other than sculpture, use "figures (representations)."

stave churches

Wood churches with walls of vertical planks, used from at least the 9th century, especially in Scandinavia.

steam baths

Establishments containing special enclosures for cleansing or refreshing oneself in a bath of steam.

steam power plants

Power plants in which the prime movers, usually turbines, connected to the generators are driven by steam to produce electricity.

steel mills

Facilities where steel is processed and rolled into sheets.

steeples (building components)

Towers terminated by spires or approximations of spires; refers to the entire construction of tower, spire, and lantern, if present.

stelae

Upright stone slabs, plain or decorated, used as commemorative markers.

stoas

Structures that originated in Greek architecture, comprising freestanding colonnades or covered walkways, or long open buildings with the roof supported by one or more rows of columns parallel to the rear wall. Stoas surrounded marketplaces and sanctuaries, forming places of business and public promenade. Rooms could back onto the colonnade, and a second story was sometimes added. A famous example of a stoa was the great hall at Athens, which was adorned with frescoes of the battle of Marathon, and in which Zeno lectured, giving the name to his disciples, "Stoics."

stock exchanges

Buildings that house a market for the buying and selling of public securities and where an association of brokers and jobbers transact business.

stockades

Defensive barriers of stakes, piles, or other timber and often including loopholes for gun fire, placed across entrenchments and redoubts, a harbor or river, or around a building, village, or another area in need of fortification.

stockyards

Enclosed spaces with pens, stables, and sheds, where beef cattle are confined for fattening prior to market; usually associated with a railroad line.

stoops (uncovered spaces)

Porches, platforms, entrance stairways, or small verandas at house doors.

storage

The safekeeping of objects or materials in a depository, such as a warehouse or cabinet.

storage facilities

Buildings or other structures designed or utilized primarily for storage.

storage spaces

Rooms or areas in a structure that are allocated for storage.

storage tanks

Tanks used temporarily for containing fuel or another substance, usually liquid or gas rather than solid. The tanks are not intended to be linked to the equipment for which that fuel or other substance is intended.

storefronts

Facades of stores or store buildings fronting a street and usually containing window display spaces. Facades of stores or store buildings fronting a street and usually containing window display spaces.

storehouses

Buildings in which goods are stored.

storerooms

Rooms set apart for the storing of goods or supplies in a home, public building, or ship.

stores

Buildings offering merchandise for sale, usually on a retail basis.

storm cellars

Wholly or partially underground refuges from tornadoes or other violent storms.

storm water retention basins

No description is available for this term.

stormwater systems

Systems used for conveying rainwater, surface water, condensate, cooling water, or similar liquid wastes, exclusive of sewage or industrial waste, to the storm sewer or other legal place of disposal.