Looking at Buildings

Glossary

Sarking: (Scots): Boards laid on the rafters to support the roof covering.
Sash window: A window with a glazed section or section that opens by sliding in grooves.
Saucer dome: An internal dome of flattened profile.
Saxo-Norman: Transitional Romanesque style combining Anglo-Saxon and Norman features, current c. 1060-1100.
Scagliola: Polished composition covering giving the effect of (usually coloured) marble, used especially on columns from the mid-18th to early 19th century.
Scale-and-platt stair: (Scots; lit. stair and landing): with parallel flights rising alternately in opposite directions, without an open well.
Scalloped capital: A form of block capital in which the convex lower faces are carved with broad flutings or half-cones.
Scarcement: Extra thickness of the lower part of a wall, e.g. to carry a floor.
Scarp: Artificial cutting away of the ground to form a steep slope.
Scissor-braces: In a timber roof, paired braces crossing diagonally between pairs of rafters or principals.