Glossary of Architectural and Building Terminology - L

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Labyrinth - A labyrinth is a pattern or design representing a maze. They are often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc.
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Lacing - In civil engineering, lacing is the practice of laying a course of bricks or stone, etc. for strengthening a rubble or flint wall.
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Lacunar - A lacunar is the ceiling or under surface of any part of a structure, especially when it consists of compartments, sunk or hollowed without spaces or bands between the panels. The term is also applied to one of the sunken panels in such a ceiling.
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Laminated Arch - A laminated arch is a timber arch made of layers of bent planks secured by treenails.
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Lancet Arch - A lancet arch is a pointed arch, of which the width, or span, is narrow compared with the height.
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Landing - A landing is the level part of a staircase, at the top of a flight of stairs, or connecting one flight with another.
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Lantern - A lantern is an open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior. The term is also applied to a cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns; and to a smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to admit light; such as the lantern of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington DC, or that of the Florence cathedral.
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Lattice - A lattice is a framework of laths crossed diagonally so as to form a net-like structure to be used as a screen or door.
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Lattice Girder - A lattice girder is a girder of which the wed consists of diagonal pieces crossing each other in the manner of latticework.
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Laying In - Laying in is decorating terminology for preparing a surface for a further treatment. The laying in may involve painting the surface prior to texturing for example
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Laying Off - Laying off is decorating terminology for finishing an area of paintwork with very light brush strokes so as to eliminate brushmarks.
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Lean-to - A lean-to is a roof having only one slope or pitch; or a shed or slight building placed against the wall of a larger structure and having a single-pitched roof.
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Ledger - A ledger is a large flat stone, especially one laid over a tomb. The term is also applied to a horizontal piece of timber secured to the uprights and supporting floor timbers, a staircase, scaffolding, or the like. It differs from an intertie in being intended to carry weight. In scaffolding, a ledger is a primary horizontal member used to tie the scaffolding longitudinally and support the transoms and putlogs.
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Ledgment - A ledgment is a string-course or horizontal suit of mouldings, such as the base mouldings of a building. The term is also applied to the development of the surface of a body on a plane, so that the dimensions of the different sides may be easily ascertained.
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Lich-Gate - A lich-gate (lych-gate) is a roofed gateway at the entrance to a churchyard where the coffin is placed to await the arrival of the clergyman.
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Lichgate - A lichgate is the covered gate at the entrance to a churchyard. Lichgates are common in British country churches.
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Lierne Rib - In Gothic vaulting, a lierne rib is any rib which does not spring from the impost and is not a ridge rib, but passes from one boss or intersection of the principal ribs to another.
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Lime Plaster - Lime plaster is a type of plaster used as a thin skimming coat for walls and ceilings. Lime plaster is produced by slaking quicklime by means of adding water to it, the milk of lime which is obtained being sieved and allowed to stand for two weeks during which time it fattens into 'lime putty'. As it dries, lime plaster absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form a firm, compact layer of calcium carbonate.
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Lime Water - Lime water is a weak solution of lime putty disolved in water used in decorating for washing down painted surfaces prior to repainting. Lime water is less aggressive towards grease than sugar soap, but less harmful to existing paintwork. Care should be taken not to allow the lime water to dry, but rather to rinse it off with clean water, lest the lime remains and reacts with the paint later applied.
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Limewash - Limewash is an ancient treatment used for brickwork, plaster and stonework. In its simplest form limewash consists of newly slaked lime mixed with water. The limewash is often tinted with lime blue so that the resulting opaque finish is a cleaner white. Limewash prevents mould and lichen growths, and is cheap and easy to apply, but needs to be renewed quite frequently
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Lincrusta-Walton - Lincrusta-Walton is a low-relief composition made from oxidised linseed oil to which suitable filling agents have been added. Lincrusta-Walton is used for wood effects and limitations and other patterns in the decorating trade
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Lintel - A lintel is a horizontal member spanning an opening, and carrying the superincumbent weight by means of its strength in resisting crosswise fracture.
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Listel - A listel is a small square moulding or fillet.
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Lobby - A lobby is a passage or hall of communication, especially when large enough to serve also as a waiting room. It differs from an antechamber in that a lobby communicates between several rooms, and an antechamber to one only; but this distinction is not carefully preserved.
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Lock Rail - A lock rail is the horizontal member of a door to which the lock or handle is attached
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Loggia - A loggia is a roofed open gallery. It differs from a veranda in being more architectural, and in forming more decidedly a part of the main edifice to which it is attached; it differs from a porch, in being intended not as an entrance but as an out-of-door sitting-room.
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Lombardic Architecture - Lombardic is the style of architecture that prevailed in Lombardy and part of Upper Italy, and which for a long time was recognised as a distinct Lombard style, presenting essential points of difference from the other Later Romanesque styles. In the Lombard churches the type of early Christian architecture was abandoned, and the vaulted basilica was introduced instead, although this system was subjected to several necessary modifications. Many peculiarities assert themselves in which the vaulted bailicas of Lombardy differ from those of other countries. This occurs particularly in the facades , which have not, as has usually the case, a higher central portion and low side divisions, but which present one mass, terminating in a gable above, under the slopes of which, as well as in the choir and dome, are introduced arcade galleries. The separation into central and side divisions, as marking out the nave and the aisles, is only effected in a way that harmonises but indifferently with the whole by means of pilaters and half-columns. Beside the small arcade galleries below the gable, the whole of the facade is frequently decorated with one or more of these rows of arcades one above another, either continuous or grouped, with pilaster strips between the groups. The west front is sometimes embellished with a large and elegant rose window, which in fact forms one of the chief beauties of the facades of many of the churches in Italy, which are built in the Later Romanesque style.

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Longhouse - A longhouse is a one-storey building with residential quarters and also livestock shelters under one continuous roof.
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Louvre Boards - Louvre boards are the sloping boards set to shed rainwater outward in openings which are to be left otherwise unfilled, such as belfry windows (which are then known as louvre windows), the openings of a louvre, &c.
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Low Side Window - A low side window is a peculiar form of window common in mediaeval churches, though of uncertain use. Windows of this sort are narrow, near the ground, and out of the line of the windows, and in many different situations in the building.
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Lozenge-Moulding - A lozenge-moulding is a kind of moulding, used in Norman architecture, characterized by lozenge-shaped ornaments.
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Lunette - A lunette is a surface of semicircular or segmental form; the term is especially applied to the piece of wall between the curves of a vault and its springing line.
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Lying Panel - A lying panel is a panel in which the grain of the wood is horizontal.
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