A balustrade is made of balusters and a railing is made of rails. What is the appropriate term for the a device that is a planar construction without banisters or railings that marks the outside edge of balconies and stairs? If it was on a roof or terrace, I would call it a parapet; if at grade I would call it a fence. But these terms do not feel right when describing the edge of walkways around an atrium or balconies protruding beyond the face face of a building.
A guardrail. Doesn’t matter whether it is made of linear (vertical and horizontal) elements, or is a solid planar construction such as tempered glass.
And incidentally, a balustrade is made of balusters and also a top horizontal railing.
I agree with David. All building codes will require a guardrail at locations like you describe. Let the building code in force handle providing the definition of a guardrail.
“Guardrail” describes a device in terms of a particular function. My need, however, is to describe an architectural element. What word would be best in this sentence, or example?
“Only the Pope’s head and shoulders were visible above the ________ as he gave the Easter Blessing from the balcony on St. Peter’s Square.”
Or, Romeo saying, “What light from above yonder ____________ breaks,” as he watches Juliet leaning over the edge of her balcony?.
Or, “The hooligans hid behind the balcony _________ and tossed water balloons onto pedestrians below.”
Any ideas?
Michael:
If this is for a professional/technical audience, I’d use the technical term, ie “guardrail”. If it’s for a general audience, I’d use “railing”.
As Romeo might have said, “Forsooth, keepeth it simple, thou goose”.
– parapet –
I am so used to the use of this term with reference to roofs that I was blinded to its application to balconies as well. Here is how one dictionary describes it:
“A low protective wall or railing along the edge of a raised structure such as a roof or balcony.”
With apologies to the Bard:
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the specifier
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
William Shakespeare (from A Midsummer Nights Dream)
(I composed this before seeing the two posts above…) If it’s of solid, opaque construction like a wall (concrete, brick, plaster, wood etc., but perhaps not metal or glass), I’d be tempted to call it a parapet. To me, the terms rail, railing and guardrail imply something at least part of which can be grasped, that one can wrap one’s hand around, not just a safety barrier, though that may be the intent of the code definition. It sounds as if what you describe may be more like a short wall. One might call it a “stub wall” or “pony wall”—technical (and perhaps regional) slang—but “parapet” fits, and is a readily understandable common term. Parapets are short walls cantilevered from below, usually to provide safety. They don’t necessarily need to be around a roof or atrium.
although… if the intent is for protection of the occupant, and the height is consistent with the requirements of the code for a guardrail, and it is engineered to take the loading of a guardrail, I would just call it a guardrail.