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A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main
wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the s ...
s of a building and forming a
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
in a room.


Types

Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or run over one or multiple storeys. In plan, the most frequently used shapes are isosceles trapezoid (which may be referred to as a '' canted bay window'') and rectangle. But other polygonal shapes with more than two corners are also common as are curved shapes. If a bay window is curved it may alternatively be called '' bow window.'' Bay windows in a triangular shape with just one corner exist but are relatively rare. A bay window supported by a corbel, bracket or similar is called an oriel window. "Rawashin" is a traditional and distinctive style of corbelled bay window in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (e.g., as on the frontage of Nasseef House).


Uses

Most medieval bay windows and up to the Baroque era are oriel windows. They frequently appear as a highly ornamented addition to the building rather than an organic part of it. Particularly during the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
period they often serve as small house
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...
s, with the oriel window containing an altar and resembling an apse of a church. Especially in
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
these are even called (), with the most famous example being the one from the parsonage of St. Sebaldus Church. In Islamic architecture, oriel windows such as the Arabic mashrabiya are frequently made of wood and allow viewing out while restricting visibility from the outside. Especially in warmer climates, a bay window may be identical to a balcony, with a privacy shield or screen. Bay windows can make a room appear larger, and provide views of the outside which would be unavailable with an ordinary flat window. They are found in
terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United St ...
s, semis and detached houses as well as in blocks of
flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...
. Based on British models, their use spread to other English-speaking countries like Ireland, the US, Canada and Australia. Following the pioneering model of pre-modern commercial architecture at the Oriel Chambers in Liverpool, they feature on early Chicago School skyscrapers, where they often run the whole height of the building's upper storeys. They also feature in
bay-and-gable The bay-and-gable is a distinct residential architectural style that is ubiquitous with the older portions of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The most prominent feature of the style is a large bay window that usually covers more than half the front faç ...
houses commonly found in older portions of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. Bay windows were identified as a defining characteristic of
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
architecture in a 2012 study that had a machine learning algorithm examine a random sample of 25,000 photos of cities from Google Street View.


Gallery

File:Bay Window (PSF).jpg, Typical residential canted bay window, rising from the ground File:Bay window (PSF).png, Typical interior of a residential bay window File:MultiStoryBayWindow.jpg, Interior of a multi-story bay window in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
File:Nürnberg Sebalder Pfarrhof Sebalder Chörlein.jpg, at the parsonage of St. Sebaldus Church,
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, before 1361 File:FR Colmar 20080828 026.jpg, Two superposed Renaissance oriel windows in Colmar,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
File:Erker und Fassadenmalereien in Stein am Rhein.jpg, Market square in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland File:Exeter College Bay Window in Turl Street.jpg, An oriel window in Turl Street belonging to Exeter College, Oxford File:Back is best - geograph.org.uk - 1225942.jpg, Rear of the grade II* listedBritish Listed Buildings
/ref> luxurious 19th-century Regency apartment block Clarence Mansions in Leamington Spa File:585 and 587 Broadway, Chadderton - geograph.org.uk - 1083455.jpg, Typical 1930s bay-fronted semis in
Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Mancheste ...
,
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...
File:Dudley Drive - geograph.org.uk - 580164.jpg, Flats in
Hyndland Hyndland is a residential area in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Description Bordering Broomhill, Dowanhill, Kelvinside and Partickhill, it is an upper-middle-class neighbourhood populated mainly by professionals (many emplo ...
,
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
, late 19th or early 20th century File:Oriel chambers.jpg, Oriel Chambers, Liverpool, by Peter Ellis, 1864 File:20110805Hellwigstr7-13 Saarbruecken5.jpg, Triangular oriel windows in Hellwigstrasse, Saarbrücken,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, 1927 File:Carved balcony, Mehrangarh Fort.jpg,
Mehrangarh Fort Mehrangarh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plain, and was constructed by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the exi ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
File:GD-EG-Caire-Suhaymi044.JPG, Mashrabiya, Bayt Al-Suhaymi, Cairo,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
File:Kairo Gayer Anderson Museum BW 9.jpg, Gayer-Anderson Museum, Cairo, Egypt File:2014 Kłodzko, pl. Chrobrego 13 03.JPG, Kłodzko,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
File:Bruges - Bay window.JPG,
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
File:Naseef House 1.jpg, Traditional "rawashin" bay windows on Nasseef House in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia File:Box window section drawing.jpg, Bay window section drawing


See also

* Bay window caboose * Bow window * Bretèche * Oriel window


References


External links

* {{Authority control Architectural elements Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area Windows