I have just moved into a high rise building. Unlike most buildings (in US, and NY)it has exterior "hallways", called "catwalks". Many motels use exterior hallway, with entry to the rooms coming off a open terrace or deck. (in my building, the catwalk leads to several small 'halls' each a little over 4 feet (1.25 meters or so) by 6 feet(1.8 meters) where 2 or 3 apartment have an entry. you don't enter or exit directly to the catwalk)

I also know the term 'catwalk', as a theatrical term, for narrow, scaffolding like passages, used to gain access to lighting and/or special effects, high up, both behind the stage, and in front of the stage)

three questions,
what would you call an exterior hallway?
why are catwalks called that?
finally, is catwalks the correct term for the scaffolding in a theater? or is it a misused term... (that, is, are catwalks something specific, and i am misusing the term?)

and a bonus question, are exterior hallways common in your neck of the woods? (i am pretty sure they are used in high rise-low income (council?)housing in UK, i have seen them in imported UK police dramas--are they called catwalks there?)

I'm not looking this up, of troy--just taking a blind stab.

Cats can walk easily at great heights and still maintain their sense of balance--high walls, ledges, limbs of trees. They maintain their balance and poise nearly always.

I would guess that walkways perched high came to be known as 'catwalks' because the cat does walk so gracefully at heights.

I've been involved in theatre nearly my whole life and have always heard about the catwalks above (and sometimes around and above) the stage. There's another term I've heard for an area accessible to the light techs, but I can't think of it right now. Maybe Juan can provide it. But you do hear 'catwalks' regularly around theatres.

And your other comment about the hallways that are outside apartments. Could they be referred to as 'breezeways'?

Re: And your other comment about the hallways that are outside apartments. Could they be referred to as 'breezeways'?

I never hear that term (breezeway's) in NY...

I know, in the past, we have done some thread on buildings and terms for residences...and some of this thread might end up as a YART, but i don't care... it was a long way back.

My apartment has a terrace..(a 5 X 10 foot)(or about 1.5 X 3.5 M/rough estimate here) out side space..(for my private use) but my home had a deck (an elevated outside space made of wood) some homes have patio's (which to me, are outside spaces that are at ground level(and are very close to level with the lowest level of the house. In US ranch style houses, which have no basement/cellar areas, this often means they are level with the main floor of the house.

I think of a breezeway as covered are, often with open sides, but it could be screen in, or even have half walls and windows/screens above, that connects the main building of the residence with an out-building (usually a garage, but it could connect to a guest house)

The exterior hallways(catwalks)are about 4 feet wide (a bit over a meter)and they have metal railings, and mesh fencing, that is about 5 feet high. anyone with a serious fear of heights would find them uncomfortable--at least at my level (14th floor).

> what would you call an exterior hallway?

I'm not sure, they are common in blocks of council flats built in the fifies and sixties. I remember the ones in Moss Side in Manchester being built and announced as the next big thing - "terraces in the sky". Many of those have since been demolished. In general, I'd probably call them balconies, even if they were not just individual balconies but connecting several flats.

In the case of the Barbican Centre in London, once regarded as a fifties-designed carbunkle and now a listed building, they are called "walkways". The walkways connect the flats but some are accessible to the public. Thinking about it, maybe only the ones with public access are called walkways.

(The Barbican) ... as a model for high-density urban living of the kind we are all being urged to consider today, it has few peers. But as its name implies, it is a fortress. It does not weave itself into the surrounding cityscape at all. This is because it was predicated upon a complete high-level pedestrian walkway system extending throughout the City: a system that was pursued vigorously for some years, and then gradually forgotten. The surviving fragments of the walkway system are in their way as evocative Roman city wall that was carefully revealed during construction. The City has now gone in another direction entirely: instead of separating pedestrians and cars, it actively discourages car use, with great success. The fact that this change of heart came about as a result of terrorist bombings does not alter the effectiveness of the outcome.
http://hughpearman.com/articles2/barbican2.html

> is catwalks the correct term for the scaffolding in a theater? or is it a misused term... (that, is, are catwalks something specific, and i am misusing the term?)

A catwalk, in my experience, is the term for a built-in element of a theatre (usually a fairly large theatre) giving access to the lighting grid. The one that I used to use, wasn't big enough to walk on - you had to move along on all fours. I'd assumed that was the reference to a cat. There was a place on the catwalk for the follow spot operators to sit. When I was involved in lighting, the term wouldn't have been used for a temporary scaffolding arrangement. The thing that is moved around to access high level lighting was called a talloscope. http://www.schoolshows.demon.co.uk/resources/technical/gloss7.htm

In terms of the use of a catwalk by models, isn't it because they are notoriously "catty"?

In old poor buildings in Milan (central, and very expensive now) there are "le case di ringhiera" = houses of railings (very typical), they fit in your description,since all the small apartments have the door in a narrow open air corridor( often about 80 cm, 3 feet). Is that, your catwalk?

Probably any elevated narrow access way meant for occasional use might be called a catwalk, along the jib of a tower crane for example, but not an external access way to flats (apartments) – that would be a balcony to me too.

A walkway at ground level, needed to provide infrequently used access across wet or muddy ground, might be made from duck-boarding that looks like a picket fence laid on its side.

Breezeway is not a term you hear used much in the UK. I have heard it used by Australians to describe an opening left between buildings, or maybe only at ground floor level, to provide a fresh breeze to a back area. What the US calls a yard the UK calls a garden by the way, although we would use the term back yard to describe a flat concreted utility area – but there may well be regional differences in usage.

We use the term patio in the way ‘of troy’ described and to me it would probably be smaller than something I would call a terrace…but one man’s terrace is probably another’s patio!

Decks are becoming more popular here, but there used to be a catch-phrase from Henry Crun on the Goon Show: “You can’t get the wood you know.” This was a reference to the shortage of seasoned timber in the UK that has persisted since WW2. I am sure it is true to say that all decking is imported and therefore not cheap. Also, in our climate, patios, terraces and decking all suffer from algae growth (that slimy black mildew?) and it is a constant battle to keep them clean. I suspect cleaning may be more of a problem with decking than with concrete or stone.

a roofed often open passage connecting two buildings (as a house and garage) or halves of a building --MW

I was thinking of the breezeway at my old school--lovely, really, in its own way. It was a long enclosed glass passage between the main building and the building that housed the gym and library. When I wondered whether of troy's outside passage might be called a 'breezeway,' I was just wondering--I didn't realize that the definition of breezeway was so obviously restricted.

It would help to see a photograph, of troy, of an outside passageway to understand exactly what yours is like.

And, from one of those Goon Shows:

Police-Eccles to Grytpype-Thinne: "Do you know that you're driving your piano on the wrong side of the road, sir?"
Grytpype-Thinne: "But constable, it's a French piano."
Police-Eccles: "Oooooh, well dat's all right, den!"

- Pfranz

Catwalks are called that because you have to pussyfoot along them...har har har. Seriously, here's Atomica's rather limited def.: A narrow, often elevated walkway, as on the sides of a bridge or in the flies above a theater stage , which leads me to ask: flies? Jo? (I am delighted to see you back here, btw!)
Helen, I'm not sure that I've seen the kind of exterior "hallways" you're talking about. The only thing I can think of is fire escape. What we call housing projects here are called council estates in England.
Emanuela (lovely to see you, too, my friend), I was interested to see that the U.S, isn't the only place where a poor, inner-city area has gotten refurbished and become popular--and of course, more expensive. I know of a certain part of Chicago (as do you!) is, as is the Butchertown neighborhood in Louisville, so called because it's near the stockyards.

Jackie, i am sure you have been in 2 or 3 story motels-- i know you like to travel, and they are common.

a Hotel has interior halls, a Motel, can be one or multi storied building, with exterior halls...

you get off the elevator, and walk down an open terrace, and all the motel rooms are entered from the terrace...

It is done this way for several reasons; economy, (the halls don't have to be heated, or carpeted) safety,(it is harder for anyone to break into a room if it visible from parking lot, and fire safety, too.)and generally because the original motels tended to be one story structures, the didn't have interior halls, but opened (for convience) right onto parking lots. The multi level motels followed the same design.

Often, the elevator is in a 'lobby', a glass walled room that also has vending machines and the ice machine. the lobby connects to two walkways, a H shape, with the lobby being the cross bar of the H, and all the rooms are entered from the walkway.

This style of building is very common in japan, where, interior halls are taxed as living space (even if they are common public halls) and exterior halls are not taxed at all!

(and boston triple deckers some times have back porchs, that are part of the back stairs. a person on the third floor, could walk down to the second, and the stair landing would be part of the back porch. nothing but good manners keeping it private. Doesn't Chicago have similar building? )

The walkways (catwalks)in my co-op have rules that they can not be used as terraces.. nothing can be put on them.

Hi helen, it's good to see you back!

I understand the "catwalks" of which you speak but they are uncommon enough here that I can't think of a word for them. The "private terrace" you describe, I would call a balcony. I think that's our British heritage seeping in. I think of a deck as necessarily being made of wood, and a patio being close to the ground, and not made of wood. Usually stone, I guess, or cement.

There is a term for a corridor such as this; it is called a VERANDAH.

I have heard this term applied to houses and public buldings (museums/libraries) and I don't quite see why it can't be similarly used for the external walkways of apartments.

A verandah (I think it must have a Portuguese root; AnnaS might know more)is a long paved corridor running along the entire length of the front of the house/building. Akin to an extended front porch. It has a roof but is otherwise open to the elements; it also usually has a decorative balustrade or a parapet interrupted by columns which support the cantilevered roof. A fine example of one such is the commonly called 'front porch' of the New York Public Library.

Might we use this term for the exterior corridors of high-rises? Back at you, board! tsuwm?

[aside]My understanding of some of the terms used above:
A terrace is not always paved; it could even be a terraced garden. A patio is always paved.

A balcony is a smallish roofed patio, attached almost like an outgrowth, to the upper storeys of buildings (both apartments and multi storeyed houses). It is usually an extension of a bedroom or of the living room to the outside, and has access only from the 'inside' of the room.

Holy cow, I hardly know where to start! This reminds me of our discussion on stoops.

2 or 3 story motels
Ok, thanks, Helen, now I know what you mean. I've always just called it the walkway, when I've called them anything, though when the hotel room doesn't have an actual, private balcony on the other side I've called it a balcony, too. Hmm--I guess when I'm standing or sitting on it, it's a balcony, but if I'm giving directions, I'll say, "Go down the walkway...".

maahey, I don't think they could be called verandahs: verandahs by definition are porches, and porches by definition (mine) have to be built on the ground. I've only ever been one place where there is what I would call a terrace (for lack of anything better, mainly); it is an elevated patio overlooking the lake. Dang--what makes a terrace a terrace, anyway? If it had been made of wood and not cement, I'd have called it a deck, no doubt.

I wouldn't call the motel walkway y'all are talking about a catwalk; the distinguishing characteristic of a catwalk, by definition, is that it's *narrow; like those above the stage, or the pathway along the side of a bridge. these are better suited to cats walking! (we have a brick fascia on the lower portion of the house that creates a narrow ledge at window level on the first floor. cats (and squirrels) like to walk on it. we call *that a catwalk.)
-ron o.

Going back up a few posts:

When I lived for a year near Tacoma, Washington, the houses didn't have garages. Instead there was a projection of roof from the side of the house, open on three sides and supported on the far side by a couple of posts. It covered the side door and the end of the driveway so as to shelter a car [sure does rain a lot in the Pacific Northwest] and permit passengers to go from house to car or the other way without getting wet.

That's what we called a "breezeway".

> which leads me to ask: flies? Jo?

The flies is the area to the side of the stage where the flying equipment is based in a traditional theatre design, sometimes in a fly tower. In other words the counterweighted balance system, usually up at a high level where the fly operator can bring the big backdrops and occasionally, Peter Pan, in and out of the stage area.

It's a good place to watch out for ghosts -
www.britishtheatreguide.info/articles/020298.htm

"there was a projection of roof from the side of the house, open on three sides and supported on the far side by a couple of posts. It covered the side door and the end of the driveway so as to shelter a car [sure does rain a lot in the Pacific Northwest] and permit passengers to go from house to car or the other way without getting wet."

I would call that a 'car port', which term I thought was originally imported here from the western side of the pond.

what makes a terrace a terrace, anyway?

It occurred to me that my own definitions for these words depend heavily on three things: (1) what it's made of, (2) whether it's at ground level or not, and (3) whether it has a roof (or the floor of another level) overtop, or it's open to see the sky. Based on these, I think my personal definitions are:

Terrace: concrete or stone, no roof, at any height
Balcony: concrete or stone, "roof" consisting of the balcony above, higher than ground level, can be recessed or "sticking out" of the building
Patio: concrete or stone, at or very near (less than a metre or so) ground level, no roof
Deck: Wood, at or very near ground level, no roof
Verandah: ground level, made of wood, the roof is an extension of the house's roof.

I still don't have a word for helen's walkway/catwalk. Furthermore, what is that same thing called when it's on the inside of, say, a mall? We must've all seen two-story malls where the middle section is open, sometimes there are fountains, and you can lean over the railing and look at the shoppers below, and you make your way around on the second floor on a very wide version of helen's catwalk.

My daughter lives in "The Terraces" at Ithaca College. Those terraces are 'terraces' because they are buildings with levels set into the hillside.