This is a list of building types. It is sorted by broad category: residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, and infrastructural buildings.

Residential

Single-family detached

Examples of single-family detached house types include:

  • Bungalow
  • Central-passage house (North America)
  • Chattel house (Caribbean)
  • Château (France)
  • Cottage (various)
  • Courtyard house (various)
  • Konak (Asia)
  • Log house (various)
  • Mansion (various)
  • Housebarn (various)
  • Split level home (various)
  • Upper Lusatian house (Europe)

Single-family attached (small multi-family)

  • Duplex, semi-detached, double-decker, or two-family
  • Triplex, triple-decker or three-family
  • Quadplex, quadruple, or four-family
  • Townhouse or terraced house

Large multi-family (apartments/flats/condos)

alt=Front view of a nursing home in Wetherby, England, U.K.|thumb|A nursing home in [[Wetherby, England, U.K.]]

  • Garden or walk-up apartments: 1–5 stories, 50–400 units, no elevators

Office

alt=An office building in Accra, Ghana.|thumb|An office building in [[Accra, Ghana.]]

Office buildings are generally categorized by size and by quality (e.g., "a low-rise Class A building")

  • Office buildings by size
  • Low-rise (less than 7 stories)
  • Mid-rise (7–25 stories)
  • High-rise (more than 25 stories), including skyscrapers (over 40 stories)
  • Office buildings by quality
  • Trophy or 5-star building: A landmark property designed by a recognized architect
  • Class A or 4-star building: Rents in the top 30-40% of the local market; well-located; above-average upkeep and management; usually older than a trophy/5-star building
  • Class B or 3-star building: Rents between Class A and Class C; fair-to-good locations; average upkeep and management
  • Class C or 2-star building: Rents in the bottom 10-20% of the local market; less-desirable locations; below-average upkeep and management
  • 1-star building: Does not meet the needs of typical tenants; may be obsolete and/or in need of significant renovation

alt=Interior view of the Hamilton Place Mall, a shopping mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.|thumb|Interior view of a shopping mall in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.]]

  • Non-freestanding (also known as shopping centers or shopping malls)
  • Super-regional shopping center: enclosed space; 800,000+ sqft; 5+ anchor stores with other tenants that sell a very large variety of goods
  • Regional shopping center: enclosed space; 400,000–800,000 sqft; 1–5 anchor stores with other tenants that sell a large variety of goods
  • Community shopping center: open space; 125,000–400,000 sqft; provides general merchandise and commodities (e.g., supermarket, discount department store)
  • Neighborhood shopping center: open space; 3,000–125,000 sqft; provides commodities to nearby neighborhoods (e.g. drug store)
  • Strip or convenience shopping center: open space; less than 30,000 sqft; located along suburban transportation arteries on shallow land parcels; a strip may be configured in a straight line, or have an "L" or "U" shape
  • Lifestyle center: "Main Street" concept with pedestrian circulation in core and vehicular circulation along perimeter; upscale national chain specialty stores, dining or entertainment (e.g. The Grove, Los Angeles, CA; Americana at Brand, Glendale, CA)
  • Freestanding: any stand-alone retail structure that is not part of a complex
  • Big box: freestanding category-dominant retailer; 50,000+ sqft (e.g. The Home Depot, Target, Walmart)
  • Power center: among the largest types of retail properties; 3+ big box anchor stores; multiple large buildings with parking lot in front and loading in back; smaller retailers usually clustered in a community shopping center configuration
  • Retail outlet: manufacturers' outlet stores; 50,000–400,000 sqft
  • Pop-up retail: a retail location designed to only be in a location temporarily (e.g., a retail store that only opens during a holiday season)

Hotels

alt=A hotel in Bariloche, Argentina|thumb|A hotel in [[Bariloche, Argentina]]

  • Full service hotel
  • Travelers' hotel
  • Motel
  • Choultry
  • Caravanserai
  • Extended stay hotel
  • Boutique hotel
  • Casino
  • Resort
  • Bunkhouse

Special-purpose

<!-- please keep this in alphabetical order -->thumb|A car wash in [[Prudnik, Poland]]

  • Theme or amusement park
  • Aquarium
  • Bar (establishment)
  • Bowling alley
  • Car wash
  • Funeral home
  • Marina
  • Movie theater
  • Self-storage
  • Theater
  • Zoo

Industrial

Industrial buildings are primarily used for the production and storage/distribution of goods, among other uses.

  • Factory
  • Physical plant
  • Mill

Manufacturing

alt=A heavy manufacturing plant in Loudi, Hunan province, China|thumb|A heavy manufacturing plant in [[Loudi, Hunan province, China]]

  • Light manufacturing
  • Heavy manufacturing

Warehouse/distribution

thumb|A fulfillment center in [[Macon, Georgia, U.S.]]

  • Warehouses
  • Bulk
  • Ice house
  • Cold/cool/refrigerator/freezer storage
  • High-cube
  • Warehouse store
  • Distribution/fulfillment centers
  • Container terminals

Flex space

  • Office building
  • Laboratory
  • Data center
  • Call center
  • Showroom
  • Tension fabric building

Infrastructure

thumb|A power plant in [[Moscow, Russia]]

Infrastructure buildings house equipment and facilities related to public infrastructure.

  • Composting
  • Desalination plant
  • Waste transfer
  • Power generation
  • Power plant
  • Thermal power plant
  • Fossil-fuel power station
  • Nuclear power plant
  • Geothermal power
  • Biomass power plant
  • Renewable energy power station
  • Electric power distribution
  • Substation
  • Converter hall
  • Rotary converter plant
  • Transmitter building
  • Dams
  • Pump house
  • Fake building

Agricultural

  • Abattoir
  • Barn
  • Chicken coop or chickenhouse
  • Cow-shed
  • Farmhouse
  • Granary, Hórreo
  • Greenhouse
  • Hayloft
  • Pigpen or sty
  • Root cellar
  • Shed
  • Silo
  • Slaughterhouse
  • Stable
  • Storm cellar
  • Well house
  • Crib
  • Windmill
  • Workshop

Institutional

thumb|A hospital in [[Limassol District, Cyprus]]

  • Medical
  • Hospital
  • Nursing homes
  • Mental hospital
  • Sanatorium
  • Educational
  • Academy
  • Archive
  • College
  • Elementary schools
  • Middle school
  • Orphanage
  • Secondary School
  • School
  • University
  • Nursery schoolthumb|A mudhif near [[Lagash, Iraq]]
  • Civic
  • Arena (or stadium)
  • Library
  • Mudhif: a traditional reed house made by the Madan people of Iraq
  • Museum
  • Observatory
  • Community hallthumb|A monastery in the [[Sinai Peninsula, Egypt]]
  • Research institute
  • Think tank
  • Religious Facilities (Place of worship)
  • Church
  • Basilica
  • Cathedral
  • Duomo
  • Chapel
  • Oratory
  • Martyrium
  • Imambargah
  • Monastery
  • Mithraeum
  • Shrine
  • Synagogue
  • Temple
  • Pagoda
  • Gurdwara
  • Hindu temple
  • Mosquethumb|Town hall of [[Aosta, Italy]]
  • Government
  • Town hall
  • Guildhall
  • Consulate
  • Courthouse
  • Embassy
  • Fire station
  • Meeting house
  • Moot hall
  • Parliament house
  • Police station
  • Post office
  • Assembly
  • Military
  • Arsenal
  • Barracks
  • Bunker
  • Blockhouse
  • Citadel
  • Missile launch facilityalt=A spacepad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan|thumb|A spacepad in [[Baikonur, Kazakhstan]]
  • Transport
  • Airport
  • Bus station
  • Metro (subway, underground) station
  • Taxi station
  • Railway station (or, primarily in US, Railroad station)
  • Signal box
  • Lighthouse
  • Shipyard
  • Spaceport
  • Hovercraft
  • Passenger terminal
  • Boathouse
  • Parking garage
  • Hangarthumb|A gym in [[Tatsuno, Hyōgo|Tatsuno, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan]]
  • Historical
  • Communal oven
  • Other
  • Aul
  • Bathhouse
  • Film studio
  • Folly
  • Gym
  • Pavilion
  • Shelter

Other

  • Bakehouse
  • Tent

See also

  • Outline of architecture

References