Mezzanine

The mezzanine of the Maastricht Centre Céramique
View of the mezzanine in the lobby of the former Capitol Cinema, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
A structural steel mezzanine used for industrial storage
The mezzanine of Basarrate station in Bilbao metro

A mezzanine (/ˌmɛzəˈnn/; or in Italian, a mezzanino)[1] is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped walls. However, the term is often used loosely for the floor above the ground floor, especially where a very high-ceilinged original ground floor has been split horizontally into two floors.

Mezzanines may serve a wide variety of functions. Industrial mezzanines, such as those used in warehouses, may be temporary or semi-permanent structures.

In Royal Italian architecture, mezzanino also means a chamber created by partitioning that does not go up all the way to the arch vaulting or ceiling; these were historically common in Italy and France, for example in the palaces for the nobility at the Quirinal Palace.

  1. ^ Harris 1983, p. 353.