Mezzanine

This article is about the architectural element. For other uses, see Mezzanine (disambiguation).
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 (/ˌmɛzəˈniːn/; 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.