Storeys of a building

The British English word ‘storey’ (plural storeys) and the American English ‘story’ (plural stories) refer to a level element of a building that has a useable floor. The term may be used interchangeably with ‘floor’, ‘level’, or ‘deck’; however, it is usual for a building to be described as a ’ten-storey building’ while the individual storey may be referred to as the ‘tenth floor’.

‘Storey’ tends to exclude building levels that are not covered by a roof, such as a roof terrace. It is also not used to refer to the street level floor which is typically called the ‘ground floor’.

Most houses are two-storeys, while bungalows are single-storey. A multi-storey building is a building that has multiple storeys, and typically contains vertical circulation in the form of ramps, stairs and lifts.

Buildings can be classified by the number of storeys they have.

• A low-rise building is one which is not tall enough to be classified as mid-rise.
• Mid-rise buildings have five to ten storeys and are equipped with lifts.
• High-rise buildings are considered to have more than 7-10 storeys.
• Skyscrapers have 40 storeys or more.
• Super-slender buildings are pencil-thin and of 50-90+ storeys.

Storey heights tend to be based on the ceiling height of the rooms in addition to the floor thickness. They are commonly 3 to 4.5 m, but can vary significantly depending on the room type. Storey heights can also vary throughout a building.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Basement v cellar.
• Floor definition.
• Ground.
• Ground level.
• High-rise building.
• Level.
• Megatall.
• Mezzanine.
• Skyscraper.
• Single-storey building definition.