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Architecture vocabulary · Building Elements and Structure

Load-bearing wall

Meaning in architecture, with examples

nounCore term

In architecture, load-bearing wall means: A wall that carries weight from the floors and roof above and transfers it down to the foundations, so it cannot be removed without adding another support.

In Turkish: taşıyıcı duvar, yük taşıyan duvar

How it is used

Important in renovation and in masonry buildings. Before removing a wall or making an opening in it, architects and engineers check whether it is load-bearing. The opposite is a non-load-bearing or partition wall. 'Load-bearing' is also used alone as an adjective.

Example sentences

  1. We can't remove that wall; it's load-bearing and supports the floor above.

  2. The old house has thick load-bearing walls of stone.

Common collocations

  • remove a load-bearing wall
  • load-bearing masonry
  • non-load-bearing wall
  • load-bearing structure
  • partition wallAn internal wall that divides one space from another but does not carry the building's structural loads, so it can usually be moved or removed.
  • masonryConstruction made of separate units such as stone, brick or concrete blocks laid in mortar; also the units themselves as a building material.
  • structural systemThe set of connected elements, such as foundations, columns, beams, walls and slabs, that carries a building's loads safely down to the ground.
  • lintelA horizontal beam of concrete, steel, stone or timber placed over a door or window opening to carry the wall above it.
  • foundationThe lowest part of a building, usually below ground, which spreads the building's weight safely into the soil or rock.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Building Elements and Structure

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