Atrium ( architecture ) - wikipedia Atrium ( architecture ) The Burj Al Arab in Dubai with a 180 m ( 590 ft ) tall atrium In architecture, an atrium ( plural : atria or atriums ) is a large open air or skylight covered space surrounded by a building. Atria were a common feature in Ancient Roman dwellings, providing light and ventilation to the interior. Modern atria, as developed in the late 19th and 20th centuries, are often several stories high and having a glazed roof or large windows, and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors ( in the lobby ). Atria are a popular design feature because they give their buildings a `` feeling of space and light. '' The atrium has become a key feature of many buildings in recent years. Atria are popular with building users, building designers and building developers. Users like atria because they create a dynamic and stimulating interior that provides shelter from the external environment while maintaining a visual link with that environment. Designers enjoy the opportunity to create new types of spaces in buildings, and developers see atria as prestigious amenities that can increase commercial value and appeal. Fire control is an important aspect of contemporary atrium design due to criticism that poorly designed atria could allow fire to spread to a building 's upper stories more quickly. Another downside to incorporating an atrium is that it typically creates unused vertical space which could otherwise be occupied by additional floors. Contents 1 Ancient atria 2 19th century : Glazed atrium 3 Modern - day atria 3.1 Image examples 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading Ancient atria A late 19th - century artist 's reimagining of an atrium in a Pompeian domus In a domus, a large house in Ancient Roman architecture, the atrium was the open central court with enclosed rooms on all sides. In the middle of the atrium was the impluvium, a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater from the roof. Some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool ( compluvium ) called for some means of support for the roof, and it is here where one differentiates between five different styles of atrium. As the centrepiece of the house, the atrium was the most lavishly - furnished room. Also, it contained the little chapel to the ancestral spirits ( lararium ), the household safe ( arca ) and sometimes a bust of the master of the house. The term was also used for a variety of spaces in public and religious buildings, mostly forms of arcaded courtyards, larger versions of the domestic spaces. Byzantine churches were often entered through such a space ( as are many mosques, though the term atrium is not usually used to describe Islamic architecture ). 19th century : glazed atrium The 19th century brought the industrial revolution with great advances in iron and glass manufacturing techniques. Courtyards could then have horizontal glazing overhead, eliminating some of the weather elements from the space and giving birth to the modern atrium. Victoria Hall in Halifax Town Hall, 1863 Atrium at the center of the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles Modern - day atria One of the main public spaces at Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, is called The Atrium and is a street - like space, five stories high with glazed walls and roof. The structure and glazing pattern follow the system of fractals used to arrange the panels on the rest of the facades at Federation Square. In Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., the Opryland Hotel hosts 4 different large atria, spanning 9 acres ( 36,000 m ) of glass ceiling in total, in the hotel above the gardens of : Delta, Cascades, Garden - Conservatories, and Magnolia. As of 2016, the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, has the world 's tallest atrium at 180 metres ( 590 ft ). The Luxor Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada, has the largest atrium in the world ( by volume ) at 29 million cubic feet ( 820,000 m ). Image examples Roman atrium of the building of the baths in the Roman villa of `` Els Munts '', close to Tarraco The atrium of 1 Bligh Street, a Sydney office tower, looking upwards Looking up inside the 32 - story atrium of the Shanghai Grand Hyatt, part of the Jin Mao Building Atrium of the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center The Tucson High School Galleria and reflexive library ( pictured ) feature a modern atrium tetrastylum with four support columns and open roof The Grand Piazza atrium inside the SuperStar Virgo Four floor atrium of Gould Hall, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, at the University of Washington The Grand Doubletree hotel / condo in Downtown Miami 42 story atrium Atrium of Complexe Desjardins, Montreal Atrium of Kurayoshi Park Square in Kurayoshi, Japan Multi-floor atrium with three see - through octagonal elevator shafts in Water Tower Place in Chicago Interior of Wilson Hall at Fermi Lab in Illinois Main atrium of Piarco International Airport Atrium of a Myer store in Melbourne, looking from the top floor to the ground floor See also Architecture portal Cavaedium Quadrangle References Jump up ^ `` atrium ''. Cambridge English Dictionary. Jump up ^ `` Atrium ''. The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 8 April 2014. Jump up ^ Driscoll, Matt ( 2013 ). Model Making for Architects. Ramsbury, UK : Crowood Press. p. 69. Jump up ^ Steemers, Koen ( 2000 ). Architecture, City, Environment. Cambridge, UK : Earthscan Press. p. 292. Jump up ^ Sharples, S. ; Shea, A.D. ( Dec 1999 ). `` Roof obstructions and daylight levels in atria : a model study under real skies ''. Lighting Research and Technology. SAGE Publications. 31 ( 4 ) : 181 -- 185. Further reading Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atriums. Roth, Leland M. ( 1993 ). Understanding Architecture : Its Elements History and Meaning. Oxford, UK : Westview Press. p. 520. ISBN 0 - 06 - 430158 - 3. Rooms and spaces of a house Shared residential rooms Billiard room Bonus room Common room Den Dining room Ell Family room Garret Great room Hearth room Home cinema Home office Kitchen Dirty kitchen Kitchenette Living room Man cave Recreation room Shrine Study Sunroom Spaces Atrium Balcony Breezeway Catio Conversation pit Deck Elevator Entryway / Genkan Foyer Hallway Lanai Loft Loggia Overhang Patio Porch screened sleeping Ramp Secret passage Stairs Terrace Veranda Vestibule Utility and storage Attic Basement Box room Carport Cloakroom Closet Electrical room Equipment room Furnace room / Boiler room Garage Janitorial closet Larder Laundry room / Utility room Mechanical room / floor Pantry Root cellar Semi-basement Spear closet Storm cellar / Safe room Studio Subbasement Wardrobe Wine cellar Wiring closet / Demarcation point Workshop Private rooms Bathroom Bedroom / Guest room Boudoir Cabinet Jack and Jill bathroom Nursery Suite Toilet Walk - in closet Great house areas Antechamber Ballroom Butler 's pantry Buttery Conservatory Courtyard Drawing room Fainting room Great chamber Great hall Long gallery Lumber room Parlour Porte - cochère Saucery Sauna Scullery Servants ' hall Servants ' quarters Smoking room Solar Spicery State room Still room Swimming pool Undercroft Other Building Furniture House plan Multi-family residential Secondary suite Single - family detached home Studio apartment Architectural elements Arch Baluster Ceiling Colonnade Column Floor Gate Lighting Medallion Ornament Portico Roof Vault GND : 4112616 - 6 LCCN : sh85009361 NDL : 00576686 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atrium_(architecture)&oldid=843996570 '' Categories : Architectural elements Rooms Courtyards Hidden categories : Wikipedia articles needing clarification from June 2018 Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Latina Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan پښتو Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 36 more Edit links This page was last edited on 1 June 2018, at 21 : 36 ( UTC ). 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Question: what feature occupied the center of a roman domus
Answer: atrium