An important feature of a modern building is the grille work made of various metals and used for protection, decoration, or effect to a great extent. For exterior ornament or protection, grilles will be found principally in door or window openings, and in this application, wrought-iron grilles are generally used. Window grilles are generally set in the depth of the stone or brick jamb of the window, as in Fig. 186, but are sometimes put over the opening on the outside face of the wall. This is usual if the window is small. (Fig. 187.) The fastenings of grilles should be secure and lasting; and they should in general be set in a rim of iron with hinges and locks, so as to allow easy access for cleaning the windows. (Fig. 188).

Door grilles are sometimes glazed on the back with plate glass, so as to form a weatherproof door having the effect of the grille, and when this is to be done, care must be taken to bed the glass carefully, as the expansion and the jar of closing are likely to crack the glass.

Fig. 186. Usual Position of Grille.

Fig. 186. Usual Position of Grille.

The interior use of grilles will be found chiefly in the protection of elevators or lifts, and the exclusion of the public from the working portions of offices and banks. Elevator grilles are generally made of wrought iron, and they should be at least 7 feet 6 inches high on the sides and carried from floor to ceiling in front of the doors of the car; and all portions within easy reach of the public, where there is danger that the hand might pass through, to be injured by the moving parts of the elevator or counterweight, should be of a fine pattern or protected by fine netting. The main support of the elevator grilles will be found in the corner posts which support the elevators, or the stairs which often enclose them on three sides, and the pattern of the grille work should be stout enough to stand rigid between these supports. Wrought-iron grille work of all kinds should be carefully inspected to see that the scrolls are well turned, that welding or riveting is neatly done, and that the whole section is tightly put together. Cast-iron patterns must be inspected for smoothness and clearness of the ornamental parts, and an even thickness of metal should be required for all similar parts.

Fig. 187. Grille Outside of Window.

Fig. 187. Grille Outside of Window.

Fig. 188. Hingeing of Grille.

Fig. 188. Hingeing of Grille.

The counter and office grilles are often made of thin steel, bent into various patterns and riveted together, and this construction is also used for elevator cars where lightness is a valuable feature.

These grilles are finished by plating with copper, bronze, nickel, or other metal, and can be given almost any desired tone.

While these grilles do not compare in appearance with wrought-iron grilles, they are less expensive, and quickly made, and may be readily obtained of the manufacturers in a variety of stock patterns. Fireproof Vaults. All banking and large commercial offices require a fireproof vault of some sort, for the preservation of valuable records as well as money. These vaults in a building of ordinary construction are easily made of bricks and steel beams. The vault, in principle, consists of a thick wall of bricks with proper airspace and covering, enclosing a space of greater or less extent, access to which is given by a double set of doors, separated by the width of the wall, at least, and securely fastened from without. To withstand the effect of a conflagration, the walls should be built with an inner wall of eight inches of brick; then an air space of four inches and an outer wall of at least eight inches of brick, with both walls tied together across the air space, which should be ventilated top and bottom. This gives a wall twenty inches in thickness and allows a door to be made with the outer valve in one leaf and an inner door in two parts, these parts opening in a vestibule formed in the thickness of the wall. (Fig. 189.) The top must be covered with bricks laid on iron bars or beams, and must be at least twenty inches thick to withstand the heat and the falling of beams or masonry. (Fig. 190.)

Fig. 189. Door of Fireproof Vault.

Fig. 189. Door of Fireproof Vault.

Fig. 190. Top of Fireproof Vault.

Fig. 190. Top of Fireproof Vault.

Vaults of this construction are fireproof but not burglar proof, the latter requisite being obtained by a lining of chilled steel or a separate burglar proof safe set within the brick vault. Vaults have also been made burglar proof by constructing them of concrete, in which are embedded old iron or steel bars or rods, to an extent that it would require a long time to effect an entrance of sufficient size to extract any part of the contents. Copper wires are sometimes laid in concrete at intervals of three inches or less, connected with a battery which will ring an alarm bell if the wires are tampered with. Store Windows. The modern desire to expose as much plate glass as possible in store windows has led to the development of a special construction for these windows, with the object of reducing the necessary supports of the glass to a minimum. For ordinary store windows, where the lights are not more than 6 feet wide, the bars may be made of a common T-bar covered by a half round of nickel-plated brass over a wooden form, A, Fig. 191, the glass being set from the inside, and held in by pins and putty or wooden stop-beads.

Sometimes a half-round bar is screwed to a web piece of iron, and the outside painted or covered with nickeled brass, as at B, Fig. 191. Another form giving greater strength of web is shown at C. For larger lights, a special construction is required, giving greater strength; and this is often done by means of a special casting exposed and ornamented on the front, but otherwise concealed in the wood finish, as at A, Fig. 192. These castings should be about 2 1/2 inches wide by 3 inches deep, depending upon the size of the glass, and the glass may be set either from the outside or the inside, and held in place by moulded stops which may be made of metal on the outside, if desired. If transoms are used, they may be of the same section as any of the bars, or a more ornamental form may be given, as B, Fig. 192.

Grille Work 0100222Fig. 191. Sash Bars.

Fig. 191. Sash Bars.

Grille Work 0100224Fig. 192. Sash Bars.

Fig. 192. Sash Bars.

STREET FRONT OF RESIDENCE AT CORONADO BEACH, SAN DIEGO, CAL. Pond & Pond, Architects, Chicago, Ill. Wide Boards in Lower Story; Plaster Above; Shingle Roofs. Cost, about $10,000. Built in 1905. For Plans, See Page 186

STREET FRONT OF RESIDENCE AT CORONADO BEACH, SAN DIEGO, CAL. Pond & Pond, Architects, Chicago, Ill. Wide Boards in Lower Story; Plaster Above; Shingle Roofs. Cost, about $10,000. Built in 1905. For Plans, See Page 186

GARDEN FRONT, FACING THE BAY, OF RESIDENCE AT CORONADO BEACH, CAL.

GARDEN FRONT, FACING THE BAY, OF RESIDENCE AT CORONADO BEACH, CAL.

Pond & Pond, Architects, Chicago, Ill.

The top of the window will usually have the same section as the sides, and the sill will depend upon the character of the show window and whether the sash comes to the floor or not. If a bulkhead is required with cellar lights under it, a section similar to Fig. 193 is often employed. To prevent the windows from becoming frosty in cold weather, ventilating openings, through which the condensation also may drain out, are provided, and a trough to connect with these openings. Basement sashes should be provided with wooden sills fitted over a lip in the iron or concrete of sidewalk, or bedded tight if the sidewalk is of stone or brick.

The corners of store windows may be treated by adapting any form of bar to the angle, and where it is of advantage to show no bar at all, the two sheets of glass coming together at an angle may be made to support each other by clamping them together with no dividing bar. Several patented forms of connection may be used for this, as well as for the dividing bars. In setting large lights of plate glass, a backing of rubber or leather should be used in place * of the usual back-puttying.