Balcony

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A balcony comprising a balustrade supported at either end by plinths. The balcony is supported on console brackets.

Balcony (from Italian balcone, scaffold; cf. High German balcho, beam, balk), a kind of platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade. The traditional Maltese balcony, is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a wall.

Alternatively it does not protrude out of the building, but is an open part of an upper floor, with a balustrade only at the front, and walls on the sides. Usually a door provides access to a balcony.

Sometimes balconies are adapted for ceremonial purposes, e.g. that of St. Peter's Basilica at Rome, when the newly elected pope gives his blessing urbi et orbi after the conclave. Inside churches balconies are sometimes provided for the singers, and in banqueting halls and the like for the musicians.

In theatres the balcony was formerly a stage-box, but the name is now usually confined to the part of the auditorium above the dress circle and below the gallery.

Numerous traditional Maltese balconies in Valletta, Malta

Especially in Europe the popularity of balcony glazing has increased during the last decade. Currently the market leader in Europe in the field of balcony glazing is Lumon.