| For the Pallladian façade this system of proportions was combined with the
architectural elements of the Roman temple consisting of a rusticated basement,
columns or pilasters, entablature (including the cornice and pediment) and
attic. Five types of columns with the superstructure they supported – known as
the Five Orders – were used to determine the adornment of the façade (see
drawing below). The Five
Orders were the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite and were easily
distinguished by the particular carving of the capitals and their individual
proportions. The Orders were applied to a building for decorative purposes and
also to ‘order’ the design of the facade. The Orders were either applied to the
facade or implied by dividing the facade in height according to the divisions of
an individual column. Even where the main architectural components of the temple
were absent their presence could be implied by the use of certain details. Thus
a cornice or even a flat string course was used to suggest the location of the
entablature, or a sill band or string course at first floor level could be used
to indicate the line of the column base while another above the ground floor
windows could be used to indicate the junction between the column pedestal and
temple podium. In a three storey high house, for example, the temple composition
was implied by the ground floor storey corresponding to the area of the podium
while the two stories above fell within the area of the column shaft. For the
largest and grandest terraced block the temple formula provided further
inspiration for the front. By adding a pediment over the centre the row was
given a palace-like front. Now the overall unity of the design was more
important than the facades of individual houses. John Wood (1704-5) adopted the
palace front for the north side of Queen Square in Bath, started in 1728, and
thereafter the pediment was widely used.
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