Is there a term to describe a suspended exterior door in a building?

Question

Is there an accepted term to refer to an exterior door in a building which is suspended above ground level so anybody exiting the building would immediately be met with a sheer drop? (Having been installed through miscommunication or building modification or deliberate design)

I've seen the term 'door to nowhere' or 'nowhere door' used to refer to a door that has an unusual position like this, but it also seems to refer to doors that open onto solid walls, and purely decorative non-functional doors set into walls, ceilings or floors.

The context is that I would like to be able to search for images and articles about these doors, their history and so on, but without a common term I haven't had any luck.

Is there a term specifically referring to elevated dangerous useless doors?

jxh · Answer

You may refer to it as an elevated entrance:

An elevated entrance is a type of entrance, common in the design of medieval castles, that is not accessible from ground level, but lies at the level of an upper storey [sic].
  Wikipedia

It is doubtful your examples are meant to serve as a security measure, but it sure seems to follow the same look and feel.

I did find one interesting justification for the existence of such an opening in modern structures. If the upper floor of a building has a need to load large items that cannot fit in the staircase or elevator, a large "door to nowhere" may be created to allow a crane to hoist the items up. See this death-door built into a public library.

K J · Answer

They are so stupid they defy definition but searching for architectural or engineering blunders or failures will usually throw up examples such as these

https://interestingengineering.com/20-engineering-blunders
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/larryhammers/architectural-blunders/

user396355 · Answer

We have one of these in our work its an access door to a roof space but there has since been another place to access this area from. We refer to it as the dead mans door because although it cant be opened from the inside and is locked from the outside if you where able to walk through it you would be met with certain death. Sort of a fun name for it too "dead mans door"

Answered by user396355 on December 26, 2020

Is there a term to describe a suspended exterior door in a building?

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