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12:12 Mar 8, 2011
German to English translations [PRO] Tech/Engineering - Architecture / House design
German term or phrase:zur Strasse hin geschlossen
Description of exclusive apartment building. Das Haus zeigt sich mit seinen drei Ebenen zur Strasse hin geschlossen. Results from google images suggest that this means that the street-facing facade of the building has few windows, no balconies etc. How to express this elegantly in English?
The walls are mainly of glass, with one solid wall facing the street. In spite of the use of glsss and the fact that Jhere are no interior doors except the ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0405111533...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 57 mins (2011-03-08 13:09:18 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Unless your building has windows, of course.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-03-08 14:14:02 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
street-facing side of the house is closed off
Closed street facing side, i.e. the building is only 'open' at the back, giving it more privacy. I suppose this could also include a couple of windows.
The internal courtyard is unseen from the street, and apart from the large glazed panel, the rest of the street-facing side of the house is closed off. ...
trendsideas.com/ViewArticle.aspx?article=9726®ion=4... - Cached
I think this comes closest, I had no more context, no pictures. Google image results for "zur Strasse hin geschlossen" show very plain walls facing the street, no or few windows etc. It was from an architect's CV, so details of the job were brief. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
- geschlossene Fassade ( flat); see link under Hermann's entry. "geschlossen"= no embellishments/uniform/flat. It does not mean "without windows", though (as the picture illustrates).
I might say something like "the house features three levels and is..." or "the house with its three levels presents itself..." - not entirely sure about a solution in English for "zeigt sich geschlossen", which is why I have not offered an answer below. Anyway, just in reply to "For goodness sake, Susanne..." (only just noticed that one) May I just say that is quite a reaction - I must have really messed up my wording to be misunderstood to that extent (have I?). With "not relate" and "wouldn't make that relation", I simply meant to say "bezieht sich nicht" / "würde diesen Bezug nicht herstellen" (grammatically).
Your previous comment did not make sense, but I understand what you are saying now. In the end it comes to the same thing. How would you accommodate the three levels in the sentence then?
Hi Helen - of course I am aware that the levels are integral to the building, and that means that if the house is closed off towards the street, its levels are, too. But why word it in English that way - the German sentence ist "das Haus zeigt sich geschlossen", not "es gibt drei geschlossene Ebenen". If you word it that way then the emphasis is more on the levels than on the house (or its facade). Hope that explains my way of thinking... but anyway - I didn't entirely disagree with you, but stand by my "neutral".
It really would help if you could provide more context. Is this a description of a building as a whole or one façade? And what kind of building is it - a residential house, an apartment block or what? I presume you have a better handle on it having full context, but as you can see from some of the comments, it is rather ambiguous, despite no mention of façades as such.
Just found some references in English to "closed street facade" - seems like a reasonable option
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
55 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
solid wall facing the street
Explanation: From a book on architecture
The walls are mainly of glass, with one solid wall facing the street. In spite of the use of glsss and the fact that Jhere are no interior doors except the ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0405111533...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 57 mins (2011-03-08 13:09:18 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Unless your building has windows, of course.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-03-08 14:14:02 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
street-facing side of the house is closed off
Closed street facing side, i.e. the building is only 'open' at the back, giving it more privacy. I suppose this could also include a couple of windows.
The internal courtyard is unseen from the street, and apart from the large glazed panel, the rest of the street-facing side of the house is closed off. ...
trendsideas.com/ViewArticle.aspx?article=9726®ion=4... - Cached
Hermann Local time: 02:55 Native speaker of: English, German PRO pts in category: 19
Grading comment
I think this comes closest, I had no more context, no pictures. Google image results for "zur Strasse hin geschlossen" show very plain walls facing the street, no or few windows etc. It was from an architect's CV, so details of the job were brief.
2 hrs confidence:
reveals little on (as seen from) the street side
Explanation: This is just typical real estate patter. Nothing to do with access. Mention of three levels is a red herring. It's all about the character of the building.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-03-08 15:11:35 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Or rather,
Reveals little of itself
Example sentence(s):
The Frank house in the Weissenhofsiedlung reveals little of its internal organisation from the street side.
Andrew Catford United States Local time: 19:55 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
(The building features three levels) without street access
Explanation: Not sure how elegant it is, but this is what it means.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 30 mins (2011-03-08 12:42:27 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
One would need to see plans or pics to understand what was meant by levels here. The author has chosen not to say floors or storeys.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 39 mins (2011-03-08 12:51:38 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
or the building has no access to the street from three levels
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2011-03-08 13:32:29 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
It might mean that the levels concerned are not 'street-facing', i.e. there are no windows or other openings onto the street. We really need more context.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-03-08 14:40:17 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
For goodness sake, Susanne, what use is a building with no street access at all?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 5 hrs (2011-03-08 17:55:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The building with its three levels is not street facing. Following discussion here, this is how one might best translate the phrase.
Madison Ave Penthouse (Pre-War) apartment app 900 sq ft – in Luxury – full service – 24 hour doorman building. South facing – flooded with sunlight through the wall of premium/super high end- citiquiet windows that enclose your dining room (it is truly awesome eating dinner while looking so closely at the Empire State building) . Apartment consist of huge eat in kitchen, seperate dining room, huge double sized living room, bedroom, sleep loft, long hallway full of closets, and storage.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
