To unify a façade of two or more storeys, run a single order of pilasters or columns through all of them, from the base to the main cornice.
A band at each floor
Mark the level of each floor on the front with a plain flat band of stone (a plat band), or with a moulded string course where the front is richer, so that the storeys can be read from outside.
Where an order of pilasters runs up the front, its entablatures do the same work, and no band is needed between them.
Related rules
Over a long row of windows on the principal floor, set triangular and segmental pediments in turn, so that the row is read in pairs and does not run on monotonously.
Rusticate the lowest storey or the basement, its stones marked by deep joints, as the plainest and strongest part of the building; keep the dressed stone, the orders and the ornament for the storeys above.
Bind the corners of a wall with dressed stones laid alternately long and short on each face, so that they bond into both walls and mark the angle of the building.
Carry the front wall up as a parapet in front of the roof instead of eaves of timber (1707); set the window frames back four inches behind the face of the brick (1709), and later hide the sash boxes wholly in the reveals (1774).
Set urns or statues on the pedestals of a balustrade crowning a front, over the piers and the angles, so that the skyline is broken at regular intervals.
Cite this page Chris Paton, “A band at each floor”, The Textbook of Architecture, https://textbookofarchitecture.com/rule/plat-band. Text, drawings and models licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.