Alcove (through the Spanish, alcova, from the Arabic, al-, the, and quobbah, a vault) is an architectural term for a recess in a room, usually screened off by pillars, balustrade or drapery. Pillar is a Christian rock band. ... Stairs, staircase, stairway, flight of stairs are all names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. ... A curtain is a piece of cloth intended to block or obscure light. ...
All alcoves were the same in overall design with the exception of the Borg Queen, she had a different alcove, called the "central alcove" - why this was so it not known but it might have something to do with her function.
An alcove was a seperate unit that could be beamed to another ship when the situation required it.
Alcoves could be placed seperately or clustered together with a Borg computer console at the end.
Alcove in the nymphaeum of the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy
The separation of the alcove from the main space was accomplished at first by means of curtains and later by timber partitions to form independent rooms and thus conserve heat.
The shoin, tokonoma (alcove for the display of art objects), and chigai-dana (shelves built into the wall) are all formative elements of this style, which appeared in the Kamakura period (11921333) and derived from Zen Buddhist monastic dwellings.