ACCESSIBLE

letterbox
shelf
r Housing suitable for wheelchairs
ACCESSIBLE BUILDING

Wheelchair users must be able to travel into all the rooms of a

Accessible Housing

BUILDING
dwelling, and into all rooms available to the residents of a house in
Dimensions for
wheelchair users
common, and to use all facilities. The wheelchair user must be in
Accessible public a position to be mostly independent of outside help. This applies
buildings notably to the blind and visually impaired, the deaf and hearing-
Accessible
housing impaired, the physically disabled, old people, children and people
of exceptionally short or tall stature.
BS 8300
00266 In order to turn 180°, a wheelchair user requires at least 1.50 m2
DIN 18024
0 Deep entrance area with coat rack 0 Transverse layout of entrance area
0 + f). This space requirement determines the size of, and
DIN 18025
movement area in, corridors, rooms, garages etc. In residential
MBO apartment blocks, access through corridors or hallways is the most
frequent arrangement. In this case, angles and corners are to be
J---3.10----l
avoided as far as possible; a straight access corridor is suitable.

IJ[Jc
J-1.40 -t-- 80 -+50-j40l
II The minimum area of an entrance hall should be 1.50 x 1.50 m, and
an entrance lobby with a single-leaf door 1.70 x 1.60 m. A window
with a clear view from a parapet height of 60 em should be provided
in at least one living room of a dwelling. An entry phone at the flat or
house door is an important item of equipment for a blind resident.
Living area
Adequate freedom of movement for wheelchair users is important
in living rooms. There should also be room for at least two further
wheelchair users as visitors. For a living room with an eating area,

e
J-1.40-+B0-+--90-J
the minimum floor area should be: in a flat for one person 22 m2 ,
8 Entrance lobby with double-leaf Dining area layout for two or four
for 2-4 people 24 m2 , for five people 26 m 2 and for six people
door people
28m 2 ; minimum room width 3.75 m (1-2 person household).
Open-air seating area
Every dwelling should be provided with an open-air seating area
such as a terrace, loggia or balcony with a min. size 4.5 m2 • The
movement area must be min. 1.50 m wide and 1.50 m 0.
6
Additional living space
t"'
0 Additional living space should be provided for every wheelchair
<0
..L user if required. The floor area of a flat is normally increased by
0 Plan of open-air seating area
0 Elevation of open-air seating
about 15 m 2 by this requirement.
area

1----- 4.75 - - - j

I
1--<:; 3.75-----1
\
I I I T
0
10

t
!_ _____ : ,;
0
0
<d 10

1
D "',..:
0_
0
10

D
<d 0 00

l e
1__ <q 00

1
I I
I I _l_
I I

f5s!-- 2.oo-+- 1.80 ---t-1

I :

f - - - 4.75 ------j
f) Living room for 1-2 people Living room with dining area for
4-5 people (23.75 m2) Single-room flat for wheelchair user Cii) Two-room flat (50--55 m')
(40--45 m 2)

CD Accessible extension to two-family 4f) Installation of an accessible

house; ramp to overcome level
difference
vertical lift G) Accessible flat for three people in a
block with two flats per floor
0 Accessible flat for four people in a
block with three flats per floor

24
 C=::J ACCESSIBLE BUILDING
Ll on<) Accessible Housing
0'---0
live

Accessible building ACCESSIBLE

BUILDING
(§50 of MBO- Model Building Regulations- applied at state level)
j <SChild
0 (1) In buildings with more than two flats, the flats on one floor
must be accessible. In these flats, the living rooms and bedrooms,
Dimensions for
wheelchair users
Accessible public

0 Flat in two-family house before f) Flat in two-family house after

one toilet, one bathroom and the kitchen or kitchenette must be
buildings
Accessible
conversion --7 f) conversion for serious disability housing
accessible with a wheelchair.
BS 8300
(2) Buildings which are publicly accessible, must in their parts DD266
serving the general public be capable of being accessed and used, DIN 18024
DIN 18025
according to their purpose, by disabled people, old people and
Sal·
people with small children, without outside help. This requirement MBO
applies notably to cultural, educational, sport, leisure and health
facilities, offices, administration buildings and courts, sales and
catering establishments, parking, garages and toilets.
(3) Buildings, according to (2), must be accessible through an
entrance with a clear opening width of at least 0.90 m without
zy, living room and 1 bedroom flat One living room and two bedroom steps. An adequate movement area must be available in front of
before conversion 0 flat after conversion (for a visually doors. Ramps may not have a slope of more than 6%, must be at
impaired child)

T II!!!!!!-· least 1.20 m wide and have a fixed handrail with a safe grip on both
sides. A landing is to be provided at the start and end of the ramp
and also an intermediate landing every 6 m. The landings must
have a length of at least 1.50 m. Stairs must have handrails on
both sides, which are to be continued past landings and window
openings and past the last steps. The stairs must have solid risers.
Corridors and entrance halls must be at least 1.50 m wide. One
toilet must also be suitable and accessible for wheelchair users;
this is to be indicated by a sign.
(4) Sections 1-3 do not apply if the installations can only be fulfilled
with unreasonable expense on account of difficult terrain conditions,
the installation of an otherwise unnecessary lift, unsuitable existing
buildings or the safety of disabled or old people.
0 One-room flat (40 m2)

1 person 2 people 3 people

living room 20.0 20.0 22.0

dining area 6.0 6.0 10.0

bedroom 16.0 24.0 16.0

child (1 bed) - - 14.0

bathroom 6.0 7.0 7.0

kitchen 8.0 9.0 9.0

corridor 5.0 6.0 6.0

storage room 1.0 1.0 1.5

storage (E-wheelchair) 6.0 6.0 6.0

spare room (washing machine) 1.0 1.0 1.0

living area 69.0 80.0 98.5

Q Two-room flat (54 m') Flat(60 m2) Guideline sizes for flats with one wheelchair user -living area in m2
[determination of requirements www.nullbarriere.de]

41!) Four-room flat (11 0 m') 4D Three-room flat (95 m2)

25
 DIMENSIONAL BASICS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Man as Measure and Purpose

DIMENSIONAL dimensions of buildings and their constituent parts. This involved,

BASICS AND Throughout history human beings have created things to be of
RELATION- service to them, using measurements relating to their bodies. for the first time, the investigation, development and comparison
SHIPS of many fundamental questions.
Until relatively recent times people's limbs were the basis for
Man as measure
and purpose
all the units of measurement. Even today we can still have a
The universal better idea of the size of an object if it is compared to humans or Current technical options have been included here to the
standard their limbs: it was so many men high, so many ells (arm lengths) greatest possible extent. Account is taken of common
Body
measurements long, so many feet wider or so many heads bigger. These are standards. Description is often reduced to the absolute
and space expressions that we are born with: it could be said that their sizes minimum and supplemented or even replaced with illustrations
requirements
Geometrical are in our nature. But the introduction of the metre brought all wherever feasible. This should provide the creative architect
relationships that to an end. or designer, in methodically ordered, brief and coherent form,
Dimensions in
building
the necessary information which would otherwise have to be
We should therefore attempt to achieve the most precise and vivid laboriously extracted from countless books or researched
possible idea of this unit. Building clients do the same when they circuitously by surveying existing buildings. Great value has
measure out the rooms of their properties in order to envisage been placed on the restriction of the content to a digest of
the dimensions shown on the drawings. Anyone who intends to the fundamental data and experience, with the inclusion of
learn how to build should start by visualising the size of rooms completed buildings only where they seemed necessary as
and objects as clearly as possible, and constantly practise, so general examples.
that every line they draw and every stated dimension of yet to be
designed furniture, rooms or buildings can appear as an image By and large, of course, each building commission is different and
before their eyes. (apart, of course, from adherence to relevant standards) should
be studied, approached and designed anew by the architect.
We do, however, immediately have an accurate idea of the scale Completed projects can much too easily tempt us to imitate, or
of an object when we see a person beside it, whether in the at least establish conventions, which the architect entrusted with
flesh or as an illustration. It is a poor reflection on our times a similar task can often escape only with difficulty. If, however,
that our trade and professional journals only too often depict as is intended here, creative architects are given only the tools,
rooms or buildings without any people in them. Such pictures then this compels independent thinking so that they weave all the
can often create a false impression of the scale of a building and components of the current commission into their own imaginative
it is often astonishing how different they look in reality - mostly and unified construction.
much smaller. This contributes to the frequent lack of cohesive
relationships between buildings, because their designers have
Finally, the tools presented here have not been collected more
worked to various arbitrary scales and not to the only proper
scale, human beings. or less randomly from some journal or other, but systematically
sought out in the literature as the data required for each building
task. They have been checked against well-known examples
If this is to be changed, then architects and designers of similar buildings and, where necessary, data has also been
must be shown where these haphazard dimensions, mostly acquired through models and experiments. This was always
accepted without thought, originated. They must understand the
with the intention of saving the practising architect or designer
relationships of the size of the limbs of a healthy human being and the effort of these basic investigations, so that sufficient time and
how much space a person occupies in various postures and in leisure can be devoted to the important creative aspects of the
movement. They must also be familiar with the dimensions of the commission.
appliances, clothing etc. which people encounter every day, in
Ernst Neufert
order to be able to determine the appropriate sizes for containers
and furniture. They must know how much space a person needs
between furniture in the kitchen, dining room, libraries etc. in
order to undertake the necessary reaching and working among
these fittings in comfort without squandering space. They must
know how furniture should be placed so that people can fulfil
their tasks or relax in the home, office or workshop. And, finally,
the architect and designer need to know the minimum practical
dimensions of spaces in which people move around on a daily
basis, like trains, trams, vehicles etc. These typically very
restricted minimum spaces give the designer fixed impressions,
which are then used, even if unintentionally, to derive dimensions
of other spaces.

The human being, however, is not just a living creature that needs
space. The emotional response is no less important. The way a
room is dimensioned, divided, painted, lit, entered and furnished
has great significance for the impression it makes. Starting from
all these considerations and insights, I set out in 1926 to collect,
in an organised way, the experience gained from a wide variety of
professional practice and teaching.

The present data book was developed from this work, starting from
the human being and providing the framework for assessing the O Leonardo da Vinci: Rules of Proportion

26
 DIMENSIONAL BASICS AND RELATIONSHIPS
The Universal Standard

DIMENSIONAL
BASICS AND
RELATION-
SHIPS
Man as measure
and purpose
The universal
standard
Body
measurements
and space
E requirements
Geometrical
relationships
Dimensions in
building

l:

l:

l:
E

T l:

l: geometrical division of
length a by employing
the golden section

a
l:

E
E
l:

E
l

Man's dimensional relationships 1fs h = foot length

The oldest known canon describing the dimensional relationships 1/s h = head length from hair parting to underside of chin, spacing

of the human being was discovered in a burial chamber among the of nipples
pyramids near Memphis (about 3000 BcE). Certainly, since then, 1J1o h = face height and width (including ears), hand length to the
scientists and artists have been engaged in trying to decipher wrist,
human proportional relationships. We know about the proportional 1f12 h = face width at level of underside of nose, leg width (above
systems of the Egyptian pharaohs, of the time of Ptolemy, of the the ankle) etc.
ancient Greeks and Romans, and the Canon of Polykleitos, which The sub-divisions extend to 1f4o h.
was long considered the standard, plus the work of the Middle
Ages and of Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and, above In the last century, A. Zeising achieved greater clarity than
all, DOrer's world-famous advances. anyone on this subject with his investigations of the dimensional
relationships of man's proportions. He made exact measurements
In all these systems, the human body was measured according to and comparisons based on the golden section --> p. 33.
lengths of head, face or foot, which were than later sub-divided and Unfortunately, this work did not earn appropriate recognition until
related to each other so that they were applicable in everyday life. recently, when E. Moessel, an important researcher in this area,
Even into our own times, the foot and the ell (arm's length) have endorsed Zeising's work with detailed examinations using his
remained common measures. In particular, the details worked out by methods.
DOrer became a common standard. He started from the height (h) of
a human being and expressed the sub-divisions as fractions: From i 945, Le Corbusier also used, for all his projects, the sectional
relationships of the golden ratio, which he called 'Le Modular'. His
1f2 h = the entire torso from the crotch upwards measures were human height = i .829 m; navel height = i .130 m
114 h = leg length from ankle to knee, length from chin to navel etc. --> p. 33.

27
 DIMENSIONAL BASICS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Body Measurements and Space Requirements

DIMENSIONAL
BASICS AND
RELATION-
SHIPS
Man as measure
and purpose
The universal
standard
Body
measurements
and space

e e
requirements l----750---\ t------625-----j t-875------1 f---625-----j !-----700-----1
Geometrical
relationships
Dimensions in
0 Crawling f) Sitting cross-legged Sitting (from 0 Sitting (from the side) Kneeling Squatting
the front)
building

}---875---j J----875------1

e
J----875---j 1----1125----l

f) Bending over Standing leaning forward, 0 In movement (!) Outstretched arm (forwards) CD Outstretched arm (sideways)
standing

1----1250----1

m
f----875--l f----875 ------1 l--900-1000---\

C!) Dimensions: at the desk Dimensions: at the dining table f) Dimensions: in a small easy chair Q Dimensions: in an armchair

J---660---l

i'
' 'II

e Working while standing 0) Kneeling Gi) Sitting on a chair cg) Sitting on the floor

1------1875------1

1--1250-----i

fli) Sitting on a mattress Leaning against sloping backrest Lying with raised back @) Lying

28
 DIMENSIONAL BASICS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Body Measurements and Space Requirements
SPACE REQUIRED BETWEEN WALLS
DIMENSIONAL
BASICS AND
RELATION-
SHIPS
Man as measure
and purpose
The universal
standard
Body
measurements
and space
requirements
l-375-i I- 625 -l 1- 875 ---1 1--- 1000 ---1 11 so ------1 1--- 1700 ----1 1---- 2250
Geometrical

0 8
relationships
Between walls ("'10% f) Two people next to each other Three people next to each other Q Four people next to each other Dimensions in
building
supplement for people moving)

SPACE REQUIRED BY GROUPS

1- --1 1- ----1 -----1 -------1

e
1250 1- 1875 -----1 2000 f- 2125 2250

Closely packed 0 Normal spacing Q Choir group e Longer periods of standing C) With back packs

STEP LENGTHS

1-750 -+- 750 -1- 750 -l 1- 875 - t - 875 -+- 875 --1 1-- 1250 .__j f.-- 625 -l 2000

4I!) Walking in step CD Marching @) Strolling G) Max. no. people per m 2 : 6

(e.g. cable car)
SPACE REQUIRED FOR VARIOUS BODY POSTURES

n
-'1'-
1-
I

)I
-
I-- 1125 ---i f-- 1000 --1 1- 1125 ---1 I- 875 -l I- 625 -I 1-- 875 --l 1- 1000 ---1 1 - - 1750 - - - I
0 Kneeling 0 Atthedesk Stretching

SPACE REQUIRED WITH HAND LUGGAGE SPACE REQUIRED WITH WALKING STICK AND UMBRELLA

1- 800 --I I - 1000 --1 1-- I- 875 --1 I- 750--1 I-- 1125 --1 1--- 2375

@) One
suitcase
e Two suitcases G) Two people with two
suitcases each
a> Handbag (D With walking
stick
@) With umbrella @) Two people with umbrellas

29
 fourth 3/4 DIMENSIONAL BASICS AND RELATIONSHIPS
third 4/5
Geometrical Relationships

DIMENSIONAL There have been agreements about the dimensioning of buildings

BASICS AND
RELATIONSHIPS since early times. The first specific statements date from the time
Man as measure of Pythagoras, who started from the basis that the numerical
and purpose proportions found in acoustics must also be optically harmonic.
The universal
standard This led to the development of the Pythagorean rectangle --7 0,
Body minor third 5/6 which contains all the harmonic interval proportions but not the
measurements
.and space
requirements
0 Pythagorean rectangle includes all f) Pythagorean triangle two disharmonic intervals -the second and seventh.
interval proportions but excludes
Geometrical the disharmonic seconds and
Spatial measurements can be derived from these number
relationships sevenths relationships. Pythagorean or diophantic equations produce
Dimensions in
building
number groups f)- 0, which should be used for the width, height
m
and length of rooms:
a a b c p X y
36"87' 3 4 5 53"13' 1 1 2
22"62' 5 12 13 67"38' 1 2 3 a2 + b2 = c2
16°26' 7 24 25 73"74' 1 3 4 a= m (y2 -x2)
28°07' 8 15 17 61"93' 0.5 3 5
9 40 41 1 4 5
b=mx2xxxy
12°68' 77°32'
18°92' 12 35 37 71°08' 0.5 5 7 c=m(y2 +x2)
43°60' 20 21 29 46°40' 0.5 3 7
31"89' 28 45 53 58"11' 0.5 5 9 Where x, y are whole numbers, x is less than y, m is the
0 Number relationships from magnification or reduction factor.
Pythagorean equations (selection)
The geometric shapes named by Plato and Vitruvius are also of
critical importance: circle, triangle --7 e
and square --7 0, from
which polygonal traverses can be constructed. Each halving then
gives further polygonal traverses. Other polygonal traverses (e.g.
heptagon --7 0, nonagon --7 Cli)) can be formed only by approximation
or by superimposition. For example, a 15-sided polygon --7 0 can be
constructed by superimposing an equilateral triangle onto a pentagon.

The pentagon --7 0 or pentagram has a natural relationship to the

golden section, as does the derived decagon, but in earlier times
its particular dimensional relationships were hardly ever used --7
p. 32 0-0.
Polygonal traverses are necessary for the design and construction
of so-called 'round' buildings.
The determination of the most important measurements- radius r,
8 Equilateral triangle, hexagon 0 Square chord c and height of a triangle h - is shown in --7 0- G) --7 p. 32.

Q Pentagon: bisection of the radius

gives point B; an arc with centre B
e 15-sided polygon

and radius AB gives point C; distance 5 3 16 Cl) Approximated heptagon: line BC Ci) Approximated nonagon: arc
AC equals the side of a pentagon halves line AM at D. Distance BD Is centred on A with radius AB gives
approx. i/7 of circumference point D on line AC. Arc centred
1----M m---l on C with radius CM gives point E
f--M---+-m-1 on arc BD. Distance DE Is approx.
f---M--t-m--l
1-rn--t--M--tm+-M-i 1/9 of circumference

I I
h=r.cosp

sin p
2

s=2·r·sinP

h cotang p
2
1----m----------j

CD Pentagon and golden section Cf} Decagon and golden section

CD . Calculation of dimensions in a 4D Formula__, 0
polygonal traverse__, p. 34

30
 DIMENSIONAL BASICS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Geometrical Relationships

A right-angled isosceles triangle (two sides of equal length), DIMENSIONAL

BASICS AND

0 Right-angled Isosceles triangle:

can be used for quadrature
f) Triangle (base= height)
with a relationship of baseline to height of 2:1, can be used for
quadrature (the process of constructing a square of equal area
RELATION-
SHIPS

45.
to a given shape) --+ 0. An isosceles triangle with the base and Man as measure
and purpose
height forming two sides of a square was used successfully by The universal
the master cathedral builder Knauth to determine the dimensional standard
'Av'2 relationships of the cathedral in Strasbourg --+ 0. Body
measurements
/ !'Av. The rr/4 triangle of A. v. Drach --+ 8 is rather more pointed than
and space
- v. v'2 requirements
Geometrical
that described above because its height is determined by the relationships
v. point of the slewed square. It was used successfully by its inventor Dimensions in
for details and devices. building

0 The investigations of L. R. Spitzenpfeil into a number of old

n/4 triangle (A. v. Drach)
e -e
Squares developed from the
octagon -> buildings have discovered octagonal relationships. These are
based on the so-called diagonal triangle, where the height of
the triangle is the diagonal of the square constructed over half
of the base --+ G - C). The sides of the rectangle formed from
the diagonal triangle--+ 0 have a ratio of 1:-./2, so all halving or
doubling of the rectangle produces the same ratio of 1 :-./2. This
was used as the basis for the ISO A series paper formats --+ p. 4.
Geometrical progressions in this relationship are produced by the
hierarchies inside an octagon --+ e -e
and the hierarchy of the
e.
0 _.e
-- -
square roots of numbers 1-7--+
-17 = 2.646
The relationship between the square roots of whole numbers is
...........
....... shown in --+ C). The factorisation procedure permits the application
'' of square roots for the installation of non-rectangular building

1
V2
elements. Building from approximated values for square numbers,
Mengeringhausen developed the MERO space frame. The
principle is the so-called 'snail' --+ CD - 0. The imprecision of the
right angle is compensated by the screw connections of the rods at
the nodes. A different approximate calculation of the square roots of
whole numbers -.Jn for non-rectangular building elements is offered

1 l---1 ----1
by continued fractions (--+ p. 33) according to the formula:

G = -.Jn = 1 + n -1
1+G
--+ 4!).

8 1 rectangle e Hierarchy of square roots

10

20
28
40

28

Relationship between square roots 4li) Related numbers as

approximation of -./2 ('snail')
1 I _;11 1

0.5 zkfa 1.5

0.6 51 7 1.4

0.58333 •.. 12117 1.41687 •••

0.56821 •.• 29 41 1.41379 ...

0.5857143 .•. 70 99 1.4142657 •.•

0.5857989 •.• 169 239 1.4142011 ••.

Examples of non-rectangular
0.5857865 •.• v'2 1.4142135 .••
coordination -> p. 34 MERO space
frames: based on -./2 and-./3
CD Continued fractions of --12

31