Entryways, lobbies, hallways and gathering spaces

By Daniel W. Cecil, AIA, Harriman Associates
Education Design Studio Leader

Entryways and corridors in middle schools and high schools do more than get people in and around the building. They serve many other functions, from setting the tone and personality of the school, to providing inviting spaces for students and community members to gather.

When a new building or a renovation of an existing building is planned, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of all the ways the entries and corridors are to be used.

Navigational clues
First impressions
Places to gather

Navigational clues
The way the main entrance is designed and where it is located can make it easy for someone to know "This is where I enter," or it can cause confusion. And once inside the main lobby, design elements continue to send signals that can make navigating the building easy or confusing.

People entering should be able to see and get to the main office easily. Locating the office just off the main lobby provides a way for monitoring or controlling access to the building. And if glass windows or walls are used in the office, staff get a clear view into the lobby. For added security, many schools decide to install cameras to record activities in the lobby.

The main lobby has a central role in the way a building is organized and in defining the circulation pattern for movement through the building. As the primary hub or spine, the lobby provides connections to major parts of the building and separates them, either directly or indirectly, through corridors. While the specific design should match each school's needs, the organization and signage should reflect a sense of order and clarity.

Since community use of schools has increased, the design should also provide a way to limit access to different parts of the building after hours, shutting off the classroom wing, for example, while allowing an evening meeting in the library or cafeteria.

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First impressions
The design of the main lobby sets the tone for the school as a whole, in addition to responding to the way the space itself is to be used.

The lobby should be large enough to project that it is the primary entrance of the building. For a large school, a lobby with a two-story ceiling adds volume and spaciousness that makes its importance clear, and for smaller, one-story schools, a vaulted ceiling can have the same effect.

Lighting, materials, and finishes play an important role in setting a tone that fits a school's personality and welcomes and invites. Natural light always adds to the appeal, making the area feel larger and more spacious. Windows with a view bring the outdoors in, and skylights can drench a wide area with sunlight. Both may add cost, but that should be balanced against the psychological sense of well-being that results, especially where winters are long and gray.

The finishes and materials in a lobby must be compatible with the rest of the building, but in general, the use of natural materials such as wood add warmth that makes the space more inviting.

Inscriptions on a fascia can help establish a tone with a quote that reflects a school's mission or theme, as at Carrie Ricker Middle School in Litchfield, Maine, and at Brunswick High School, also in Maine.

Other touches in both lobbies and corridors can reinforce a sense of belonging for students and community members, such as providing places to honor and display student work, bulletin boards to post community notices, space for pictures of students, teachers, and volunteers, or even a permanent display case for towns in the school district.

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Places to gather
Both lobbies and corridors can encourage students or community members to congregate, informally or formally. At Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, the main lobby, or "town square," is not only a space that welcomes the community but is also planned as a place where students socialize. Students pass through the square frequently during the day, as they make their way from one part of the building to the other. Wide steps on a central staircase and benches along the walls encourage them to linger and interact.

And at St. Dominic Regional High School in Auburn, Maine, the lobby is large enough to hold a small reception. Placing corridors along exterior walls with large windows can create sunny spots where students can talk or study.

Benches along the walls and the sunlight attracts students at both Noble and St. Dominic's, and at Noble, heating registers under the benches make them more comfortable in winter. Alcoves for quiet study can be created where two corridors intersect.

Creating gathering areas along exterior walls means designing corridors that are wider than the norm and that are single-loaded, rather than double-loaded. In a single-loaded corridor, rooms are only on one side, while in double-loaded corridors, rooms are on both sides. Double-loaded corridors tend to be more cost-efficient, while single-loaded corridors bring sunlight to the process of changing rooms, so cost and benefits must be balanced.

Entryways, corridors, and hallways are more than pathways through the school. They set the tone of the entire building and "glue" it together, and are deserving of the same design attention as any other space.

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Written for School Planning & Management magazine, January 2003