Towards the development of an empirical model of elevator lobbies

The paper is concerned with establishing an empirically based model of elevator lobbies in multi-storey office buildings. It considers briefly the design problems posed by elevator lobbies and establishes the method by which lobbies are currently designed. A technique for the analysis of elevator lobbies and other horizontal circulation areas in office buildings is formulated and is based on a number of variables which include: floor space index area; structure and core area, lobby area; circulation area within the building core; total circulation area; and nett rentable office area. This technique is applied to twenty office buildings in Sydney to provide a data base. Results obtained by processing the data base using several statistical methods include:

• 1.

  1. the relationship between a number of area types and the index area which can be used as a guide to the prediction of building efficiency at preliminary design stage;

• 2.

  2. relationships for the establishment of performance standards for elevator lobbies;

• 3.

  3. equations relating circulation and other areas to the total index area for the building;

• 4.

  4. detailed equations relating circulation and other areas to several of the early decisions made on the design of multi-storey office buildings.

These results can be used to formulate design charts to aid architects and could also be used in an algorithmic computer-aided design process for multi-storey office buildings.