Threshold and transition
Lobby
public buildingapartment buildinghotelhousingoffice
It is the first room after the entrance door, from which access to the rest of the building is distributed.
What it solves
It organizes arrival and protects the interior from dust, noise and rain. With a double door it keeps the coolness or the air conditioning in.
Today
Leave room to sit, store shoes and umbrellas and find one’s way clearly. In public buildings make it visible and accessible from the sidewalk.
Common mistake
Oversizing it as a luxury room that neither orients nor protects and forces a large empty volume to be air-conditioned.
Tomorrow
The lobby of a multi-family building can be a small common room with lockers, a notice board and a place to sit. Well ventilated, it works without air conditioning.
Where it comes from
- 1Ancient Rome Italy, Antiquity
The vestibulum was the entrance hall of the house between the street and the atrium. - 2Japanese house Japan, traditional
The genkan is a lower floor for taking off shoes and receiving brief visits without inviting them in.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Threshold and transition
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.