Hallway size ???

3 years ago

We are designing an assessable home and have a long hallway leading to 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. Our hallway size is 4’6” and 36” doorways. This should give us plenty of space to turn the wheelchair into bedrooms and possibly even enough to make a complete turn in the hall way. but it definitely takes from the bedroom sizes. for anyone familiar with assessable homes. Does this seem like a good standard size?

thanks

Comments (10)

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Mark Bischak, Architect
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Are you designing to get to the bedrooms and bathroom with a wheelchair but unable to use the bedrooms and bathroom with a wheelchair? What about closets, kitchen, laundry, garage, living room, dining room, and path from street to entry?
shirlpp
3 years ago
I looked online and it says 44" to 48" should be fine. Would giving the bedrooms the 6" be sufficient?
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bpath
3 years ago
Will there be an aide for the wheelchair user? Will a walker ever be used? We found that enough width for one person to get by the wheelchair (say, to open the door) or stand beside the ambulatory person was much more, well, commodious.
Miss Taydo
Original Author
3 years ago
yes there will always be a aide/caregiver. Our daughter won’t have the capacity to push herself. This is a good point that I didn’t consider. there won’t be a walker but large equipment like standers and chairs, etc.

we are designing so she can go to every room in the house if needed. Living, dinning and kitchen is open concept And we have an attached garage.

the extra 6” would give the master a bit more room. but isn’t needed. just would be nice. :)
JP Haus
3 years ago
In our experience, with both a caregiver pushing the wheelchair and the wheelchair user propelling it, a 4 ft. hall with 3 ft. doors was more than adequate. However, we did not have to make sharp turns into rooms which could make a difference in your case. I think the standard turning radius for a wheelchair is 5 ft. so you may need to consider that as well. It's possible to make a turn in less space but can be awkward and take time that isn't convenient, too.
bpath
3 years ago
Do pay attention to the turns into doorways. My father with aide could maneuver the hallways, but the turns were dicey and in the end could not be ameliorated.
Mrs Pete
3 years ago
Can you shorten the hallway? Length matters as much as width.
worthy
3 years ago
I understand no one one wants to pay for professional advice, but It could be worthwhile to invest in an accessibility consultant to be sure all issues are addressed.
Miss Taydo
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks everyone. There are some good thoughts here.

mrs. Pete: we can’t shorten the hallway. We would have to completely rework our plans for this and we really do love the current layout.

for the turns. There will be a 90 degree turn from the hallway into the bedrooms, including her bedroom. So I’m thinking the 4.6 we have allocated should provide us the space to turn with an aide. Looking at the plan It seems like such a wide hallway but I’m sure we will be thankful for it!
res2architect
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
If you want to improve the hall you should post the plan.

Hallway size ???

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Mark Bischak, Architect

shirlpp

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Hallway size ???

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