Build. Sci. Vol. 9, pp. 277-288. Pergamon Press 1974.

Printed in Great Britain

I (66.1) I

, ~

Towards the Development of an

Empirical Model of Elevator Lobbies
A. M A R M O T
J. S. G E R O

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. 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. relationships for the establishment of performance standards for elevator
lobbies;
3. equations relating circulation and other areas to the total index area for
the building;
4. detailed equations relating circulation and other areas to several of the early
decisions made on the design of multi-storey office buil~'ngs.
These results can be used to formulate design charts to aid architects and
couM also be used in an algorithmic computer-aided design process for multistorey office buildings.

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N

and take up a larger percentage of the total floor

area.

THIS STUDY was carried out in order that an

algorithm for the design of elevator lobby areas in
multi-storey office buildings might be formulated,
based on data from a number of existing office
buildings. Such an empirically-derived model has
obvious potential as a design aid enabling both a
prediction o f lobby areas at a preliminary stage in
the design of a building to be made, and enabling
the effect of changes of elements of the building
design to be analysed with respect to lobby areas.
The most urgent problems in the design and
development of multi-storey office buildings at
present are those concerned with the creation of an
adequate internal environment within the building
at a reasonable economic cost. The problem of
providing office space at heights up to about
1000 ft has been solved, virtually without any cost
penalty--it is in the provision of ancillary systems
which make possible the use of the office space, that
the problems lie. Mechanical and electrical services
initially cost about three times as much as the structure in air-conditioned multi-storey office buildings,

In making an economic assessment of the servant

systems of a building--air-conditioning, plumbing,
lighting, electricity, acoustics, vertical and horizontal circulation--three factors must be considered: capital costs; running and maintenance
costs; and indirect costs. The first two factors are
selfexplanatory. The third factor, indirect costs,
includes a cost relating the loss of productive time
of the occupants due to inefficient services, and a
cost relating to loss of rentable area, i.e. every
square foot of area taken up by an ancillary
function represents a loss o f a square foot of office
area and the income which would be derived from
it. It is therefore clear that a reduction in the area
occupied by ancillary services represents an
economic advantage. In multi-storey office buildings where ancillary services are repeated on many
floors, all possible reductions represent a critical
economic gain, as long as such a reduction is not
accompanied by a lowering of the required standard
of performance. The economics of ancillary
277

278

A. Marmot and J. S. Gero

services must always be related to performance

standards--the lowering of performance levels can
be expected to produce a rental lower than that
necessary for the economic viability of the building,
while the raising of performance levels will not
necessarily be followed by increased rental return.
1.1 The elevator lobby
Although elevator lobbies, representing 2-5 per
cent of gross building area, are the largest single
user of non-office space in multi-storey office
buildings (sometimes second to elevator shaft
area), there are few guidelines available for the
design of lobby areas to ensure that the lobby
adequately fulfils its functional role, while occupying minimum floor area. A poorly designed lobby
can adversely affect the vertical circulation service
in a building by demanding that elevators stop at
each floor for a long time to allow for passenger
walking time, yet references on the design of
vertical transportation systems rarely include any
useful data on elevator lobby design, if, indeed, they
mention lobbies at all. The physical configuration
of elevators and elevator lobbies are major factors
in determining the whole core layout in multistorey office buildings, but no usable quantitative
data is available to predict the area devoted to, or
assess the behavioural performance of elevator
lobbies.
The study was carried out in order that a data
base be available for the prediction of lobby areas,
and for comparison with lobby areas already
constructed. This information is designed to add
to other data on office buildings being developed
in this Department, and lends itself to being
computerised. The data base is a first step towards
the evaluation of elevator lobbies with respect to a
standard of behavioural performance as well as
with respect to efficiency of space utilisation in a
building.
The most direct definition of an elevator lobby is
one based on the functional role o f the area,
namely, an elevator lobby is that area set aside for
calling, awaiting, entering and leaving an elevator.
An elevator lobby also has other "functions" to
fulfil, such as providing an adequate standard of
facility with regard to proxemics; projecting an
image of the building and its tenants; allowing a
building user to identify with, and feel oriented in
the building; providing a place for some degree of
interaction between building users; acting as a
security zone to prevent unauthorised entry of
people, and eliminating unwanted noise from office
areas. For the purposes of this paper, however,
an elevator lobby is considered by a simple
physical description as a horizontal plan area.
The measurement of this area presents many

difficulties: firstly, the organisation of the building

core may be such that the lobby area not only
accommodates those activities associated with
catching elevators, but also accommodates movement to other services, e.g. toilets, fire stairs. Thus
the overall horizontal circulation area to services is
also given consideration in the paper. Secondly,
the design of certain building cores is such that
there is no elevator area as a distinct, fixed area, and
an implied area must arbitrarily be defined as lobby.
This situation occurs if the elevators serving a
building floor are placed in line and, for a single
tenant, the area right up to the elevator doors is
rented as office space. While some space adjacent
to the elevators will serve the functions of a lobby
as defined above, the extent of the area so used
depends on the arbitrary location of furniture and
office partitions. Thirdly, in ground floor lobbies
during the morning rush hour, the function of
awaiting an elevator can take place in an area
adjacent to the lobby area. While this area would be
more correctly termed "foyer", it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish it from lobby area, e.g.
on the ground floor of a building with in-line
elevators, the point as which "lobby" ends and
"foyer" begins must be decided. It is recognised
that foyer area does not fulfil all the functions of
lobby, no call-buttons, possibly no view of the
arrival of elevators, however, in this study,
"foyer" area is included as part of the ground floor
lobby area.
1.2 Current design method for elevator lobbies
Although elevator lobbies are recognised as
having an important place in the design of office
buildings, both in terms of adequacy of their
performance, and in terms of building space
efficiency, the designer has no access to evaluative
tools, but rather designs by trial and error until he
thinks the lobby "looks as though it will do the
job". The flow chart describing the current design
procedure is shown in figure 1.
2. DATA C O L L E C T I O N
In order that the model of elevator lobbies could
be derived, it was necessary to select and measure
those factors of multi-storey office buildings which
were postulated to correlate with elevator lobbies.
Discussions were held with architects, engineers and
real estate agents directly concerned with the design
of office buildings, and data sheets (figure 2) were
then prepared for each building so that available
information which might prove statistically relevant,
could be compiled.
The twenty office buildings used in the study
represent a wide cross-section of building designs

Towards the Development of an Empirical Model of Elevator Lobbies

office areas. Net rentable areas include shopping

and office areas on ground floors and office areas
or their equivalent on upper floors. The criteria
used to determine the data on the data sheets
(figure 2) will now be discussed.

Initial building data

J,site; site ratio; codes; location
J eequit3t; cost/return calculations
[ *p,restlge; finish

Building envelope
*height, geomet~ of form
*no. of floors; areo/fleor

Building height: as measured from mean ground

level to the roof of the plant rooms.
No. of office floors: including all upper floors
except those devoted entirely to plant or parking.

Core location
*corner; sde; central; spilt

Elevator zoning e evator type and, control

. single zone; express; mult~ zone; sky obby
* cob type. capacity, speed
*control and coiling system
Eleva$or arrangement and lobby organlsation
* in line; inward facing ; combination
*lobby open ended, closed one or two sides

I Total core design

'*fire slairs; toilets; circulation
*A/C, plumbing, electrical ducts

No

Final lobby size

Total index area: is obtained from calculations on

the data sheet (see below).
Total net area: is obtained from calculations on the
data sheet (see below).
Core location factor: ranges from 1 to 5 and is
determined by comparing the core location of each
building with those shown in figure 3.

No

279

Fig. 1.
and sizes, and were selected from the offices of
seven architectural firms. The buildings were
designed between 1963 and 1970, and are all,
except one, located in Sydney.
The compilation of data was made from drawings
of the buildings studied as, in most instances, no
comprehensive analysis of areas had been prepared
by the architects. On the occasion when an area
analysis was available, it took the form of a summary prepared at the completion of the drawing
stage, considering only gross, index and net
rentable areas. No attempt to pinpoint areas of
possible wastage was made by a more detailed
analysis. In particular, the reduction of rentable
area attributable to horizontal circulation on
multi-tenancy floors was hardly ever investigated by
the architect. For only one of the twenty buildings
studied was a comprehensive analysis prepared by
the architects available for the study.
Because of the necessity of relying on measurements taken from drawings supplied by the
architects, only ground floor(s) and office floors
of the buildings were included in the data sheets,
and index areas rather than gross areas were
considered. Thus all floors below ground level
(basement shopping floors, parking, plant) and
upper floors totally occupied by plant or parking
have been excluded. Upper floors rented wholly or
partially for stores, conference areas, computer
centres, cafetarias, etc., have been considered as

No. of elevators and elevator zoning: is a simple

description of the main vertical circulation system
serving the office floors of a building. Goods
elevators and shuttle elevators are not included.
The emergency elevator in multi zone buildings, i.e.
the elevator which can stop at all floors, is treated
as one of the elevators in the highest zone.
Elevator arrangement: refers to the grouping of the
elevators in a zone and is denoted by a number
from 1 to 3. The possible arrangements are shown
in figure 4.
Lobby organisation: refers to the means of access
into the lobby and is denoted by a number from
1 to 3. The possible organisations are shown in
figure 5.
Lobby part of core: ranges from 1 to 3 and describes whether or not the lobby area is a fixed area
always forming a part of the core regardless of the
tenancy arrangements on the floors of the building.
Possible arrangements are shown in figure 6.
Toilet location: ranges from 1 to 3 giving a simple
description of the arrangement of restrooms on a
floor. The possibilities are: (i) male and female
facilities on every floor; (ii) either a male or a
female facility on every floor; (iii) either a male or a
female facility on each stair landing level.
Column 1. Index area: is the area used for
council approval and must fall within the limits
imposed by the site index. In calculating the index
area, the following rules usually apply:
Index area = Gross area less
parking areas and car ramps,
public colonnade or plaza
public arcade providing public access between
two street frontages
elevator plant and other plant on office floors.
The gross area is taken to be the area within the
building envelope enclosing the outermost building

280

A. Marmot and J. S. Gero

CORE LOCATION

~ME:

NO. Of LIFTS a n d
LIFT ZONING

LIFT
;LOBBY
LOBBY PART TOILET
A~ANGEMENTORGANISATION of CORE?
_OCATiON
i

~0CATION
~E HITECT
3UILDING IN[1OFFICEIT OTALINDEXIT OTAL

NET
1

FLOOR

INDEX
AREA

~I~JCTU 4
& CORE i
AREA
,

]TOTAL
CORE OTHER t'lRE. AREA ~
CIRCULA.CIRCULA. 5INGLE
TION
ITION
r~NANCY

LOBBY
AREA

~OTAL
CIRr..ARE,
~ULYIPL I ~
TENANCY

NET AREA
SINGLE
TENANCY

NET AREA
MULTIPLE
TENANCY

i.
I

t
i

BUILDING

NoMBE.I

Fig. 2. Sample data sheet.

r ....

F"-q

IF . . . .

2. Side

I. C o r n e r core

3. C e n t r a l

core

r . . . . .

strip

"-1

/
4.

5.

Central island

Split

Fig. 3. Possible core locations.

I.In line
elevat"ors

2.

Inward facing
elevafors

3.

Fig. 4. Possible elevator arrangements.

Combination of
in and Inward

elements, except (i) where exterior perimeter

columns are spaced wider than 12 ft., and gross
area is then defined by the area within the outside
wall line, and (ii) where a system of sun control
extends past the external wall, and gross area is
then defined by the area within the outside wall line.
Column 2. Structure and core area: is the area taken
up by external structure, solid external walls, part
of glazed external walls (see definition o f net
rentable area below), fire stairs, toilets, vertical
ducts for A/c, plumbing, electrical work and the
duct structure, when these services are available to
more than one floor, and elevator lobby area,
which, by nature of the core layout, cannot be
included as office area.
Column 3. Lobby area: is the area used for calling,
awaiting, entering and leaving the elevator on a
floor of the building, and is either (i) included as a
part of the core, in which case its area is determined
from the core geometry; (ii) not part o f the core in
which case its area has been arbitrarily defined as
extending out 6 ft. from the elevator doors; (iii)
on the ground level in which case the lobby area
includes all public areas giving access to the
elevators, and which were included as part of the
ground floor index area.
Column 4. Core circulation: is the area made up o f

Towards the Development of an Empirical Model of Elevator Lobbies

t Open ended
lobby

?_ Lobby closed
one end

281

3. Lobby closed
two ends

Fig. 5. Possible lobby organisations.

..7\~...:....
~

~l~e~e~3~ec~

NO. office floors

NO ~l~s

Core location

CL

No lift zones

NOzones

NO lifts

NO~ift

Lift arrangement

LA

Index area t y p f l r .

IND,y~

Index area t o t a l

INDoor

Core area typ.flr.

COREtyp

Core area Coral

COREtot

Lobby area ground

I0 LOBBYgrnd

Lobby area yp.fl~

II

Lobby area t o t a l
Circ. area typ fir.

12 LOBBY+o+
13 CIRC

Circ.sinqle
areaten~nc~'
total

14 CIRC~o- sang
.
15 CIRC

sin(Jte tenancy

~e4~~,~x
~>9.~(~72~3e~7~

Circ. area typ. fir.

multi Tenancy

"~.:'~:'~:'~:'~:'~.b~',~
Netsim:j~e
areqtenancy
yp. fir "
~
~ X' ~~ "
~ "~g
99%

LOBBYtyp

~yp stag

17p mul~i

Netsin(Jle
areatenancy
total

16 NET, ypsmg
17 NETYoI- sin
9

Net multi
areatedancy
Wp. fir.

18 NETtyp. multi

confidence l i m i t
0.549 < r

Correlation matrix

qzo VoriablesObservtins

Fig. 5a.

all horizontal circulation within the core, including

circulation to toilets, fire stairs, etc. It does not
include lobby area even when lobby is part of core.
Column 5. Other circulation: is that area which
becomes public non-rentable circulation area in the
case of multi tenancy floors only, and has not
previously been considered as lobby or core circulation area. Included are: foyers or corridors
giving access to tenancies; corridors to fire stairs
as required by regulation. In determining this area,
a minimum tenancy of 2000 sq. ft. was used.
I. Lobby part
of core

2. Lobl}y not
part of core

3. Lobby half
part of core

Fig. 6. Possible lobby to core relationships.

Column 6. Total circulation area, single tenancy: is

the sum of all horizontal areas on a single tenancy
floor including lobby and core circulation areas
(Columns 3 and 4). It is the minimum area devoted
to circulation on a floor of the building.
Column 7. Total circulation area, multiple tenancy:
is the sum of all horizontal circulation areas on a
multi tenancy floor (minimum tenancy size 2000 ft 2)
and includes lobby, core, and other circulation
areas, (Columns 3, 4 and 5).

Column 8. Net area, single tenancy: is the net

rentable area of a single tenancy floor and is calculated using the criteria which are accepted practice
in the state and are reproduced in the Appendix
[Reference 1].
Column 9. Net area, multiple tenancy: is the net
rentable area on a multiple tenancy floor and is
calculated by reference to the same criteria as for
Column 8 above.

282

A. Marmot and J. S. Gero

No. Lifts

Index area total

Core area total

19

Lobby area ground

!10

Lobby area typ. fir.

!1 I

Net area total

117

single ~-enancy

7 multiple zone

13 single zone
buildings
99%C.L. 0"661<r

buildings
9 9 % C.L. 0 " 8 5 4 < r

ts
area total
area ground

[0

area typ. floor

II

area total

Figs. 6a and 6b
Over the sample of twenty buildings, the range o f
values for the attributes of area investigated was:

Attribute or area
Building height
No. of office floors
Total net area
Core location
No. of elevator zones
No. of elevators
Elevator arrangement
Lobby organisation
Lobby part of Core
Toilet location
Total index area
Total core area
Total lobby area
Total core circulation area
Total other circulation area
Total circulation--single
tenancy
Total circulation--multi
tenancy
Total net area--single
tenancy
Total net area--multi
tenancy

Lowest
value

Highest
value

150
1l
23,000
1
l
2
1
l
l
1
30,000
7000
800
0
0

600 ft
41
580,000 ft 2
5
4
20
3
3
3
3
750,000 ft 2

160,000
23,000
38,000
25,000

ft 2
ft 2
ft 2
ft 2

800

61,000 ft 2

1500

68,000 ft 2

22,000

580,000 ft 2

21,000

570,000 ft 2

3. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
Once data was collected and initial calculations
executed, several statistical methods were used so
that conclusions about elevator lobbies and other
horizontal circulation areas in multi-storey office

buildings might be drawn. The methods used were,

firstly, frequency curves and calculation of mean
values for the data and for combinations of data,
and secondly, single and multiple regression
analysis for different combinations of variables.
The results were usually calculated for three
different cases which were thought might considerably alter the relationships found. The three cases
were: (i) results for 13 buildings with one elevator
zone; (ii) 7 buildings with more than one elevator
zone; (iii) results for the whole sample of 20
buildings.
3.1 Basic relationships between variable~
Firstly, relationships which are of use in assessing
the efficiency of space utilisation in the buildings
were found. The relationships were expressed as a
percentage of the total index area, and the range of
values and the means appear as Table 1.
It can be seen that, from data for the buildings
studied, the percentage total core area is slightly
lower for buildings with one elevator zone than for
buildings with more than one zone; the percentage
total lobby area is slightly higher for single zone
buildings; the percentage total circulation area is
less; the percentage total net area is greater for
single zone buildings.
Secondly, relationships which should be of use in
assessing the adequacy of elevator lobbies in terms
of proxemics and other behavioural measures, were
found. The aim was to relate the available lobby
area to the population expected to use the building,
and to do this, it was necessary to determine the
area of office space per person. The area/person
is used in designing the elevator service, restroom
facilities, air conditioning system etc., but the
figure for area/person varies from reference book to
reference book and from architect to architect
from about 45-180 sq. ft per person, [2-5]
according to the nature of the tenancy and the
prestige rating of the building. For simplicity, the
figure used in this study is 100 ft 2 per person. The
range of values appears as Table 2.
For the buildings studied, the variation between
the area of lobby provided per person is enormous,
a factor of 5.6:1 for ground floor lobby; a factor
of 4.9:1 for typical floor lobby. I f these values
could be compared with information pertaining to
elevator service, e.g. average waiting time, and
to the arrival and departure pattern of building
users, then the actual amount of space per person
in the lobby could be predicted for peak periods to
give a measure of the expected congestion. Buildings could then be compared in terms of lobby
performance, or designed to a specified standard of
performance.
Thirdly, the relationship between lobby area and

283

Towards the Development o f an Empirical M o d e l o f Elevator Lobbies

Table 1. Range of values for various areas expressed as percentage of total index areas

Total core area

Total index area
Total lobby area
Total index area
Total circulation (single
Total index area tenancy)
Total circulation (multiple
Total index area tenancy)
Total net area
(single
Total index area (tenancy)
Total net area
(multiple
Total index area tenancy)

Buildings with
one elevator
zone

Buildings with
multi elevator
zones

Total sample of
20 buildings

Range

Mean

Range

Mean

Range

Mean

14.5-26.1

21.4

18.2-30.1

23.3

14.5-30-1

22-2

2.2- 5"8

4-1

3.1- 5-7

3-9

2.2- 5'8

4.1

0.9- 6"6

3'1

2.3- 8-9

5-7

0'9- 8.9

4'0

4.3-12.5

6-9

5.8-11-6

8.2

4-3-12.5

7.4

71.2-84'1

77.5

64"8-79'9

74"9

64.8-84'I

76-6

64.0-79-0

72-9

64-1-76.8

72-4

64.0-79.0

72.7

Table 2. Range of values for relationship of lobby areas to building population

Total lobby area

Total building population
Ground floor lobby area
Total building population
Typical floor lobby area
Typical floor population

Buildings with
one elevator
zone

Buildings with
multi elevator
zones

Total sample of
20 buildings

Range

Mean

Range

Mean

Range

Mean

2.9-8.5

5.69

3.9-7.9

5.50

2.9-8.5

5.62

0.5-1.6

1.02

0.5-2.9

1.66

0.5-2.8

1-25

2.1-7.3

4.41

1.5-6.9

3.29

1.5-7.3

3.77

a r e a caused by subdividing a typical floor o f the use

o f several tenants was investigated. Wong[6]
states that for buildings with typical floor areas
o f less t h a n 8000 ft 2, the increase in rentable office
space on floors which d o n o t require access lobbies
o r c o r r i d o r s is between 3 a n d 8 p e r cent o f gross
typical floor area. Six buildings o f the sample
studied fell into this category a n d W o n g ' s findings
were c o r r o b o r a t e d , the actual range f o u n d being
3.7 to 5.6 per cent o f gross typical floor area. I t was
also p o s t u l a t e d t h a t when elevators are a r r a n g e d in
line a n d the l o b b y is n o t a fixed p a r t o f the b u i l d i n g
core, the percentage area given over for p u b l i c
circul~ition on a multiple tenancy floor w o u l d be
greater than when the l o b b y is a p e r m a n e n t p a r t

n u m b e r o f elevators was found. These a p p e a r in

T a b l e 3.
I t is obvious that if a certain n u m b e r o f people
c a n fit into an elevator o f x ft 2, then the same
n u m b e r c o u l d also fit into a l o b b y area o f x sq ft
t h o u g h one w o u l d expect t h a t the l o b b y area w o u l d
be greater t h a n the elevator area. A s can be seen
f r o m the results, this expectation was n o t always
b o r n e o u t as elevator areas go f r o m 32.5 to 100 ft 2
a n d on typical floors, the results were f r o m 25 ft z.
T h e extremely high values for g r o u n d floor lobbies
are n o t necessarily indicative o f a generous perf o r m a n c e level as all p u b l i c foyer areas were
included as l o b b y area.
F o u r t h l y , the percentage loss o f rentable office

Table 3. Range of values for relationship of lobby area to number of elevators

Ground floor lobby area
Total no. of elevators
Typical floor lobby area
No. of elevators to floor

118-315
25-113

196
63.6

143-647

381

398-697

41-105

57.9

25-105

260
60-3

284

A. Marmot and J. S. Gero

Table 4. Range of valuesfor percentage increase in circulation

area on typical floor whenfloor has multiple tenancies

Total sample of
20 buildings

When lobby is not part of core

When lobby is part of core

Range

Mean

1.9-7.5
0-6.2

4"5
1.9

of the building core. This was found to be true for

buildings studied except for two samples, and the
range of values is shown in Table 4.
The results imply that an economic advantage
might accrue to a building owner by letting only
whole floor tenancies in a building in which the
elevator lobbies do not form part of the core.
3.2 Results f r o m regression analysis
In order that a model could be constructed for
elevator lobbies and other horizontal circulation
areas based on known elements in the building,
variables were analysed by the single and multiple
regression method. A computer program was used
to calculate the correlation coefficients for different
sets of variables, to perform multiple regression
analyses on nominated subsets of variables, and to
calculate the Durbin-Watson statistic.
From the various data collected nineteen building
attributes or areas considered to be most useful in a
discussion of building areas were selected, and the
correlation between these variables was found and
is shown in Figure 5a. In the current procedure of
designing elevator lobbies, variables 1-6 are early
decisions about the building, variable 7 is known
from the initial data, and variables 8-19 are known
only at much later stages of the building design.
Correlations between variables are, for this study,
taken as significant if the coefficient of correlation
is equal to or greater than that at the 0.01 level,
i.e. 99 per cent confidence limits.
From the correlation matrix in Figure 5a, it can
be seen that the core location factor and the lift
arrangement factor proved to have no significant
relationship with the other factors. The typical
floor lobby area also bore no significant correlationships.
Figures 6(a) and (b) show correlations for
variables on two subsets of building samples,
namely, buildings with a single elevator zone and
buildings with more than one elevator zone. From
Figure 6(a) it can be seen that the ground floor
lobby area has no significant correlationship with
other variables for single zone buildings. From
Figure 6(b)it can be seen that the core location
factor is not significant for either single or multiple
elevator zoned buildings; that the ground floor

lobby area is not significant for single zone buildings; that the typical floor lobby area is not
significant for multiple zone buildings.
From the differences found for certain variables
between single and multiple zoned buildings, it was
decided that these two subsets of samples should be
used wherever possible.
3.3 Equations for single regression
The extremely high values for the coefficient of
correlation between the total index area and a
number of other factors measured in the buildings
suggested that a rough predictive guide for those
factors might be based on the total index area
alone. Such a relationship would prove an invaluable guide in the preparation of the initial feasibility
study for a building project as the total allowable
index area is known right at the beginning of a
project as it is dependent on only the site area and
the site ratio. Four factors were selected for
analysis with the total index area and are shown as
figures 7-10. The equations are shown below.
No. of elevators --0.002 Total index area+ 1-315 (single zone)
0.003
+ 2.096 (multi zone)
0"003
+ 0.912 (all buildings)
Total core area =
0.22 x Total index area - 745 (single zone)
0.23
+1631 (multi zone)
0.24
- 2296 (all buildings)
Ground lobby area =
Not significant at 0.01 level for single zone
buildings
0.023 x Total index a r e a - 4100 (multi zone)
0.0165
- 1147 (all buildings)
Total lobby area =
0.031 x Total index a r e a + 1080 (single zone)
0.023
+6310 (multi zone)
0.032
+ 1350 (all buildings)
It can be seen that, for all except ground floor lobby
area, the equations based on the sample of all
twenty buildings provide a rough but useful
relationship between total index area and the
factor under consideration.
3.4 Equations for multiple regression
In order that lobby and other areas could be
predicted with respect to more detailed decisions
of the building design, several multiple regression
analyses were carried out. The groupings of
variables chosen was based on two principles: (i)
that the coefficient of correlation between dependent
and independent variables be high and (ii) that the
coefficient of correlation between the independent
variables be low. Several different sets of independent variables were chosen in accordance with the

Towards the Development of an Empirical Model of Elevator Lobbies

285

Ground lobby area

= O . O 0 3 x t o t o l index area + 5 1 6
f ~ single zone buildings
Ground lobby area
= 0 < ~ 3 x t o t o l index area-4100
14 _ f ~ rnuitl zone buildings
Ground lobby area
= (>OI65Xtotal index a r e a - 1147
for all buildings

2p
IE

12

% io
12

o'

o
8

xx

~- 4

No. of elevators : 0 0 0 0 3

xtatal index area +0"91

/

x is a resuff for a building of one elevator zone

o is a result for a building of more ~han one
elevator

,.~
x ~
_ 3 F .~~ C ~ x - - ~
0

Total index area,

of one elevator zone

o is a resul%for a building
more t h a n one .elevo;ror

4.

Total index area,

x[O 5

10 5

Fig. 9. Relationship between ground floor lobby area

and total index area.

Fig. 7. Relationship between number o f elevators and

total index area.
16

24

14

'20

12

~0
x

IC

m 16
o

12

btO0* 8

~8

a 1~50

"6
4-

/
~
/x I
f

- 2296
4

lt fora

/x
2

o ~or~l~for

buildlr~ of one elevotor zorn

Total index area,

Total index area,

x is o result for abuilding of one elevatorzone

for a buildingof more than one
elevator

o build|rig of more t h a n o n e
elevator

XlO 5

Fig. 10. Relationship between total lobby area and total

index area.

XK) 5

Fig. 8. Relationships between total core area and total

index area.

The seven equations are of the form:

two above principles, and the set of independent

variables giving the highest multiple correlation
coefficient was finally selected. The value of the
multiple correlation coefficient was higher than that
for any single correlation coefficient between an
independent variable and the dependent variable.
Y

Al

Total core area

G r o u n d floor lobby area
Total lobby area
Typical floor circulation area

300.7
-245.2
413.2

(single)
Total circulation area (single)
Total net area (single)
Total net area (multi)

- 1-661
-339.5
-355.3
-935.8

Y = Alx (No. office floors) + A2x (Core location)

+Aax (No. of elevator zones)+Ax (No. of
elevators) + A s x (Elevator arrangement) +A6x
(Total index area) + C.
The coefficients are:

.42

A3

1284.0
-206.0
-406.8

- 11150
2786
-360-0

-----

- 225.3
4920.0
9325.0
1248.0

A4
5271 "0
186.3
612.6
- 32.29
-2236.0
--7552.0
-10580-9

As

A6

446.1
-10'3
975"1

0' 1229
0"01195
-0"00139

- 5369.0
-237.9
-914"3

123"7
2882.0
100.8
367.7

0.00324
0"1291
0"9365
0.9971

12.99
-6010.0
6644.0
4545.0

286

A. Marmot and J. S. Gero

No significant (at the 0.01 level) equations

could be established for the lobby areas of typical
floors, though some estimation of this can be found
from the equation for the circulation areas of
typical floors.
The equations found, while based on a sample of
only twenty buildings in a particular geographic
location, could be used to give an estimate of the
loss of rentable office area due to circulation
requirements for different core locations, elevator
designs, elevator arrangements, etc.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The study was initiated in an attempt to derive
an empirically based model for the analysis and
prediction of elevator lobby area, and other
horizontal circulation areas, in multi-storey office
buildings. It must be emphasised that all the results
found are based on a sample of only twenty buildings, representing a wide range of building sizes and
designs, and thus the general application of any of
the results must be viewed with caution. However,
in view of the unavailability of other predictive or
analytical relationships, these results could be
employed.
The results can be grouped into three main
categories:

(i) Basic relationships between (a) lobby areas

and building population ; (b) lobby areas and
number of elevators; (c) number of elevators and total office area. These relationships
could be further developed to enable
assessment of elevator lobbies in terms of
performance standard.
(ii) Simple equations for use at feasibility study
stage giving relationships between the total
index area and areas which the designer
wishes to know, e.g. total rentable area.
(iii) Equations involving a number of variables
for use when a number of building designs
are being considered, and for determining
the effect of different design decisions on the
final building areas.
Immediate application of the results of the study
might be an analysis of the effect of different design
decisions on horizontal circulation areas in office
buildings, and the testing of the validity of the
equations found on further buildings. The results
could then possibly be used to formulate design
charts as an aid to architects, or could be applied to
form a part of a computer-aided design process for
multi-storey office buildings.

REFERENCES
1. Recommended Guide for Measurement and Calculation of Rentable Areas in Buildings.
Royal Australian Institute of Architects and Real Estate Institute of N.S.W. (1966).
2. J. JOEDICKE,Office Buildings. Crosby, Lockwood (1962).
3. KINZEY and SHARP, Environmental Technologies in Architecture. Prentice Hall, New
Jersey (1966).
4. M. ROSENAUER,Modern Office Buildings. Batsford (1955).
5. G. STRAKOSCH,Vertical Transportation--Elevators and Escalators. John Wiley, New York
(1967).
6. F.M. WONG,The relations between cost, performance and comfort conditions in 58 office
buildings in Sydney. Ph.D. Thesis, Dept of Architectural Science, University of Sydney
(1965).
APPENDIX
RECOMMENDED GUIDE FOR
MEASUREMENT AND CALCULATION
OF RENTABLE AREA IN BUILDINGS

accepted principles subject to any particular

circumstances that may be established between
the building owner and any tenant.

1. These recommendations have been prepared by

the N.S.W. Chapter of the Royal Australian
Institute of Architects and the Real Estate
Institute of N.S.W. for the guidance of those
who prepare leasing agreements between building owners and tenants of buildings.

3. Usually the measurements of rentable areas are

made by architects or by real estate agents, or by
owners of buildings upon architects' drawings
by scale or by calculation and not upon the
building as constructed by tape measure or
otherwise. Any dimensions shown on drawings
would be used in preference to measurements by
scale.

2. It is not intended that any of the principles

should be mandatory, but the two Institutes
decided that there should be adopted some

4. For preparing calculations of rentable areas

upon which rental rates will be assessed, the
following principles are recommended:

Towards the Development of an Empirical Model of Elevator Lobbies

(i) Measurements should be taken between the

tenant's side of the internal face of corridor
walls and a line equivalent to half the window glass line, and should always include
the area taken up by induction units and
similar installations.
When the distance between the window
glass line and the internal face of the
external wall is less than six inches, the
measurement should be taken from the
internal face of the external wall.
Measurements should not be taken from
skirtings, chair rails or other projections
from the wall face.

287

6. Where a tenant leases one or more whole floors

of building, the measurements of the rentable
areas should include tea pantries and similar
service areas and lift lobbies where such are not
public lift lobbies and where such tenant has
exclusive use of what would otherwise be
regarded as public lift lobbies, corridors and
spaces available to the public or other tenants
of the building.
7. Measurements of the rentable areas should
include additional toilets, plant rooms, P.A.B.X.
and other telephone and battery rooms exclusively provided for a particular tenant.

(iii) Measurements should be taken so that areas

of free-standing and other columns, posts,
piers and vertical structural elements are
included in rentable areas.

8. Where a tenant leases the whole or parts of two

or more floors in a building, any vertical
transport facilities such as stairs, escalators,
lifts, hoists or similar facilities should be
included in measurements of that tenant's area,
if such facilities are for the exclusive use of that
tenant.

5. Where a tenant leases one or more whole floors

of a building, the measurements of the rentable
areas should exclude only those floor areas
available for use by other tenants and the public
such as corridors, lift lobbies, lifts, escalators,
stairs and toilets where such facilities have been
designed for general use rather than exclusive
use of one tenant.

9. Measurements of the rentable areas in a building

should exclude areas available to all tenants or
to the public such as areas for lifts, lift lobbies
on multi tenanted floors, escalators, fire escape
stairs, toilets, vertical ducts for air conditioning
or mechanical ventilation systems, and ducts for
plumbing, electrical telephone and similar
services within the building where such services
are available to more than one tenant.

(ii) Measurements should be taken between the

centre lines of inter-tenancy partitions.

Der Bericht befal3t sich mit Ermittlung eines empirisch geformten Modells von
Fahrstuhlvorhallen in Hochhausbiirogeb~iuden. Er befaBt sich kurz mit den
Konstruktionenproblemen, die durch Fahrstuhlvorhallen hervorgerufen werden
und legt das Verfahren lest, mit welchem gegenw/irtig Vorhallen entworfen werden.
Es wird eine Methode ftir die Analyse von Vorhallen fiir Fahrstiihle und von anderen
horizontalen Verkehrsfl/ichen in Biirogeb/iuden formuliert, welche sich auf eine
Anzahl Ver/inderlicher grtindet, einschlieBlich: Platzbedarffl/ichenindex, Bau- und
aktive Zonenfl/iche, Vorhallenfl/iche, Verkehrsfl/iche innerhalb der aktiven Zonenfl/iche des Baus, gesamte Verkehrsfl/iche und Nettobiirofl/iche zur Miete. Diese
Methode wird fiir zwanzig BtirogeNiude in Sidney angewandt, um eine Datengrundlage zu erhalten. Die mit mehreren statistischen Verfahren dutch Verarbeitung
der Datengrundlage erhaltenen Ergebnisse umfassen:
1. Das Verh/iltnis zwischen einer Anzahl von F1/ichentypen und der Indexfl/iche,
welches als Richtlinie zur Voraussage der Leistungsf/ihigkeit des Geb/iudes in einer
provisorischen Entwurfsstufe benutzt werden kann.
2. Die Verh/iltnisse zur Festlegung von Leistungsnormen ftir Fahrstuhlvorhallen.
3. Gleichungen in Bezug auf Umlaufsverkehr und andere F1/ichen im Verh/iltnis
zu der gesamten Indexfl/iche des Geb~iudes.
4. Ausfiihrliche Gleichungen in Bezug auf Umlaufverkehr und andere Fl~ichen im
Verh/iltnis zu einigen der frtiheren Entscheidungen, welche fur den Entwurf von
Biirohochh/iusern gemacht wurden.
Diese Ergebnisse k~Snnen zur Aufstellung yon Konstruktionstabellen als Hilfsmittel fiir Architekten benutzt werden und ktinnten auch in einem algorithmischen
Entwurfsverfahren f'tir Btirohochh~iuser mit Hilfe yon Rechen ger/itenverwandt
werden.