Kitchen work triangle
FIX-WORK-TRIANGLE-01Description
Kitchen work triangle (sink → range → refrigerator → sink): each leg between 4 ft and 9 ft, total perimeter between 13 ft and 26 ft.
Why this exists
Sink, range, fridge form a triangle. Each leg 4–9 ft; total perimeter 13–26 ft. Outside this range, prep workflow falls apart.
Categories
Source
Solver enforcement
The constraint solver runs check function fix-work-triangle-01 as a soft constraint with weight 5.
Backed by research
Sink, range, and refrigerator should form a work triangle with each leg between 4 and 9 ft and total perimeter between 13 and 26 ft.
Association (2024), NKBA — Guideline 5 — view source ↗
See the full research bibliography for context. Our licensing principle describes how we cite published research without using the underlying datasets.
Plan symbols this applies to
These plan symbols invoke this directive when placed on a floor plan. Click any to see where it's drawn and what other rules apply to it.
Related directives
- Kitchen walkway and work-aisle widths · NKBA Kitchen 6
- Doorway clear width · NKBA Kitchen 1
- Door swing into work zones · NKBA Kitchen 2
- Distance between work zones · NKBA Kitchen 3
- Traffic through the work triangle · NKBA Kitchen 4
Last reviewed 2026-05-09.