Rule of thumbRecommended
Hallway circulation budget
LAY-CIRCULATION-BUDGET-01Description
Hallway area should be 6–14% of total floor area; less feels cramped, more is wasteful.
Why this exists
Hallway should be 6–14% of total floor area. Less feels cramped (no buffer for two people passing), more wastes square footage.
Categories
Circulation
Source
Sarah Susankano manifest entry
The Not So Big House (1998)
Section: Circulation patterns
Published 2026-05-09 · last verified 2026-05-09
Solver enforcement
The constraint solver runs check function lay-circulation-budget-01 as a soft constraint with weight 5.
Backed by research
Hallway circulation should consume 6-14% of total floor area. Less feels cramped (no buffer for two people passing); more wastes square footage on corridors.
Susanka and Obolensky (2008), Taunton Press — Circulation patterns chapter
See the full research bibliography for context. Our licensing principle describes how we cite published research without using the underlying datasets.
Related directives
- Dining room sizing · DINING-ROOM-SIZE
- Mudroom sizing · MUDROOM-SIZE
- Half bath near public zones · HALF-BATH-NEAR-PUBLIC
- Stairs not from bedrooms · STAIRS-NOT-FROM-BEDROOM
- Hallway budget 6-12% of total · HALLWAY-BUDGET
Last reviewed 2026-05-09.