Who among us has not walked down a dreary corridor or hallway and not been in a hurry to just get through it and on our way?
Designing for transitional space is a unique challenge. When presented with long gloomy hallways, corridors or extensions from one building to another, design professionals have several factors to consider. Practicality and aesthetics often bump heads.
Transitional space is the tool that gets someone or something from here to there, and usually efficiency is the primary motive. In many cases, however, such space becomes a default waiting area. We have all had the personal experience or have observed anxious folks in hospital corridors, waiting. Then there are the government facilities with which we are very familiar -- DMV, Social Security, the Courthouse, etc. – where extensive waiting is usually expected.
What an opportunity for innovative design! It started quite a while ago when we suddenly began to notice benches in some of these long, boring passages. (The incentive was probably originally to give a person a place to pause before continuing their hike!) The changes went from benches alone to many other improvements.
In commercial design projects, transitional space – the linkage between environments – has evolved from simply a connector, to an additional separate environment suitable for everything from a comfortable respite area, to a profitable resource. Most boring transitional space now exists primarily in older buildings that are awaiting renovation.
Lighting is an important element in the evolution of transitional space. The scary, dimly lit corridors in old mystery films are more difficult to find these days in modern commercial buildings. Everything from newer safety regulations to opportunities for art exhibits has turned gloom on its head. Lighting has transformed such areas.
Color plays a central role, in partnership with lighting, to create special illusions when extreme length and minimal regulation width would otherwise be daunting to the traveler.
Institutional facilities such as hospitals have taken full advantage of creative transitional space solutions. They see them as opportunities to distract and calm anxious people. Soothing music, appropriate art (Monet over Hieronymus Bosch, for instance) and mellow lighting are proven to momentarily ease stress.
External transitional space has also evolved with creative landscape design. Commercial business parks have ponds, gardens and atriums for clients and customers to enjoy on the way from one building or area to another. Often there are places outside to sit and work or have a peaceful snack. The empty, concrete walkways and sidewalks are almost a thing of the past as reconstruction and renovation takes place.
The residential challenge is no less creative. Instead of the regulation place for the rogue's gallery of ancestors and framed achievement awards, hallways, vestibules, and outdoor walkways become cozy get-away nooks. There might be a need for additional practical shelving. And what about that artwork stashed in the attic or garage long ago?
Narrow has been redefined. In many cases, as we seek privacy and solitude to commiserate with our laptops, smart phones and notebooks, a small space seems large enough. It can be a pleasant surprise to acknowledge that these long boring transitional areas are really equivalent to additional rooms with many uses.
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book and Instagram at Business Design Services.
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