ERGONOMICS

Co-living and co – working spaces

Ergonomics is a science-based discipline that brings together knowledge from other subjects
such as anatomy and physiology, psychology, engineering and statistics to ensure that
designs complement the strengths and abilities of people and minimise the effects of their
limitations. Rather than expecting people to adapt to a design that forces them to work in an
uncomfortable, stressful or dangerous way, ergonomists and human factors specialists seek to
understand how a product, workplace or system can be designed to suit the people who need
to use it.
General design basics
Building regulations cover the design, construction and furnishing of housing, of accessible
public buildings or parts of buildings, of workplaces and their external spaces. These
buildings must be accessible for all people free of barriers. The users must be in a position to
be almost completely independent of outside help. This applies notably to wheelchair users,
the blind and visually impaired, those with other disabilities, old people, children and those of
exceptionally short or tall stature.

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Corridor widths
The width of a corridor depends on its location, the number and arrangement of the doors
opening off it (doors one side, both sides) and the number of people using it –1. The greatest
accessibility offered by various sizes and layouts of corridors to rooms more than 2 m wide is
shown in –3-14. The examples assume a minimum corridor width of 1 m, which allows two
people to pass. This width does not, however, permit the siting of cupboards, which would be
better built-in –6+9. When arranging the doors, the location of beds and built-in cupboards
needs to be taken into account

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Living areas are categorised into those with shared rooms (living and dining rooms, kitchens)
and individual (private) rooms for one or two people (parents' (bed)room, children's room,
guest room). This differentiation leads to the conventional room layouts, particularly in
commercial house building. But the way living areas are actually used is much more complex
and varied. Bedrooms today are often used for work, play and relaxation and thus have some
of the functions of shared rooms. This makes the fitting out of an individual room within a
house as a small apartment worth considering.

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1: an individual room which can be used for a flexible range of functions. It has an area of
approx. 13m2, including movement areas suitable for a wheelchair and possible extension
onto an open balcony.
2-3: bedrooms with minimal space of approx. 13 m2 (as parents' room or twin bedroom) and
approx. 8 m2 (single room). These would normally be aligned to east or southeast (parents)
or south to west (children) and separated from the living room in another part of the home.
4: the options for a generous twin bedroom of 16.5 m2, which could be partitioned (for
example, for children as they grow up).
5: a small, independent individual area with shower room and separate cupboard zone.
The conventional living room as a shared residential room and prestigious face of the house
for visitors is increasingly developing into a multi-functional communications zone, which
has to serve the needs of residents, but also guests and visitors 6-7

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Dining rooms fulfil communication, social and prestige functions. They form a central part of
the (communal) life within a home. The spectrum ranges from a breakfast/snack bar in the
kitchen to the occupants of the house taking meals together to dining with guests (in a
separate dining room). The requirements for the design and spatial layout of the dining areas
are correspondingly varied. The dining table may well be considered the central point of
organisation in the home

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Workplace
According to the new Workplace Regulations, there are no longer any fixed minimum
dimensions for workplaces. But the requirements of the accident insurers and the fact that
all workplaces today have computer screens means that the minimum dimensions in the
relevant DIN EN standards and regulations apply.

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Negative effects can arise for the management that determines computer work if a strategy of
rationalisation is pursued which excludes the employees from the working process as much as
possible and attempts to restrict them to residual activities. Prof. Walter Volpert0 (-- -refs)
formulated nine criteria for the design of workstations, which define contrasting (machine-
person) work tasks with the following features:
- wide scope for action and decision
- reasonable amount of time allowed
- possibility of personal structuring of demands
- performing tasks free of hindrance
-sufficient physical activity
- stimulation of varied senses
- concrete handling with real objects (or direct social relations)
- possibility of variations
- encouragement and enabling of social cooperation and immediate
contact between people

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Parking spaces are usually outlined by 12-20 mm wide yellow or white painted lines. When
parking is facing a wall, these lines are often painted at a height of up to 1 m for better
visibility. Guide rails in the floor along the side have also proved popular for demarcation of
parking limits, and can be about 50-60 m long, 20 m wide and 10 m high. Where vehicles are
parked in lines facing walls or at the edge of the parking deck in a multi-storey car park, it is
common practice to provide buffers, restraining bars or railings up to axle height to prevent
cars from going over the edge

The basic measurements for space and actual requirements for the manoeuvring and parking
of trucks are taken from the vehicle dimensions and whether driving straight, cornering, or
entering or driving out of the parking place.