How to Make Residents Feel at Home with Thoughtfully Designed Multifamily Corridors

Elevator nodes offer key opportunities to provide interest and respite within a corridor.

Although corridors don’t seem like they are primary spaces in Multifamily projects, the experience of arriving home as a tenant should feel comforting, exciting and considered. Corridors on multifamily projects are often an afterthought, but with care and some key design considerations, your property’s hallways can tell stories, lead people home, and stand the test of time.

Art moments, material changes, & door drops help to break up long corridors.

First, think about the size of your property and the length of the circulation spaces within it. Does the property have long corridors that span a city block? Many new multifamily developments often occupy parcels of land that literally do extend for an entire city block. Understanding that certain unit counts are necessary for proformas, this is often unavoidable.

In lengthy corridors, identify key areas that can break up the monotony. We call these areas nodes. Nodes are best placed at corridor junctions, elevator & stair access points amenity space entries or even spaced incrementally down the length of a corridor. These nodes add visual interest through a combination of unique materiality, texture, color, lighting, art or even changes in ceiling height. By thoughtfully placing nodes, these features (that are often more expensive than the general corridor finishes) can make a big impact with little cost.

Along with establishing key nodes, another great way to break up a long corridor is with well-executed door drops. Door drops are simple recesses or unit or amenity doors. Door drops are great opportunity to add texture and color with wallcovering and paint. If there are sconces or protruding signage at unit entries, door drops also help to protect those design elements from damage. In addition to visually breaking up long corridors, door drops also create a refuge space out of corridor circulation zones for tenants arriving home.

In shorter corridors the “Node” approach may be applied to the corridor as a whole.

Perhaps your building is smaller. Is the scope to refresh a quaint old apartment building built in the 1930s? These buildings often offer a more intimate corridor space however, a similar design approach can be taken.

It is still wise to differentiate between elevator/stair areas from unit entry & circulation areas. Consider elevator access points nodes.  Although smaller, buildings with multiple floors can be confusing to guests who don’t come into the building daily. Having a distinct area that calls out exiting areas from residential areas is important.

Door drops also play a key role in shorter corridors as well. Along with the perks of refuge mentioned above, wall undulation helps dampen corridor noise allowing for a more peaceful in-unit experience. Door drops also can act as a short-term staging area for packages arriving to a resident’s unit. In the delivery-era older buildings often do not have package rooms or lockers in mail areas often forcing delivery workers to leave boxes and parcels in corridors. Door drops help prevent corridor clutter.

Lighting can add interest to long, straight corridors by creating unique pools, and potential color accents.

Now that the basic language of a successful corridor has been established, in terms of materiality, what should go where?

In areas near and around unit entries, the flooring in a residential corridor wants to be carpet. Carpet reduces both ambient noise as well as noise coming from footfall. Multifamily corridors also take a beating, especially if the property allows pets. To help reduce noise and withstand abuse, use carpet tile in lieu of broadloom. If areas become soiled & uncleanable, tiles can simply be switched out opposed to being cut and patched. Wall finishes in these areas often want to be pretty simple with the exception of specialty wallcoverings or accent paints at unit entries.

Tile and other hard surfaces work well in elevator nodes. Carpet & soft flooring should be used near residences.

In zones away from unit entries such as elevator nodes and amenity nodes materiality can change from soft to hard surfaces to create interest, signal exit points, or announce arrival to a building’s amenity spaces. Because corridor nodes are often small in square footage, harder flooring surfaces have less of an impact on noise transmission in a corridor. Dimensional or acoustic wall finishes can also be applied to these areas to aid in visual cues and help reduce noise as tenants & guests come and go. Nodes in these zones can also feature specialty ceiling finishes, such as wood or metal paneling. These ceiling finishes can also have acoustic properties.

Elevator nodes and corridors can be key design features in a project.

Functionally, a tenant or their guests should be able to navigate the corridors of a project of any scale with ease and not get bored or lost on their way to their home. Sounds from shared corridors also should not easily transmit into units. Clever, cost-effective design features like thoughtfully placed design nodes, and selecting appropriate materials can help address functional necessities of circulation spaces while adding drama and charm to a project.