Corridor Notes Start With the Level Path
Apartment corridor lighting is easiest to compare when the level path, lift approach and door recesses are written as distinct lighting notes. A long hallway can look acceptable at the centre line while lift doors, apartment numbers, turns and recessed entries remain weak. The note should name the level, branch, assessed plane, active control state and any measured-light evidence before the number is judged.
The broader apartment common-area page maps shared-area lighting paths. This guide keeps the corridor note narrow: walking path, lift-lobby approach, door-number face, mail or notice edge, night mode and repeatable readings. For a broad estimate, start from the room lighting calculator. For ceiling set-out, compare the result with the downlight spacing calculator and beam angle coverage table.
| Corridor part | Assessed surface | Note beside the value |
|---|---|---|
| Level corridor run | Floor path along the walking line. | Level, branch, apartment range, length, width, ceiling height, fitting group and night mode. |
| Corridor turn | Floor path before and after the corner. | Sightline, dark pocket, fitting position and obstruction note. |
| Lift approach | Floor path into the lift lobby plus lift-door and sign faces. | Waiting position, reflective door note, approach side and glare direction. |
| Door recess | Threshold floor and apartment-number face. | Recess depth, shadow from the door frame, viewed side and nearby fitting position. |
| Mail or notice edge | Local task surface, notice face or mailbox edge beside the corridor. | Label height, viewing side, shadow and colour-quality note. |
Match the Search Job to the Lighting Note
Most apartment-corridor questions arrive as a single phrase, but the useful note is smaller than the building zone name. A strata manager, building manager, committee member or electrician may be asking about a walking path, a door number, a lift approach, a notice edge, a dimmed scene or a sensor condition. A corridor average, lift-lobby check, door-recess note and night-mode reading should not be collapsed into one value.
| User job | Better lighting note | Page to keep nearby |
|---|---|---|
| Compare corridor brightness by level or branch | Walking line, apartment range, wall offset and active mode. | Room lighting calculator |
| Check whether downlights leave dark gaps | Spacing, beam angle, effective height, wall offset and turn geometry. | Downlight spacing calculator |
| Note whether apartment numbers can be read | Vertical door-number or sign face at the viewed height. | Vertical illuminance |
| Separate the lift approach from the hall | Approach floor, waiting point, lift-door face and reflected source note. | Task-plane notes table |
| Describe mail, parcel or notice edges | Local face, label side, shadow, gloss and colour-quality note. | Apartment mailroom and parcel lighting notes |
| Note night mode or sensor behaviour | Reduced scene, sensor state, timed hold, point readings and door-recess notes. | Lighting control notes table |
| Compare a field reading with an estimate | Same point, plane, control state and daylight condition repeated. | Lux meter reading notes table |
Where Nearby Topics Belong
This page covers ordinary walking paths and nearby vertical faces only when they are part of the corridor note. Emergency lighting, public-space, security, energy, controls and field-reading detail are better handled by the linked specialist pages.
| Question type | Corridor note keeps | Better page when the question widens |
|---|---|---|
| Corridor floor path | Level branch, walking line, turn point, ceiling set-out and active scene. | Room lighting calculator for broad area estimates and downlight spacing calculator for ceiling rows. |
| Apartment number or sign face | Door-number face, viewed height, observer side and shadow line. | Vertical illuminance notes and task-plane notes table. |
| Lift approach | Corridor edge, waiting point, lift-door face and reflected source note. | Apartment lift lobby lighting notes. |
| Mail, parcel or notice edge | Corridor-side notice, mailbox edge, label side and local shadow. | Apartment mailroom and parcel lighting notes. |
| Emergency lighting or exit signs | Ordinary corridor scene only. | Emergency lighting in Australia and emergency lighting standards. |
| Public-space or road-facing issue | Internal corridor note and site boundary wording only. | Road lighting categories table or the formal brief for the relevant public area. |
| Security or access-control claim | Visible-light observation only, such as shadow, glare or face direction. | Security, CCTV, access-control and incident evidence outside the lighting estimate. |
| Energy, load or running hours | Visual path, plane and scene remain visible. | Lighting power density examples and connected-load notes. |
| Control operation | Observed scene, group and sensor state beside the point. | Lighting control notes table. |
| Measured-light evidence | Point label, plane, state and daylight condition. | Lux meter reading notes table or lux meter grid notes table. |
Split corridor, lift-lobby and recess planes
The assessed plane decides what the reading means. A floor reading can describe movement along a hall, but it does not prove that a lift sign, face, apartment number or notice is visible. Where the viewed surface is upright, write it as a vertical face before comparing it with floor lux. Where the surface changes from the walking line to a recessed threshold or number plate, use a new line even if the same ceiling group serves both.
| Area | Plane to name | Weak note to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Corridor run | Floor path at the walking line, with door-side offsets where relevant. | One lobby value applied to every corridor branch. |
| Lift approach | Floor path into the lobby, waiting position and vertical lift-door or sign face. | Floor reading treated as face visibility. |
| Door recess | Threshold area and apartment-number face. | Centre-line corridor reading used for recessed doors. |
| Noticeboard or mail edge | Vertical face, mailbox edge or local bench plane. | General hallway brightness used for labels. |
| Entry transition | Interior corridor side and adjacent threshold named separately. | Exterior-adjacent condition hidden inside an indoor estimate. |
The task-plane notes table keeps those surfaces distinct. If the note changes from a floor path to a vertical sign or door-number face, split the line rather than averaging the two.
Night mode and control state
Many apartment corridors operate differently overnight. A sensor state, timed group or dimmed scene can change the measured condition even when the fittings are the same. The note should say whether the value belongs to normal occupied mode, after-hours movement mode, cleaning mode or a sensor-triggered state.
| Control field | Corridor wording | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Scene name | Day, evening, night, cleaning or sensor-triggered corridor mode. | The same point can read differently under each state. |
| Active group | Corridor branch, lift lobby, door recess group or threshold group. | One active group may not light every recess. |
| Dimming or reduced output | Normal state and reduced state written separately. | Night path clarity should not be judged from full output only. |
| Sensor state | Triggered, waiting, timed delay, hold period or manually overridden. | A measured value needs the active state beside it. |
| Approach direction | From lift to apartment, apartment to lift or across a corridor turn. | Sensor response and shadow can change by direction. |
| Adjacent daylight | Lobby entry daylight or window-side corridor noted. | A daytime reading may not describe the night condition. |
The lighting control notes table gives a compact way to keep scene, group and operating condition together. For annual load notes, hold lighting power density examples apart from the visual note so watts and path clarity are not treated as the same question.
Measure the corridor as named points
Measured-light notes are most useful when another person can repeat the same check later. Give each point a short label, keep the plane stable and write the active scene beside the reading. A single centre-line reading is often too thin for lift lobbies, turns and door recesses.
| Point set | Better field note | What it cannot prove |
|---|---|---|
| Corridor line | C1, C2, C3 along the walking line, floor plane, night mode. | Every door recess or lobby face. |
| Door recess pair | DR1 threshold floor and DR1 number face, same scene. | The whole corridor average. |
| Lift lobby points | Lobby floor centre, lift-door face and waiting position. | All day glare or every reflective condition. |
| Turn check | Point before corner, point after corner and fitting group noted. | Uniformity for every branch. |
| Before and after change | Same point labels, plane and control state repeated. | A formal building assessment. |
The lux meter reading notes table is the best worksheet for one point or a short point set. For larger repeat checks, the lux meter grid notes table keeps labels and spacing stable. Keep measured illuminance tied to the same surface as the estimate.
| Point, plane and condition pair | Note wording | Do not blend with |
|---|---|---|
| Level branch floor path | L3 east C1, C2 and C3 on floor plane, night scene, sensor waiting state. | Door-number faces and lift-door face readings. |
| Door recess pair | L3 DR4 threshold floor plus DR4 number face, same scene and observer side. | Whole-corridor average. |
| Lift approach | L3 lift approach floor point, waiting point and lift-door face, reflected source noted. | Interior lift-car lighting or lift services. |
| Mail or notice edge | Notice face or mailbox edge, vertical meter, corridor-side observer position. | Mailroom shelf or parcel-surface note. |
| Same-point comparison | Same label, same plane, same scene and same daylight condition on both visits. | Changed-state comparisons without a matching condition note. |
Geometry and fitting data
Corridor geometry can make a simple area estimate misleading. Low bulkheads, long wall runs, narrow fittings, recessed doors, lift-door reflections and sign positions can all change where useful light lands. Write the geometry before changing the target. For strata notes, the most useful geometry line normally names the level, branch, apartment range, lift core, wall offset and any door recess before adding fitting data.
| Geometry field | Corridor detail | Related page |
|---|---|---|
| Length and width | Corridor branch length, clear width and turn points. | Room lighting calculator |
| Ceiling condition | Ceiling height, bulkhead, soffit or exposed entry edge. | Ceiling-height lighting effects |
| Beam spread | Beam angle, spacing, wall offset and dark-gap note. | Beam angle coverage table |
| Fitting data | Lumens, watts, CCT, CRI/Ra, IP rating where relevant and dimming note. | Luminaire markings table |
| Surface context | Dark carpet, wall colour, lift doors, glass or signage. | Surface reflectance planning |
For long downlight rows, compare spacing against beam coverage at the named plane. A floor path may need one note, while a vertical sign or door-number face may need another.
Planning Boundary
This page is for corridor, lift-approach and door-recess lighting notes. Emergency lighting, exit signs, fire-isolated stairs, electrical installation, smoke-control paths, public-space category selection, security outcomes and building-code outcomes need their own formal review.
| Boundary item | Keep in this note | Outside this note |
|---|---|---|
| Corridor movement | Floor path, point labels and active scene. | Emergency lighting and exit-sign documentation. |
| Lift lobby visibility | Face, sign and reflective-door notes. | Lift services or building-system sign-off. |
| Door recess | Threshold light and number-face visibility. | Door hardware, access control or fire-isolation matters. |
| Night mode | Scene state, sensor state and measured points. | Control commissioning or electrical switching decisions. |
| Stair-adjacent edge | Corridor-side threshold note only. | Stair assessment and fire-stair documentation. |
| Public or external edge | Internal corridor side, boundary note and normal scene only. | Road, public-space or exterior-area design evidence. |
| Security concern | Visible-light observation, glare or shadow note only. | Surveillance, access-control or incident evidence. |
| Energy and load | Lighting group boundary only when it explains the visual note. | Connected load, W/m2, annual kWh and operating-hours evidence. |
Compact Corridor Worksheet
| Worksheet item | Apartment corridor detail |
|---|---|
| Zone | Corridor branch, lift lobby, door recess, notice edge or entry threshold. |
| Plane | Floor path, sign face, lift-door face, apartment-number face or local bench. |
| Geometry | Length, width, ceiling height, turn point, wall offset and recess depth. |
| Calculation | Area, target basis, luminaire output, UF, MF, spacing and beam spread. |
| Control state | Day, evening, night, cleaning or sensor-triggered mode. |
| Measurement | Point label, lux value, plane, scene, daylight condition and meter orientation. |
| Linked pages | Corridor note here; lift lobby, mailroom, vertical face, control, load and measured-light pages linked when they carry the detail. |
| Boundary | Corridor lighting only; emergency, stair, public-space, security and electrical evidence remains outside this worksheet. |