Family of Entrances
. . . this pattern is an embellishment of Circulation Realms. Circulation realms portrayed a series of realms, in a large building or a building complex, with a major entrance or gateway into each realm and a collection of minor doorways, gates, and openings off each realm. This pattern applies to the relationship between these “minor” entrances.
Problem:
When a person arrives in a complex of offices or services or workshops, or in a group of related houses, there is a good chance he will experience confusion unless the whole collection is laid out before him, so that he can see the entrance of the place where he is going.
Background & Research: Not Included on the site—Go read the book!
Solution:
Lay out the entrances to form a family. This means: 1. They form a group, are visible together, and each is visible from all the others. 2. They are all broadly similar, for instance all porches, or all gates in a wall, or all marked by a similar kind of doorway.
Usage:
In detail, make the entrances bold and easy to see—Main Entrance; when they lead into private domains, houses and the like, make a transition in between the public street and the inside—Entrance Transition; and shape the entrance itself as a room, which straddles the wall, and is thus both inside and outside as a projecting volume, covered and protected from the rain and sun—Entrance Room. If it is an entrance from an indoor street into a public office, make reception part of the entrance room—Reception Welcomes You . . .
pg. 499