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Interior Design vocabulary · Space Planning

Ergonomics

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ˌɜːɡəˈnɒmɪks/nounCommon term

In interior design, ergonomics means: The study of how furniture, spaces and equipment fit the human body, so that people can use them comfortably, safely and efficiently.

In Turkish: ergonomi

How it is used

Shows up in decisions about worktop height, desk and chair height, shelf reach and handle position. The adjective is ergonomic: an ergonomic chair, ergonomic design. Data about human body measurements is called anthropometrics.

Example sentences

  1. For better ergonomics, we raised the worktop to 95 cm because both clients are tall.

  2. Office ergonomics is about more than the chair: screen height and lighting matter too.

Common collocations

  • office ergonomics
  • kitchen ergonomics
  • ergonomic design
  • ergonomic chair
  • clearanceThe free space needed around furniture, fittings and doors so that people can move, sit, open drawers or use appliances comfortably and safely.
  • worktopThe flat, hard surface on top of kitchen cabinets where food is prepared, made of materials such as quartz, granite, laminate or wood.
  • work triangleThe imaginary triangle between the sink, the hob and the fridge in a kitchen, used as a guide so that the cook can move between them easily.
  • circulationThe routes people use to move through a building or room, such as corridors, stairs and paths between furniture, and the space these routes need.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Space Planning

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