A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside.[1] Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or entrance hall,[2] it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc.) adjacent to the auditorium. It may be a repose area for spectators, especially used before performance and during intermissions, but also as a place of celebrations or festivities after performance. In other buildings, such as office buildings or condominiums, lobbies can function as gathering spaces between the entrance and elevators to other floors.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Apartment_building_lobby.jpg/220px-Apartment_building_lobby.jpg)
Since the mid-1980s, there has been a growing trend to think of lobbies as more than just ways to get from the door to the elevator but instead as social spaces and places of commerce.[3][4] Some research has even been done to develop scales to measure lobby atmosphere to improve hotel lobby design.[5] Many office buildings, condominiums, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression and convey an image.[6][7][8]
Etymology
The word "lobby" comes from Medieval Latin lobia, laubia or lobium.[1]
Gallery
- Opera House of Paris, Palais Garnier's grand salon
- Lobby at the Sokos Hotel Torni in Tampere, Finland
- 2 World Trade Center lobby in New York City, 2001
- Elevator lobby at the InterContinental Hotel, Singapore
- Lobby of the Crowne Plaza Vientiane hotel in Laos
- Pszczyna Castle in southwestern Poland
- Lobby of the InterContinental Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort
- Reception area of the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.
- Lobby of Synetic Theater in Crystal City, Virginia
- Entryway of an apartment in the United States, looking at the front door
- A "mudroom" at Camp Warren summer camp, Minnesota