Accessible space dimensions

A man walks down the road. He sees a lady with a cute assistance dog across the street. He loves dogs.

A person walking needs a space 675mm wide.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

A mum is pushing her buggy and baby while running through the park. The baby is enjoying the run.

A person with a mountain buggy needs a space 1400mm long and 700mm wide.

Dimensions sourced from NZ’s most common average buggy sizes Standards New Zealand (2001). NZS: 4121 Design for access and mobility - Buildings and associated facilities.

An elderly man walks with his walking stick. He wishes he could smoke his pipe, but he knows he must look after his health.

A person with a walking stick needs a space 750mm wide.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

A dad pushes his twins along in their stroller. They are both napping.

Person with a side-by-side stroller needs a space 780mm wide.

Dimension sourced from NZ’s average side-by-side stroller sizes.

A young man is sitting in his new green wheelchair.

A person in a manual wheelchair needs a space 800mm wide, with a space 1800mm in diameter to turn around.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

An elderly lady wearing a green scarf and sunglasses zooms past on her red scooter on her way to book club.

A person with an electric mobility scooter needs a space 1300mm long and 800mm wide.

Dimension sourced from NZ’s average mobility scooter sizes.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

An elderly lady is walking with her walking frame to make herself a cup of tea.

Person with a walking frame needs a space 850mm wide.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

A postie carries a crate containing a few parcels.

A person with a grocery crate needs a space 900mm wide.

Dimension sourced from NZ’s average grocery crate sizes.

A man checks his shopping list while doing the weekly shopping. He forgot the kitchen towel the last time, so he made double-sure to get some this time.

A person with a shopping trolley needs a space 900mm wide.

Dimension sourced from NZ’s average shopping trolley sizes.

A woman in an orange dress and blue leggings is standing on her crutches after surgery on her foot. She has a grey moon boot on her right foot to keep it immobilised.

A person using forearm crutches needs a space 950mm wide.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

A neurodivergent man wearing earphones is walking home with his weekly groceries.

A person with shopping bags needs a space 1m wide.

Dimension sourced from anthropometric measurements.

A woman with low vision walks with her guide dog. He is wearing a blue scarf and is doing his job very well.

A person with an assistance dog needs a space 1,100mm wide.

Information on Guide Dogs.

Information on Assistance Dogs.

Two men are carrying a sofa.

People moving furniture need a space 2m long for the furniture, 700mm for each person carrying, and 1m wide.

Retrieved from Auckland Council. (2022). Auckland Design Manual - Living and dining spaces.

A young woman is holding on to her friend's arm; her blood sugar is really low and they are walking slowly to get something to eat.

Person walking with a person assisting needs a space 1200mm wide.

Retrieved from Wellington, NZ: SNZ. 

A young women is walking with her bike. The back tyre is punctured; this was the one time that she forgot to bring the spare tube and change kit.

A person walking with a bicycle needs a space 1275mm wide.

Dimension sourced from NZ’s average bike sizes.

Two friends are saying hello to each other using NZSL signs.

People communicating using NZ sign language need a space 1500mm in diameter.

Deaf Aotearoa, 2019.

A man with an amputated leg says hello to the elderly man who just greeted him.

A person next to a person with a wheelchair needs a space 675mm wide, next to the 800mm space for the person using the wheelchair.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

An elderly lady pulls her yellow-lid bin out to the curb.

A person with a wheelie bin needs a space 1350mm wide.

Retrieved from Auckland Council. (2019). Design Element R7: Design for Waste.

A young woman is riding her bike to the library.

A person on a bicycle needs a space 1730mm long and 1000mm wide, with 500mm clearance on either side.

Retrieved from Sustrans. (2019). Space Requirements.

A woman rides her cargo bike back from the supermarket.

A person on a cargo bicycle needs a space 2300mm long and 1300mm wide with 500mm clearance on each side.

Retrieved from Sustrans. (2019). Space Requirements.

A man in a wheelchair with an elevating leg rest is being pushed along by a friend

Person with a wheelchair with an elevating leg rest needs a space 1700mm long.

Retrieved from Irish Wheelchair Association. (2020). Best Practice Access Guidelines - Designing Accessible Environments. p. 44.

Two St Johns ambulance officers pushing a stretcher bed with a patient to the ambulance.

Ambulance officers need a space 2960mm long and 1700mm wide.

Retrieved from Stryker. (2020). Power-PRO XT powered ambulance cot.

Four firefighters carrying a ladder seen from the front

Four fire fighters with a fire service ladder need a space 3m wide.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand, personal communication, 2025.

A team of four firefighters carrying a ladder seen from the side

Four fire fighters with a fire service ladder need a space 6m long

Fire and Emergency New Zealand, personal communication, 2025.