Locker and changing room dimensions

At a glance

SE = Sport England, Accessible Sports Facilities, 2010, April Revision 003 (advisory). ADM2 = Approved Document M volume 2, 2015 edition incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments (England). Read 8 November 2026.

What is published and what is not

There is no British Standard in the sources we could read that sets the size of a locker. What exists is guidance written for disabled access, and it is useful because it fixes the heights that matter: where a locker door and lock can be reached from a wheelchair or by someone with limited reach. Three documents apply in different ways:

• Approved Document M volume 2 (England, buildings other than dwellings) is the regulatory guidance. It asks for a 1,500 mm manoeuvring space in front of lockers in self-contained or communal changing areas (5.18(j)), limb storage for amputees (5.18(g)) and distinct wet and dry areas where changing is combined with showering (5.16).
• Sport England's Accessible Sports Facilities (2010, April Revision 003) gives the heights, widths, bench sizes and clear spaces below. It is advisory and written for sports facilities, but hotel spas, clubs and workplaces borrow it.
• BS 8300-2:2018 is the standard Approved Document M points to for detail. We did not read it, so nothing here is attributed to it.

Locker depth, the number of lockers per user and the construction (carcass, door, hinges, lock type) are not set by these sources. They are a matter for the operator's brief and the partner workshop.

Lockers: heights, widths and locks

Sport England's text on lockers makes six points, shown on the elevation:

• Enough lockers are set at heights between 0.45 m and 0.9 m and are at least 0.3 m wide.
• A proportion are 0.4 m wide to take sports bags.
• Ten per cent are full height, at least 1.8 m high, to hold mobility aids.
• Locks are no higher than 1.15 m above the floor and easy to operate by someone with poor dexterity or limited arm strength. In stacked locker compartments, locks to the upper compartments need not be limited to 1.15 m provided there are enough accessible lockers in the run.
• Locks and lockers carry clearly visible, embossed numbers that can be read by sight or touch.
• For large banks, give orientation help, for example strong colour contrast or zoning.

Approved Document M asks for a manoeuvring space 1,500 mm deep in front of the lockers (5.18(j)). That depth sets the aisle between two facing banks: it is the figure to check on plan before the locker run is drawn, with a bench in between if there is one. In school corridors, 3.14 (b) and its note give 1,200 mm as the unobstructed minimum for corridors and a preferred 2,700 mm where lockers line the corridor; that applies to schools and to circulation, not to a changing room.

Benches, hooks and clear space

Benches, hooks and clear space are what make a changing room usable from a wheelchair. Sport England's figures:

Check these against the real fittings: a bench with a lip, a hook rail with a shelf above it, or a locker door that opens through 90 degrees into the bench zone each take space from the 1,500 mm.

Wet and dry zones

Where changing is combined with showering, Approved Document M volume 2 asks that the combined facility is divided into distinct wet and dry areas (5.16), that the floor of the changing area is level and slip resistant when dry or wet (5.18(i)), and that showers in commercial developments provided for staff include at least one wheelchair-accessible compartment (5.18(l)). Sport England adds the detailing that joinery has to meet:

1. No upstand between wet and dry. Upstands separating wet and dry zones should be avoided as an obstacle and trip hazard. Water is contained by drainage and inset matting instead.
2. Floor falls simple and shallow, no steeper than 1:35 and no shallower than 1:50, so standing and manoeuvring a chair stay safe.
3. Slip-resistant finish, including when wet.
4. Fittings out of the wet. Dedicated accessible lockers are best placed immediately outside accessible changing rooms, so more than one person can reach them and to reduce vandalism.

For timber and stone that meet water, see stone and timber in wet areas and timber movement; for edges and hardware that survive heavy daily use, edge details and edge banding and handles and pulls.

What to put on the joinery schedule

A locker room schedule reads like a joinery schedule with a brief on top. Ask for, and write down:

• The count and mix of locker types: standard, sports-bag width, full height, and the accessible provision, against the operator's number of users (the sources give percentages only for full-height lockers).
• Locker depth and internal fittings, which come from the operator's brief and the partner workshop: no depth is printed in the sources we read.
• Lock type and height, with the height of the highest operable part shown on the elevation, not only the door.
• Bench, hook and mirror heights on one elevation with the 1,500 mm clear space on plan.
• The floor finish and falls at the wet and dry edge, agreed with whoever lays the floor.
• The access consultant's sign-off against BS 8300-2 before the shop drawings are issued. Reference sheets: Approved Document M for furniture and joinery, anthropometrics for specifiers, wardrobe and dressing room dimensions.

Lockers [nr] in [nr] banks, doors in tiers with the accessible tier set between [450] and [900] mm above finished floor, each at least [300] mm wide; [10] per cent full height, not less than [1,800] mm; [nr] at [400] mm wide for sports bags. Locks not higher than [1,150] mm above finished floor, operable with one hand without tight grasping, pinching or twisting; locker and lock numbers embossed. Depth [ ] mm to the operator's brief. Locker bank elevation to show every dimension.

Fixed bench, seat [450] mm above finished floor, not less than [450] mm deep ([500] preferred), with rounded edges and a smooth finish; [one] length of [600] × [2,000] mm for assisted changing. Coat hooks alternate at [1,050] and [1,400] mm above finished floor. A clear [1,500 × 1,500] mm manoeuvring space to be kept in front of lockers and benches.

Level threshold between changing and shower areas with no upstand; floor to shower area laid to falls between [1:50] and [1:35] to a drain, slip-resistant when wet; permanent inset matting at the wet and dry edge. Joinery bases and plinths in the wet zone to be [moisture-resistant material, finish] and sealed to the floor.

Standards and sources

• Sport England, Accessible Sports Facilities (Design Guidance Note, updated 2010, April Revision 003): advisory; read from a hosted copy; confirm the current edition.
• Approved Document M volume 2: 2015 edition incorporating 2020 and 2024 amendments; 3.14, 5.15 to 5.18, Diagram 22. Read.
• BS 8300-2:2018: status not re-checked this session. Not read.

Questions we are asked

What height should lockers be for wheelchair users?

Sport England guidance (2010) says enough lockers should be set between 0.45 m and 0.9 m high and be at least 0.3 m wide, with locks no higher than 1.15 m above the floor. Ten per cent should be full height, at least 1.8 m, to hold mobility aids.

What is the right bench height in a changing room?

Sport England's text gives 0.45 m to allow easy transfer from a wheelchair, with a depth of at least 0.45 m and 0.5 m preferred. Its Figure 16 key says 480 mm, so confirm the height with your access consultant against BS 8300-2.

How much space is needed in front of lockers?

Approved Document M volume 2 (5.18(j)) asks for a manoeuvring space 1,500 mm deep in front of lockers in self-contained and communal changing areas. Sport England shows 1,500 × 1,500 mm and 1,500 mm between seating and cubicles.

Should there be an upstand between the wet and dry zones?

Sport England says upstands separating wet and dry zones should be avoided as an obstacle and trip hazard, and water contained by drainage and permanent inset matting. Approved Document M asks for distinct wet and dry areas and a level, slip-resistant changing floor.

What depth should a locker be?

None of the sources we read gives a locker depth. It comes from what the operator wants stored and from the locker maker or partner workshop, and should be written on the schedule.

Do these figures apply in a hotel spa or staff changing room?

Sport England's guidance is written for sports facilities and is advisory; Approved Document M volume 2 applies to buildings other than dwellings in England. Use them as the starting point and ask your access consultant and building control to confirm for the project.