An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches,

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s, meeting

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

courtroom A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...

theatres Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communica ...

, and in long passenger vehicles. An aisle floor may be level or, as in theatres, sloping upward from a stage. Aisles also cross through shops, where they have shelving on either side;

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

s, flanked by storage pallets; and

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

, where they separate different work areas. In

health club A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, weight room and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness an ...

exercise equipment Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or ...

is normally arranged along aisles. They are distinguished from corridors, hallways,

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. ...

s, footpaths, pavements (''American English''

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

s), trails, paths and open areas of buildings: aisles lie between other open or seating areas, which are all enclosed within a structure. Spaces between buildings are not considered aisles, regardless of their size. The word is related to French ''aile'' (wing).

Typical physical characteristics

Aisles have certain general physical characteristics: *They are almost always straight, not curved. *They are usually fairly long. An open space with three rows of chairs beside it would not usually be considered an aisle.

Width of various types of aisles

*Theatres, meeting halls, shops, etc., usually have aisles wide enough for 2–3 strangers to walk past each other without feeling uncomfortably close. In such facilities, a space that could comfortably accommodate more than four people side-by-side would generally be considered an "open area", rather than an "aisle". *Factory work area aisles are usually wide enough for workers to comfortably sit or stand while working, while allowing safe and efficient movement of persons, equipment and/or materials. *Passage aisles are usually just wide enough for a large person to carry a suitcase in each hand, but not for two people to pass side-by-side without touching. Usually, even without luggage one person must turn sideways for the other to pass. *Warehouse aisles normally are at least 8–10 feet (2.4–3 meters) wide to fit mechanical loading equipment. *Wedding aisles are at least wide enough for two people to walk comfortably beside each other. *Vehicle aisles are wide enough for a designated type of vehicle to pass, either one way or two way.

Architecture

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, an aisle is more specifically the wing of a house, or a lateral division of a large building. The earliest examples of aisles date back to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times and can be found in the

Basilica Ulpia The Basilica Ulpia was an ancient Roman civic building located in the Forum of Trajan. The Basilica Ulpia separates the temple from the main courtyard in the Forum of Trajan with the Trajan's Column to the northwest. It was named after Roman em ...

(basilica of Trajan), which had double aisles on either side of its central area. The church of St. Peter's in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

has the same number.

Church architecture

Image:aisle.bath.abbey.arp.jpg, An aisle in

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictines, Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, i ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, England. The aisle is lined with wooden seating (pews), the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

seating can be seen on the right, beyond the arcade pillars. The roof of the aisle is fan-vaulted. File:Seitenschiff.svg, The nave-aisles in this

plan view In technical drawing and computer graphics, a multiview projection is a technique of illustration by which a standardized series of orthographic projection, orthographic two-dimensional pictures are constructed to represent the form of a three-d ...

of a cathedral are shaded pink; the arcade pillars are black dots File:Arcade diagram.png , Interior

elevation view An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building (or building project) that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to deve ...

of a Gothic cathedral, looking from the nave, with nave-aisle arcade highlighted. In

church architecture Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as Church (building), churches, chapels, convents, and seminaries. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly ...

, an aisle (also known as an ''yle'' or ''alley'') is more specifically a passageway to either side of the nave that is separated from the nave by

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

s or arcades, a row of pillars or

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s. Occasionally aisles stop at the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s, but often aisles can be continued around the

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. Aisles are thus categorized as ''nave-aisles'', ''transept-aisles'' or ''choir-aisles''. A semi-circular choir with aisles continued around it, providing access to a series of chapels, is a

chevet In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. In Byzan ...

. In

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

, the aisles' roofs are lower than that of the nave, allowing light to enter through

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

windows. In

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

, however, the roofs are at roughly equal heights, with those of the aisle being only slightly lower than that of the nave. In Germany, churches where the roofs of the aisles and nave are the same height, such as St. Stephen's, Vienna, the Wiesenkirche at Soest
St. Martin's, Landshut
and the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

are known as ''Hallenkirchen''. When discussing overall design, architectural historians include the centrally-positioned nave in the number of aisles. Thus the original

St Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the cit ...

in Rome,

Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdi ...

Amiens Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens (), or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Catholic Church, Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administra ...

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

are all described as having five aisles, meaning they have two side aisles either side of the nave.

Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. It was construct ...

even has seven aisles (three at either side of the central nave). In the United Kingdom, cathedrals generally only have one aisle on each side, with

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of th ...

Elgin Cathedral Elgin Cathedral, a historic ruin in Elgin, Moray, northeast Scotland, was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It was established in 1224 on land granted by King Alexander II of Scotland, Alexander II and stood outside the burgh of Elgin, close to ...

and

St Mary Magdalene, Taunton Taunton Minster (St Mary Magdalene church) is a Church of England parish minster church in Taunton, Somerset, England, dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. It was completed in 1508 and is in the Early Tudor Perpendicular Gothic style. It ...

being the only three exceptions.

Supermarkets and retail stores

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s there are two types of aisles, food aisles and checkout aisles. Food aisles are where goods are displayed. At the end of food aisles may be found crown end displays, where high-

margin Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page * Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...

goods are displayed for

impulse purchase In the field of consumer behavior, an impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision by a consumer to buy a product or service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purcha ...

. In

retail store The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services ar ...

s that do not primarily sell food, aisles containing products would be referred to either generically as merchandise aisles, or by the particular products contained in the aisle, e.g., "the gardening aisle", "the sports equipment aisle". Checkout aisles contain

cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a Cash register#Cash drawer, drawer fo ...

s at which customers make their purchases. Regardless of the type of merchandise the establishment sells, it is common to display a range of "impulse buy" items along the checkout aisle, such as cold beverages, magazines, candy and batteries. These are often called "lanes" to distinguish them from the food aisles.

Signage

For customer convenience, supermarkets and retail stores commonly number the aisles and have signs indicating both the aisle number and the types of products displayed in that aisle. Churches, courtrooms, legislatures, and meeting halls may identify individual rows, seats or sections but do not normally assign aisle numbers or display signs regarding aisles.

Libraries

Libraries are commonly divided into several areas: *Circulation desk *Collections, areas where materials are grouped, e.g., Children's Collection. This may include book shelves, manuscripts, photos, etc. *The "stacks", where books are shelved *The Reference Room where materials with limited circulation are stored *Public reading areas containing seats and desks The spaces between rows of book shelves in the "stacks" area are called aisles and desks in the reading area are frequently arranged in rows with aisles.

Computer server rooms

Server room A server room is a room, usually air-conditioned, devoted to the continuous operation of computer servers. An entire building or station devoted to this purpose is a data center. The computers in server rooms are usually headless systems that c ...

s are typically divided into hot and cold aisles for cooling efficiency, and access to servers.

Performance venues

Cinemas, indoor theatres and concert halls

Films, stage plays and musical concerts ordinarily are presented in a darkened facility so the audience can see the presentation better. To improve safety, often the edges of the aisles in such facilities are marked with a row of small lights. The markers frequently are strings of

light-emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corre ...

s (LEDs) because LEDs are durable, have low power consumption and use low voltages that are not subject to electrical codes. To provide a higher level of light focused downward, lighting fixtures referred to a
luminaries
are often built into the side of the seat facing the aisle.

Stadiums and outdoor arenas

Sport stadiums and outdoor arenas frequently have several types of aisles, including aisles to purchase tickets for events, aisles to enter the main event area and aisles to go to seating. Stadium seating routinely is separated into sections by aisles. Seating rows are accessed by stairsteps. To promote safety, aisles commonly are divided by a handrail in the middle of the aisle.

Stables and barns

The floor plan of aisled barns resembles that of an aisled church. However, the nave in farm buildings is called an aisle thus a "three aisled barn". Aisled barns have the big barn doors on the gable end of the building giving access to the center aisle, often called the drive floor or threshing floor. The side aisles may be the same widths making the barn symmetrical or the aisle where animals were housed may be narrower which is apparent outside the barn because the barn doors are then off-center. The area between the posts, perpendicular to the aisles are called bays. In stables there is a stable aisle down the centre with individual stalls facing the aisle.

Vehicles

On vehicles, the aisle is more specifically a passageway for passengers to move along within the vehicle. File:Translink bus interior.jpg, Bus aisle with stairs File:Bombardier S Stock Circle line Interior 3.jpg, London Circle Line tube train aisle with open gangways File:AirAsia interior.jpg, Narrow-body aircraft aisle

Safety and regulatory considerations

National and local government regulations require a minimum width for aisles in various building types. Regulatory agencies frequently inspect buildings, vehicles, etc., to enforce regulations requiring that aisles not be restricted. Inspectors have imposed fines for blocking or restricting passage when boxes or folding chairs are stored in aisles, for example. Insurance companies frequently have safety inspectors to examine the premises, both to determine whether insureds are complying with the insurer's requirements for coverage and to look for any practices that could lead to injury or property damage, including restricting passage in aisles. The

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

sets certain standards for building access and other design considerations in all new construction and major renovations in the U.S. An architectural barrier is any feature that makes access or use of a building difficult, unreasonably dangerous or impossible. This can include aisles that are too narrow for easy access by a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

.Th
ADA Small Business Guide
provides information on removing architectural barriers. Often, the only way to get from a row of chairs, shelves, workstations, etc., to an exit is by an aisle. Historically, many deaths and serious injuries have occurred due to fire, inhalation of smoke or noxious fumes, etc., because blocked or partially blocked aisles prevented persons from promptly leaving a dangerous area. Regulations applicable to public carriers transporting passengers often require aisles to be completely clear in vehicles, such as airlines, buses and trains. Many

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

companies have requirements regarding minimum aisle width, unrestricted aisles and easy access to exits, and will refuse to insure companies that do not meet their requirements or will increase the premiums on companies that frequently violate the requirements.

Literature

*Walter Horn, 'On the Origins of the Medieval Bay System', in: ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'' 17 (1958), nr. 2, p. 2–23.

References

External links

A diagram of the aisles in Saint-Benoît-sur-LoirePenn State College of Agricultural SciencesADA Small Business Guide
* *{{cite web , url= http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/glossary_search.cfm , title=Aisle , work=Language of the Food Industry: Glossary of Supermarket Terms , publisher=

Food Marketing Institute FMI, The Food Industry Association, is a national trade association for the food industry, especially food retailers and wholesalers, in the USA. FMI's members include approximately 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing an ...

, access-date=2005-01-05 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041218043641/http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/glossary_search.cfm , archive-date=2004-12-18 , url-status=dead Architectural elements Church architecture Rooms Building engineering