Refraction Room Layout and Space Planning
A refraction room layout describes how the examination chair, instrument table and instrument supports are arranged within the room. This guide focuses on furniture dimensions and access checks for planning that arrangement.
Three measurements decide which refraction-room furniture will physically fit: usable floor area, clear ceiling height and the door opening. Ceiling height is the one most often left until last.
Every figure on this page is the dimension given in the specification for that model, reproduced as specified. This page is not clinical, architectural or compliance advice, and it does not state a minimum room size — the clearances a practice needs around the equipment are a decision for the practice and its local requirements. What it gives you is the equipment footprint, so you can add your own clearances to it.
Measure three things, in this order.
Most specification problems we see are not about features. They are about a unit that could not be installed as drawn.
1. Clear ceiling height
Measure to the lowest obstruction, not to the slab — light fittings, ducting and ceiling-mounted rails all count. This is the measurement that rules models out fastest, and it is the one least often taken before shortlisting.
2. Usable floor area
The rectangle the unit will actually stand in, after skirting, radiators, columns and any fixed cabinetry. Note which side the patient enters from and which side the practitioner works from — that decides where the clearance has to be, not just how much.
3. Door opening and route
Width of the leaf, direction of swing, and the corridor turn on the way in. A combined unit arrives in sections, but the largest section still has to pass.
Ceiling height rules models out before floor area does.
The tallest models in the range stand close to or above 2 m as specified. In a room with a 2.4 m ceiling and a surface-mounted light fitting, the practical clearance can be a good deal less than the plan suggests.
| Model | Overall height as specified |
|---|---|
| TR-500A | 2130 mm |
| TR-900 | 1990 mm |
| HRT-1A | 1900 mm |
| HRT-3 | 1900 mm |
| C-3 | 1850 mm |
| MI-5500A | 1750 mm |
The shortest units in the range are specified at 1550 mm (C-10A and C-12). Between the tallest and the shortest there is roughly 580 mm of difference — more than enough to decide the shortlist on its own.
What each line actually occupies.
These are the figures given in the product specifications. Add your own clearances to them — this page does not assume any.
Refraction units
| Model | Main tabletop | Overall dimensions (W × D × H) |
|---|---|---|
| C-10A | 1010 × 480 mm | 1050 × 1300 × 1550 mm |
| C-12 | 1070 × 490 mm | 1100 × 1300 × 1550 mm |
| C-800 | — | 2100 × 1200 × 1700 mm |
| C-3 | 900 × 460 mm | 940 × 800 × 1850 mm |
| HRT-1A | 965 × 385 mm | (1470–1620) × (1020–1360) × 1900 mm |
| HRT-3 | 985 × 410 mm | 1650 × 1050 × 1900 mm (tabletop not extended) |
| MI-5500A | 1070 × 500 mm | 1190 × 1300 × 1750 mm (space dimensions) |
| MI-180 | 900 × 500 mm | 900 × 1000 × 1700 mm (space dimensions) |
| TG-1010 | 890 × 430 mm | — |
| TR-500A | 840 × 405 mm | 1510 × 1000 × 2130 mm |
| TR-900 | 840 × 405 mm | 1500 × 1000 × 1990 mm |
The spread is larger than most people expect: C-3 is specified at 940 × 800 mm and C-800 at 2100 × 1200 mm — roughly 2.7 times the floor area, within the same product line. TG-1010 overall dimensions are confirmed as 2330 × 1300 × 2090 mm (L × W × H).
Instrument tables
| Model | Tabletop size | Height range |
|---|---|---|
| LY-3S-1 | 600 × 1080 mm | 680–880 mm |
| WB-31L10 | 1050 × 550 mm | 660–860 mm |
| WB-31ADT | 600 × 460 mm | 650–850 mm |
| WB-3A | 480 × 400 mm | 630–830 mm |
| LY-3AH | 480 × 550 mm | 630–820 mm |
| LY-3AD | 400 × 480 mm | 630–800 mm |
Tabletop area runs from about 0.19 m² (LY-3AD, 400 × 480 mm) to about 0.65 m² (LY-3S-1, 600 × 1080 mm) — a factor of roughly 3.4. In practice the table is chosen by how many instruments have to sit on it, so it is worth counting the instruments and their own footprints before choosing.
Chairs and stools
| Model | Overall dimensions | Seat height |
|---|---|---|
| CH-3 | 1640 × 590 × (1238–1380) mm | 490–590 mm |
| CH-8 | 880 × 620 × (1170–1350) mm | 500–680 mm |
| PK-310A | 690 × 550 × 1320 mm | — |
| CH-10A | 650 × 650 × (1240–1420) mm | 500–680 mm |
| CH-AST | 650 × 550 × (1200–1300) mm | 500–600 mm |
| CH-1 | 480 × 480 × (1170–1350) mm | 450–550 mm |
| MC-N | Chair height 1240–1390 mm | 500–650 mm |
Note that this line contains two quite different kinds of furniture. CH-3 is specified at 1640 mm long — a reclining examination chair. CH-1 is 480 × 480 mm — a practitioner stool. They are not alternatives to each other, and they occupy the room in completely different ways.
What to add to the footprint.
The figures above are the equipment. The room also has to hold whatever your practice requires around it, and that part is yours to set rather than ours. The items worth deciding explicitly:
Patient side
The side the patient enters and leaves from, including any wheelchair transfer or assisted transfer your practice needs to accommodate.
Practitioner side
Where the practitioner sits or stands during refraction, and the stool’s own travel.
Movement of the unit itself
Swing-arm sweep, tabletop extension where the model has one, chair recline and any lift travel. HRT-3’s overall figure is specified with the tabletop not extended; HRT-1A is specified as a range (1470–1620 × 1020–1360 mm) because the occupied area changes with configuration. Plan against the upper figure.
Door swing and circulation
The arc of the door leaf into the room, and the route past the unit to anything else in the space.
The distance measurement is a room decision, not a furniture one.
Distance visual acuity testing needs a defined optical distance between patient and chart. Practices achieve it either with a direct sight line across the room or with a mirror system that folds the path, and which one is available depends on the room, not on the furniture. It is worth settling before the furniture layout is fixed, because it determines which wall the chair has to face — and that in turn decides which side the clearances have to be on.
The conventional distances and the mirror arrangements used to achieve them are general optometric practice rather than a specification of any model here, and local standards vary. Confirm them against your own requirements.
From the room you have, to the models worth looking at first.
This is a shortlist aid, not a fit guarantee — the clearances are still yours to add. It groups the range by the floor area and height each model is specified to occupy.
| If the constraint is | Look first at | Because |
|---|---|---|
| A tight room | C-3 · MI-180 | Specified at 940 × 800 mm and 900 × 1000 mm — the two smallest overall footprints in the unit line. |
| A low ceiling | C-10A · C-12 | Specified at 1550 mm overall height, roughly 580 mm lower than the tallest model in the range. |
| A standard consulting room | C-10A · C-12 · TR-900 · MI-5500A | Overall footprints between 900 × 1000 mm and 1500 × 1300 mm as specified. |
| A generous room, or a teaching setup | C-800 · HRT-3 · HRT-1A | The largest specified footprints, and the configurations with the most instrument surface. |
| Chair and table specified separately | Any table from the table line + a chair | Lets you match tabletop area to the instrument list instead of accepting a fixed combination. |
Once floor area, ceiling height and the instrument list are fixed, most of the range rules itself out. The comparison table on each category page is laid out for exactly that — refraction units, instrument tables, chairs and stools.
If you would rather work through it by decision than by dimension, the selection guide covers the five choices that settle most specifications.
Send us the room, we will send back what fits.
Give us the floor dimensions, the clear ceiling height and the instruments you need to place. We reply with a confirmed configuration, lead time and quotation — not a general brochure.