Space Planning

A hybrid company has empty desks on Mondays but runs out of meeting rooms on Tuesdays, so space planning looks at patterns of use and the kinds of work, rather than assuming every employee needs the same seat every day. A Rick Hansen Foundation office guide emphasises meaningful accessibility in workplace design, and is a practical source for asking whether people can use spaces, not simply enter a building.

Government office-space standards provide examples of systematic allocation and design, but their dimensions and rules apply to their own estate and jurisdiction, not every private office. Start with tasks, since teams may need confidential calls, collaboration, equipment storage or quiet concentration, and a floor plan based only on headcount misses these needs.

Measure peak attendance, because an average of 50 people on site can hide a Tuesday peak of 90, so plan for the days and events that actually happen. An illustrative desk ratio is available desks divided by employees expected to use the office: with 60 desks for 100 eligible workers the ratio is 0.6, which does not prove a desk will be available on peak days.

Map meeting demand by counting group sizes and frequency, because a shortage of two-person rooms is not solved by adding one huge boardroom. Consider acoustics, since open desks may support quick contact but make sensitive calls or deep work hard, so provide appropriate quiet and private areas.

Check accessibility throughout, because entrances, routes, desks, meeting rooms, toilets and emergency arrangements all matter and a compliant doorway does not mean the whole workplace is usable. Keep circulation safe, since furniture can block exits, lifts or access routes and fire and building rules set constraints that aesthetics cannot override.

Plan technology and storage, because power, network, video and room booking should suit actual use, a beautiful meeting room with poor audio excludes remote participants, and eliminating all cabinets may shift clutter onto desks and floors when paper records, tools and personal belongings need secure space. Involve staff, who can explain bottlenecks and informal workarounds, and do not let the loudest team alone set the layout; test prototypes by mocking up a workstation or meeting room before fitting out an entire floor, since a small trial can expose poor sightlines or noise.

Set shared-desk rules, because booking, cleanup, accessibility adjustments and personal storage need clear processes and a hot-desk policy without support can waste time. Review privacy, since screen placement and visitor routes can expose customer or employee data, so use appropriate zoning and access controls.

Budget total cost, because rent, fit-out, furniture, technology, cleaning and future changes all matter and a lower cost per square metre may be poor value if the layout fails, and plan for growth and contraction with modular furniture and adaptable rooms rather than paying for unused space indefinitely on speculative growth. Consider wellbeing, since light, temperature, air quality and break areas influence usability, but do not promise productivity gains from design alone.

Separate occupancy from utilisation, because a room may be booked but empty, or full but unsuitable, so use observation and feedback alongside sensor data with privacy safeguards, set a review point because hybrid patterns and team needs change, and avoid using ratio targets as an end in themselves, since a desk ratio can reduce cost while creating competition for accessible seats. Coordinate with facilities and safety because a late change to partitions or furniture may affect permits, sprinklers or exits, communicate changes so that an unexplained layout does not create avoidable friction, and remember that for owners space planning turns expensive floor area into a usable work setting, with quality seen in the tasks people can perform safely, not only in the floor plan.