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How much office space for this?
How much office space for that?


Tenants' Rules of Thumb by Use

How much office space do I need?The general rule of thumb is to allow anywhere between 125 and 225 usable square feet of office space per person. This of course, depends upon the type and style of the business and the workspace layout. These figures can vary based upon special needs such as extra-large conference rooms or storage requirements, but will include normal amenities within a general use office. Also checkout our Tenants' Rule of Thumb by Job Description.

We also offer our easy to use and free Office Space Calculator that will give you both general and specific square footage estimates.

The following office space allocations can be used to help estimate the amount of "usable" office space required for your business based upon uses. Any common area load factors will need to be added on to determine the "rentable" area. Learn how to calculate rentable office space.

Typical President' s office or Chairman of the Board
200 to 400 sq. ft. (3 to 5 windows in length)

Typical Vice-President' s Office
150 to 250 sq. ft. (3 to 4 windows in length)

Typical Executive' s Office
90 to 150 sq. ft. (2 widows in length)

Open Space Workstations
Benches or cubicles 60 to 110 sq. ft. per person

Work Group Areas
80 to 100 sq. ft. per person

Quiet Room
Allow 10-100 sq. ft. quiet room for every 10 open space or work group workstations

Conference Rooms
15 sq. ft. per person: theater style
25 to 30 sq. ft. per person: conference seating

Mail Room
8 to 9 ft. wide with 30" counters on either side. Length depends upon amount of usage

Reception Area
125 to 200 sq. ft. Receptionist and 2 - 4 people
200 to 300 sq. ft. Receptionist and 6 - 8 people

File Room
7 sq. ft. per file with a 3' to 4' aisle width

Library
Allow 12" for bookshelf width
175 to 450 sq. ft. with seating for 4 - 6

Lunch Rooms
15 sq. ft. per person, not including kitchen. Kitchen should be 1/3 seating area

ADA Restroom within the space
55 sq. ft. for a 1 seater and 30 sq. ft. for each additional seat
OSHA Quantity Standards

Corridors within the space
20% to 30% of the total usable area

Coat Closets
1 lineal ft. for 4 coats

Water Coolers/Drinking Fountains
1 unit per 75 employees

Suggested Column Spacing
28' to 30' per bay

Suggested Window Mullion Spacing
4'6" to 5'. This determines office width

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Also see: Office Space Allocations per person by Job Description
  Office Space Calculator
  Calculate "rentable" office space
  More on Office Space Design