How much office space do I need per employee?

Industry standards recommend 100–150 sq ft per person for a comfortable office including circulation. Modern open-plan offices can work with 60–80 sq ft per person; private offices need 120–200 sq ft each.

How much space should I allocate for common areas?

Typically 25–35% of total office space goes to meeting rooms, break areas, reception, corridors, and storage. The exact share depends on work style and how often you host clients.

What is usable workspace vs total area?

Total area is the full room square footage. Usable workspace subtracts common areas and circulation (aisles). Desk capacity is calculated from usable workspace after those deductions.

Free tool

Office space calculator

Enter your room size and team headcount to see if everyone fits comfortably, how much space to reserve for meeting rooms and break areas, and a suggested desk layout — then visualize it with AI.

Room & team

Units

Length (ft)Width (ft)

Number of people

Work style

Open planRows of workstations, minimal partitions60–80 sq ft/personCubiclesSemi-enclosed workstations80–110 sq ft/personMixedOpen desks plus some private offices90–130 sq ft/personPrivate officesIndividual enclosed offices120–200 sq ft/person

Common areas

Common area allocation: 16% (384 sq ft)

Total area

2,400 sq ft

60×40 ft (2,400 sq ft)

Workspace

1,714 sq ft

usable for desks

Per person

86 sq ft

Comfortable

Space allocation

71%

16%

13%

Workspace: 1,714 sq ft
Common: 384 sq ft
Circulation: 302 sq ft

Recommended layout

20 open plan desks in 4 rows of 6

Max comfortable capacity: ~34 people at industry minimums for this work style.

You have comfortable spacing — consider a quiet zone or phone booths with extra room.

Legend: shaded boxes = desks · orange zones = common areas (approximate)

Industry benchmarks

Your space: 86 sq ft / person

50
OSHA min80
Modern open100
Standard150
Corporate200
Private

Reference ranges from BOMA, OSHA minimums, and typical corporate planning guides. Not a substitute for local code review.

At 86 sq ft/person, this aligns with comfortable open plan planning (industry range often 100–150 sq ft including circulation).

Now see what this actually looks like

Upload your floor plan or a photo of your current space — our AI applies this layout with furniture, lighting, and materials in under a minute.

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Frequently asked questions

How much office space do I need per employee?: For full-time work, plan roughly 100–150 sq ft per person including circulation. Open-plan teams can operate closer to 60–80 sq ft per person; private offices need more.
What should I do if my space is "tight" or "overcrowded"?: Consider hot-desking for hybrid teams, reducing dedicated meeting space, switching from cubicles to open plan, or expanding your footprint. Upload a floor plan in the Design Assistant to explore layout options in your actual room.
Does this account for furniture size?: Yes — we use standard footprints (e.g. 5×3 ft open desks, 6×6 ft cubicles) plus aisle width. The diagram is approximate; always confirm with a space planner for permitting and code compliance.

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