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Q: Determining Corporate Space Standards (Office / Cubicle Sizes by level) ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Determining Corporate Space Standards (Office / Cubicle Sizes by level)
Category: Business and Money > Consulting
Asked by: picapic-ga
List Price: $100.00
Posted: 06 Dec 2005 06:43 PST
Expires: 05 Jan 2006 06:43 PST
Question ID: 602138
I am looking for information on how to size corporate space. Ideally,
the answers to this question will come from the airline industry
(Southwest, American, United, Continental, Frontier, etc, etc).
Barring that, any industry would do.

It is a two part question - part one focuses on employee specifics,
and part two on "common areas"

1. What kind of space (cubicle/office) does one typically assign
differing levels of an organization? Obviously, its hard to tie a
specific job title to another, so I've made it reasonably generic -
hopefully this will help. I am trying to determine appropriate cubicle
or office sizes for: General Managers, Managers, Supervisors and Admin
Assistants.

This question is more important than the second. 

- A General Manager should have _____ SQ FT (This would typically be
an individual responsible for all day to day operations across all
groups)
- A Manager should have ______ SQ FT  (This would typically be an
individual responsible for day to day operations of a specific group)
- A Supervisor should have ______ SQ FT
- An Admin Assistant should have ______ SQ FT

2. Common areas - How large should common areas such as: bathrooms,
locker rooms, conference rooms, break rooms (i.e. a lunch room).
Ideally, these numbers would be presented based on total employees -
that is "X SQ FT / employee". For example, if you have 100 employees
and the bathroom is 300 SQ FT, the "metric" would be 3 SQ FT /
employee - so that if you try and look at the size of a bathroom at
another office with 150 employees, you can extrapolate out and come up
with an estimated size for the bathroom.

Bathroom: ______ SQ FT / employee
Locker room: ______ SQ FT / employee
Break Room: ________ SQ FT / employee
Conference Room: ________ SQ FT / employee


***All answers must be sourced*** 

Ideally, I'm looking for answers by Dec 9th.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Determining Corporate Space Standards (Office / Cubicle Sizes by level)
Answered By: bobbie7-ga on 06 Dec 2005 07:55 PST
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hello Picapic,

Below you will find Corporate space standards and information.

For traditional environments and assuming normal amenities of generic
office usage, the general rule of thumb is to allow 160 to 250 usable
square feet per person.

?This allocation varies depending on the type of business and their
individual style or culture. It will be affected by special needs such
as large conference rooms, demo rooms, training facilities, or
equipment rooms."

"President, CEO, or Chairman of the Board
250 to 400 square feet ? allows for desk, credenza, visitor chairs, meeting area

Vice President
150 to 250 square feet ? allows for desk, credenza, 4-6 visitor
chairs, small round table

Executive Office
100 to 150 square feet ? desk, lateral file, 2 visitor chairs

Employee Office
100 to 125 square feet ? desk, lateral file, 1 visitor chair

Partitioned Open Space
80 to 100 square feet for clerical supervisor or manager

Workstation Area
50 to 100 square feet for clerical, depending on file and equipment needs 
64 to 80 square feet for technical personnel

Conference Room
25 to 30 square feet per person ? conference seating
15 square feet per person ? theater style

Lunch Room
15 square feet per person, plus a kitchen area equal to one third ?
one half of seating area

Reception Area
150 to 250 square feet ? Receptionist and 2 - 4 visitors
250 to 350 square feet ? Receptionist and 6 ? 8 visitors

Mail Room
9 feet wide with 30" counters on either side

File Room
7 square feet per file plus a 3-4? wide aisle

Library
175 to 450 square feet with seating for 4 ? 6 people. 
Allow 12? for bookshelf width.

Circulation Space
Allow 20 ? 30% of total usable area for corridors and circulation.?

Corporate Facilities Group 
http://corpfac.com/Spaceneeds.htm


------------------------------------------------------


The Bonneville Power Administration ( http://www.bpa.gov ) provides
office and workstation standards.

BPA manual of  Office and Workstation Standards

?This chapter sets policy and establishes standards and procedures for
executive, manager, and employee offices or workstations, general
workspace environment; and furniture allocation and acquisition. The
policy and standards as stated maximize effective and efficient use of
space in all BPA occupied buildings, and they apply to all BPA
employees and contractors.?

Secretaries	72 sq. ft.

Managers  (Project & Performance); Staff Managers,
Technical Experts	90 sq. ft

Managers  (Project & Performance);  Staff Managers, 
Technical Experts 	108 sq ft.

Attorney-Advisors 	
120 sq. ft.

Asst. General Counsel 	
144 sq. ft. 

Account Executives
144 sq. ft.

Employees (Non-  Managerial) all classifications; i.e. Policy Analysts, 
Ombudsmen, etc. Technical Experts.	
144 sq. ft.

Performance Managers, 
Regional and Headquarters
200 sq. ft.

Senior Vice Presidents and Vice Presidents
260 sq. ft.

Executive Secretaries	
Open--Space-- not designated.

Chief Executive Officer
Deputy Chief Officer
Chief Operating Officer	
400 sq. ft.

Download complete document here:
Bonneville Power Administration
http://www.bpa.gov/ebr/bpamanual/CHAPTERS/00001037.doc


------------------------------------------------------



The following standards can be used to help estimate the amount of
usable space required for your business.

?Typical President' s office or Chairman of the Board
250 to 400 sq. ft. (4 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 
100 to 150 sq. ft. (2 widows in length) 

Partitioned Open Space
Clerical Supervisor or Manager 80 to 110 sq. ft. 

Open Space
Clerical or Secretary 60 to 110 sq. ft. 

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 to
1/2 of seating area

Clerical Pool Areas
80 to 100 sq. ft. per person 

Corridors
20% to 30% of the total usable area 

Coat Closets
1 lineal ft. for 4 coats 3 per person 

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? 

Office Finder
http://www.officefinder.com/how.html



------------------------------------------------------



According to Tom Calloway, the CEO of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based
architecture firm Calloway Johnson Moore & West, ? his standard rule
of thumb in calculating how big an office needs to be is to allow 300
square feet per person, including common areas such as lobbies,
restrooms and break rooms.?

Business Journal: September 24, 2004
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2004/09/27/focus7.html?page=2


------------------------------------------------------


Additional information that might interest you:


According to a survey by the International Facility Management
Association, ?executives and upper management lost the most office
space, with the average office size going from 289 square feet in 1994
to 239 square feet in 2002 -- a loss of 17 percent.?

(?)

?Professionals, in general, lost nearly 16 square feet in their
personal workspace, with average cubicle or office space size
shrinking 14 percent from 115 square feet to 97 square feet. Clerical
help also lost a little bit of elbow room, with the average size of
their workspace going from 69 square feet in 1994 to 66 square feet in
2002, a 4 percent loss.?


Business Journal: September 24, 2004
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2004/09/27/focus7.html


The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has released
its 2004 Benchmarks IV Research Report, showing a mean of 408 gross
square feet per person in the workplace, compared to 406 in a 2002
study
http://www.ifma.org/tools/prdetail.cfm?id=61


2004 Benchmarks IV Research Report 
The full report is available through the IFMA Bookstore at the IFMA
member price of $60 (US) or $120 (US) for non-members.
Purchase here:
http://www.ifma.org/bookstore/details.cfm?bookstoreid=157221&quantity=1



------------------------------------------------------



Search terms:
Corporate space allocation square OR sq feet OR ft
Office space allocation square OR sq feet OR ft + mangement
"International Facility Management Association"


I hope the information provided is helpful!

Best regards, 
Bobbie7
picapic-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars

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