Free workplace planning tool

Office Space Calculator

Q: How many square feet per desk should I plan for?

In the UK, 70 to 100 sqft per desk is normal once you include each desk's share of circulation, breakout and shared space. Denser fit-outs go lower, more generous ones go higher.

Work out how much office space your team actually needs, based on real attendance, your desk-to-people ratio, and meeting load. Built for facilities and workplace leaders sizing a real estate decision. No sign-up, instant results.

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How to calculate your office space requirements

Most teams size an office around headcount. With hybrid working that overstates the space you need, because rarely is everyone in on the same day. This calculator sizes the office around real attendance instead, then applies your desk-sharing ratio and adds room for meetings.

The method is four steps:

Peak people in the office. Multiply your total headcount by your average attendance. 500 people at 60% attendance is 300 people on a typical day.
Desks needed. Multiply peak people by your desk-to-people ratio. 300 people at a 0.7 ratio is 210 desks.
Desk area. Multiply desks by area per desk (70 to 100 sqft, or roughly 7 to 10 m², is normal once you include circulation). 210 desks at 80 sqft is 16,800 sqft.
Add meeting and collaboration space. Add 15 to 25% of the desk area for meeting rooms and breakout. That gives your total recommended footprint, and multiplying by your cost per unit gives an indicative annual cost.

The calculator also shows your space savings potential: how much floor area and annual cost you avoid by sizing to real attendance and shared desks, rather than keeping a fixed desk for every employee.

Office space benchmarks

If you are not sure what to enter, these ranges are a reasonable starting point. Adjust them to your building and market.

Input	Typical range	What it means
Attendance	40% to 70%	2 to 3.5 days a week in the office on average.
Desk-to-people ratio	0.6 to 0.8	Lower means more desk sharing. 1.0 is a desk for everyone.
Area per desk	70 to 100 sqft / 7 to 10 m²	Includes the desk plus its share of circulation space.
Meeting space	15% to 25%	Of desk area, for meeting rooms and collaboration.

Frequently asked questions

How much office space do I need per employee?

It depends on how often people come in and how much you share desks. With hybrid working you need far fewer desks than people, because not everyone is in on the same day. Once you account for that, a typical hybrid office needs around 70 to 100 sqft per desk, including circulation, plus meeting space on top.

What is a good desk-to-people ratio for hybrid working?

Most hybrid offices run a ratio between 0.6 and 0.8 desks per person. A ratio of 1.0 keeps a desk for everyone, which suits low-flexibility teams. The lower the ratio, the more you rely on hot-desking and accurate, real-time utilisation data to avoid people arriving to no free desk.

How do I calculate office space for a hybrid team?

Multiply your headcount by your average attendance to get the number of people in on a typical day. Apply your desk-to-people ratio to get desks needed, multiply by area per desk for the desk area, then add 15 to 25% for meeting and collaboration space. That total is your recommended footprint.

How many square feet per desk should I plan for?

In the UK and US, 70 to 100 sqft per desk is normal once you include each desk's share of circulation, breakout and shared space. In markets that measure in metres, that is roughly 7 to 10 m². Denser fit-outs go lower, more generous ones go higher.

How much does office space cost per square foot?

It varies widely by city and building. Use an all-in annual figure that covers rent, business rates and service charge for your market. The calculator multiplies your total recommended footprint by this figure to give an indicative annual cost in your chosen currency.

Is the calculator free, and do I need to sign up?

Yes, it is free and there is no sign-up. Enter your numbers and the results update instantly. If you want to pressure-test the assumptions against your actual utilisation data, you can book a workplace data review.