How many people will fit in this office space?

I am often asked how many people will fit in an office space when a broker or customer is considering taking it. Off course, without knowing what size offices and cubicles and many other issues, there is no exact answer. But there is a rule-of-thumb I use that is usually pretty close.

I call it five-per-thousand. Five people for every one thousand square feet of usable space seems to be a pretty good rule. Usable space is the space you are actually occupying, not counting load factors like common (shared with other tenants) hallways, lobby, bathrooms and other things often added into the "rentable" square footage you are paying for.

As an example, if you are considering a 20,000 square foot space. Multiply five times the number of square feet in thousands. Twenty times five is one hundred. So about one hundred people will fit in a 20,000 space.

Mitigating factors can push this number off. So if the space contains warehouse space, labs, an excessive number of private offices or a grandiose lobby with spiral staircase and customer lounge, you might not get so many people in the space.

Also, you might want to think about parking. If the building only gives you three spaces per thousand square feet, you might be out of parking before every seat is occupied. Or do like Google and hire a fleet of buses to get people from public transit to the office.

Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.