How much office space do you need?

Rule of thumb: square feet per seat

Our calculator uses 60 sq ft per seat as a middle value. Change it to match the layout you want.

Carpet area vs super area

Carpet area is the usable floor inside your office walls. Super area (chargeable area) adds your share of the lobbies, lifts, corridors, toilets and other common areas. The difference is called loading. In Noida commercial buildings, loading is commonly 30 to 45%, which gives an efficiency of 55 to 70%.

Example: an office quoted at 2,000 sq ft super area with 40% loading has only about 1,430 sq ft of carpet area. If you compare two offices, always ask for the carpet area and compare the rent per sq ft of carpet, not super.

Don't forget the shared spaces inside your office

• Reception and waiting area: 100–200 sq ft
• Meeting room for 6: about 150 sq ft; boardroom for 12: about 300 sq ft
• Manager cabins: 100–150 sq ft each
• Pantry or break area: 100–250 sq ft
• Server or IT room: 50–100 sq ft
• Storage and print area: 50–100 sq ft

Plan for growth

If you expect to hire, add 15 to 25% to today's headcount when you size the office, or negotiate a right of first refusal on the neighbouring unit. Hybrid teams can plan for 60 to 80% of total staff on a typical day, as long as you have enough meeting rooms and phone booths for the busy days.

Worked example

A company has 30 staff and hybrid working, with about 24 in the office on most days, plus expected growth to 30 desks. Thirty desks at 60 sq ft is 1,800 sq ft. Add a reception, two meeting rooms, two cabins and a pantry, about 750 sq ft, for 2,550 sq ft of super area. With 35% loading, that is roughly 1,650 sq ft of carpet area, which is enough for this layout.

Space needs by team type

Different teams use space differently. Engineering and support teams spend most of the day at their desks and can work comfortably at the denser end of the range. Sales and consulting teams are often out of the office but need more meeting rooms and phone booths when they are in. Leadership teams and finance functions often need private cabins. Mix these numbers rather than using one average for the whole company.

Space for special requirements

Some businesses need more room than the standard rules suggest. Training teams need classrooms, design studios need larger desks and storage for samples, and companies handling sensitive data may need a separate, access-controlled area. Teams that run 24x7 shifts can share desks between shifts, which can cut the space needed by a third or more. List these needs early, because they change both the size of office you need and which buildings will work. Also check the floor's weight limits if you plan heavy equipment, and whether the building allows a separate air conditioning unit for a server room.

Signs your office is the wrong size

• Meeting rooms are always booked and people take calls in corridors: too small.
• Desks are shared so closely that people can't concentrate: too dense.
• More than a third of desks are empty on most days: too large, or a hybrid plan is needed.
• Visitors wait standing because there is no reception area: plan shared spaces better.

Compare offices fairly

When you compare two offices, write down the carpet area, the super area, the rent per sq ft, maintenance and the number of desks each layout fits. Then divide the total monthly cost by the number of desks. The cost per usable desk is the most honest way to compare offices with different loading and layouts, and it often changes which option looks cheapest.

Questions to ask on a site visit

• What are the exact carpet and super areas, and can I see the floor plan?
• Are there columns that reduce usable space?
• How many desks did the previous tenant fit?
• Is there space for a server room with dedicated air conditioning?

Once you have a rough size, use our calculator to estimate your monthly and yearly budget, then compare offices in the sectors that suit your team.