Articles / Market research
How much of an advertised office can your team use?
Compare advertised and usable office area before planning workstations.
Edition
Compare areas on the same basis
Ask for a measured floor plan and a statement of what is included. Identify terraces, shared lobbies, circulation, meeting rooms and service cores before assuming the full advertised area can hold desks. IPMS All Buildings measurement standard
Worked comparison
Two offices advertise 500 m² and ask €8,000 per month. If one has 420 m² of comparable internal space and the other has 350 m², the same rent works out at about €229 and €274 per comparable internal m² per year respectively. Confirm that both areas were measured on the same basis before comparing them.
Ask which area the listing quotes
Request a plan that identifies the demised unit and states how the area was measured. Ask whether the total includes external space, service cores or a share of common areas. Where a listing combines several floors, obtain a breakdown by floor. A figure is easier to use when the agent can explain what it contains and how it was established. For a lease decision, compare measurements on the same basis and have material differences reviewed by a qualified adviser.
Read the plan as a working office
Mark the doors, lifts, circulation routes and areas where desks cannot go. Reserve space for meeting rooms, storage and support before counting desks. Test how staff and visitors reach those rooms without crossing quiet work areas. A deep floor plate, an awkward column grid or several narrow rooms can reduce layout flexibility. Ask for an editable plan or a test fit when the available drawings leave uncertainty about dimensions or room capacities.
Separate the area from the occupancy estimate
The site’s 10–12 m² per person convention is an early planning tool. It cannot tell you which furniture will fit, whether a layout works for people with different access needs, or what occupancy the building can support. Use the estimate to shortlist, then confirm the layout and applicable requirements with the building team and professional advisers. When a supplier advertises desks in a serviced package, check the number assigned exclusively to your team.
Compare the area you can actually use
Divide annual base rent by comparable measured area to compare rates. To compare the practical cost of a layout, you can also divide the monthly occupancy budget by the number of workstations the test fit supports. Record which costs and space types are included. A shared meeting suite may be valuable even though it sits outside the private floor area, especially when it lets the team lease fewer dedicated meeting rooms.
Measure support space explicitly
Make a short list of facilities the team needs each week, including quiet rooms, lockers, meeting rooms and a place for deliveries. Decide which should sit inside your office and which can be shared. Check booking terms and access hours before relying on shared rooms. Where a terrace is included, treat it as a separate amenity and avoid counting it as indoor workspace. Use the resulting brief to compare the next floor plan on the same assumptions.
Carry the findings into the lease review
Keep a copy of the plan used for your decision and ask that the agreed premises be identified clearly in the lease. Record any facilities or external areas you expect to use, including access conditions. If the price depends on measured area, agree how discrepancies would be handled. Ask the building manager to confirm any layout changes that require consent. This gives the fit-out team and the landlord the same reference when work begins.
Use a floor-plan markup
On a copy of the plan, use separate colours for private workspace, meeting rooms, circulation, common areas and outdoor space. Add a key and note the scale or measurement source. Have the agent confirm the parts included in the quoted premises. Keep the markup with the shortlist so colleagues can see how the usable-area figure was reached. If the floor plan is incomplete or out of date, identify the missing dimensions before commissioning a layout.
Test the layout with the people who will use it
Ask managers how often staff need quiet calls, confidential meetings, project tables or space to host visitors. Walk through a typical day on the proposed layout. Check that storage, circulation and shared rooms still work when more people are on site. Record any changes that would affect capacity and price. A test fit can reveal why two offices with the same area need different furniture, building works or meeting-room arrangements.
Give readers the denominator beside every figure
When sharing a shortlist, label each rate with the precise area used in the calculation. Keep advertised area, comparable internal area and estimated capacity in separate fields. If two agents use different measurement conventions, ask for clarification before ranking the options. Record the plan date and source. A colleague should be able to repeat the arithmetic and identify where the figures still depend on an assumption.