How much office space per person is the most searched question in workplace planning and the one with the least honest answer on offer, because the number is the organisation's own allowances added together and most pages give a figure from nowhere. How much office space do I need starts from the headcount and three decisions: the desks per ten people the attendance supports, the area each desk position gets, and the meeting, support and circulation space around the desks. The office space per employee and office area per person fall out of that sum, and the office space requirements for a lease are the sum written down per team. This guide is the sum on this site's worked example and the free worksheet that works yours with no account.
The sum on 120 people
120 people at 7 desks per 10 is 84 desks; at 60 square feet each, 5,040 square feet of desk area; with 1,800 square feet of meeting space and 1,500 of support, 8,340 net; with 25% circulation, 10,425 square feet. That is 86.9 square feet per person at that headcount, and every term in it is the manager's own figure. The worksheet publishes no standard; change any input and the answer moves with it.
Why the ratio matters more than the area per desk
At a desk each, the same allowances give 120 desks, 7,200 square feet of desk area and 14,265 square feet in total, 118.9 a person. The difference between 86.9 and 118.9 square feet per employee is the desk ratio, and the ratio is the attendance's decision: 126 people in at peak from 180 assigned supports 7 desks per 10, worked by the free space utilization worksheet from your own counts. Measure the attendance before the lease, not after.
Office space requirements, per team and for the lease
Run the same sum per team and the office space requirements for the floor are the total: a team of 36 at 7 per 10 is 26 desks, a team of 12 is 9, and each carries its share of the meeting, support and circulation space. Written down per team, that is the requirement the lease conversation starts from, and it is a sum rather than a negotiation. HardFM Pro keeps the inventory the requirement sits on and every saved worksheet against the building, for $24 a month for the whole team.
The one external reference, and whose it is
The U.S. General Services Administration sets a design requirement of 150 usable square feet per person for federal office space, leased or federal, except public-facing areas (GSA USE IT Act reporting guidelines, read 2026-09-05). It binds federal agencies and nobody else and is quoted here as a reference point beside the worked example, not as an office area per person this worksheet applies to yours. Your own ratio, area per desk and allowances are the requirement.
Questions people ask about how much office space per person
How much office space per person do I need?
Your own allowances added together: desks from headcount and ratio, area per desk, meeting and support space, circulation. On the worked example that is 86.9 square feet a person for 120 people at 7 desks per 10; at a desk each it is 118.9. The free worksheet works yours from six inputs.
Is there a standard office space per employee?
Not one this worksheet applies. The U.S. General Services Administration's design requirement of 150 usable square feet per person binds federal agencies only; for everyone else the figure is the organisation's own decisions worked through.
How much office space do I need for a team of 36?
At 7 desks per 10 and 60 square feet a desk, 26 desk positions and 1,560 square feet of desk area, plus the team's share of meeting, support and circulation space. Run the office space per person worksheet with the team's own headcount and allowances.