How much office space do you actually need for each employee?
It sounds like a simple question, but the answer has changed considerably over recent years. Hybrid working, flexible hours and different ways of using the office mean that calculating space based purely on employee numbers is no longer always the best approach.
A business with 50 employees does not necessarily need 50 permanent desks. Equally, squeezing more people into a smaller office simply because some employees work from home can quickly create problems on busier days.
The right amount of office space comes down to how many people use the workplace at the same time, what they do while they are there and the different types of space they need.
How Much Office Space Per Person Is Recommended in the UK?
The British Council for Offices (BCO) provides useful guidance when planning commercial office space.
Its guidance recommends an occupancy density of around 10m² per work setting for general office space. This replaced the previous higher-density allowance of 8m² per person, which is now considered more appropriate for exceptional high-density situations.
The change reflects the fact that modern offices need room for much more than rows of desks. Meeting rooms, breakout areas, quiet spaces and areas for collaboration all need to be considered when planning an effective workplace.
It is important to remember that 10m² is a design benchmark rather than a rule stating that every employee must have exactly 10m² of space.
What Is the Legal Minimum Office Space Per Person?
There is also a separate health and safety requirement to consider.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that, in most workplaces, the volume of an empty workroom divided by the number of people normally working in it should be at least 11 cubic metres per person.
For a typical room with a ceiling height of 2.4 metres, the HSE says this would equate to approximately 4.6m² of floor area per person.
However, the HSE is clear that this is a minimum. Furniture, equipment, the layout of the room and the type of work being carried out can mean considerably more space is needed.
In practice, the legal minimum should not be used as a target when designing an office. A workplace still needs enough room for people to move around comfortably, work effectively and access desks, storage and facilities safely.
Your Headcount Is Not the Same as Your Office Occupancy
This is where office space planning has changed most significantly.
Historically, businesses often planned on the basis that most employees would be in the office at the same time. The BCO’s latest research suggests that assumption no longer reflects how many workplaces are actually used.
Its 2025 review of post-pandemic UK office utilisation found that the long-standing assumption of around 80% utilisation was too high and suggested approximately 66% as a more realistic, although still conservative, benchmark.
The BCO has since proposed a typical office utilisation figure of 60% as part of the criteria being considered for its next Guide to Specification.
That does not mean every business should immediately remove 40% of its desks. It does mean it is worth looking at how many people are actually in your office before deciding how much space you need.
What Could That Look Like in Practice?
As a very rough illustration, a business could compare its total headcount against the number of people normally expected in the workplace at the same time.
| Total Employees | 60–66% Typical Occupancy | Approx. Space at 10m² Per Work Setting |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | 15–17 people | 150–170m² |
| 50 | 30–33 people | 300–330m² |
| 100 | 60–66 people | 600–660m² |
These figures are only a starting point.
If everyone comes into the office on a Tuesday, for example, a business with 50 employees may still need space to accommodate close to 50 people on that day. A company with teams attending on different days could potentially operate comfortably with considerably fewer permanent workstations.
Understanding those peaks is far more useful than working from an average alone.
It Is Not Just About Desk Space
One of the most common mistakes when calculating office space is concentrating too heavily on the number of desks. A well-planned office also needs space for people to meet, focus, take calls, eat, collaborate and move around the building. Depending on the business, this could include:
- Meeting and conference rooms
- Quiet rooms or acoustic office pods
- Informal collaboration areas
- Breakout spaces and kitchens
- Reception and visitor areas
- Storage
- Printing and equipment areas
- Circulation space between workstations
- Training or presentation areas
Reducing the number of fixed desks can sometimes allow businesses to create more of these spaces without increasing the overall size of the office.
Think About What Happens on Your Busiest Day
Average attendance figures are useful, but they do not tell the whole story. If your office is quiet on Mondays and Fridays but almost full in the middle of the week, it needs to be designed around those busier periods. Look at questions such as:
- How many people are normally in the office on your busiest day?
- Do particular departments tend to attend on the same days?
- How many people need a permanent workstation?
- How frequently are meeting rooms fully booked?
- Are employees struggling to find quiet areas for calls or focused work?
- Are large areas of the office regularly unused?
Actual workplace behaviour can reveal much more than headcount alone.
Could You Make Better Use of the Space You Already Have?
Needing more room does not necessarily mean you need a larger office. Poor layouts can make relatively large workplaces feel overcrowded, while good space planning can unlock areas that were previously underused. Changing workstation layouts, introducing office partitioning, improving storage or replacing permanently assigned desks with more flexible work settings can all make a significant difference.
Similarly, if large areas of desks are regularly empty, some of that space could be turned into meeting rooms, quiet working areas or collaboration spaces instead. The aim is not simply to fit as many people into the office as possible. It is to make sure the space supports what your team actually needs to do when they are there.
Planning the Right Amount of Office Space
There is no single office size per employee that will work for every business. A good starting point is to understand your headcount, peak attendance and working patterns before looking at the different spaces your employees need throughout the day.
At The DL Company, we help businesses make better use of their workplaces through office space planning, interior design, office furniture, partitioning and complete office fit outs. Using detailed space planning and 3D office designs, we can show you how your existing or proposed workplace could be used before any work begins.
If you are planning an office refurbishment, relocation or fit out and are unsure how much space your business really needs, get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.