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Design Process Types of Spaces Space Standards Planning Guides Pre-planning Planning Strategies Planning Approach Office Master Planning Office Planning Basics	Planning: Planning Guides: Office Planning Basics and Rules The following information are the planning basics and rules to planning the office interiors. It includes minimum requirements for clearances between furniture and spaces, do's and don'ts on furniture arrangements, averages on basic work stations and group areas. Circulations, Isles or Corridors Connect all major corridors or primary circulations for fire safety or egress Connect secondary isles with primary isles with minimum clearance 3'-0" Avoid dead ends over 20'-0" Avoid long corridors with no break or rest stop Minimum corridor is 44" by building codes but regulated by occupany load. Calculate width of corridor by taking gross square feet divided by occupancy factor and multiply by the width variable Private offices or Enclosed Areas Avoid random placement of private areas that create chaos and reduce flexibility and loss in spaces Group all private areas in clusters and avoid random placement of private areas to provide higher degree of flexibility Develop standardize architectural concept using standardize geometries such as angles, curves and rectilinear forms Develop standardize door configurations throughout all entries using paired doors or angular or recess entries Avoid sharp or acute angles that result in waste Connect all private or enclosed spaces with primary circulations Align partitions to mullions using the building grids along the windows and if not possible align partition along the one half of the building grid and use an offset partition to meet with the mullions Avoid running partitions directly to glazing that block views to exterior Similar rank managerial personnel should be provided with the same size office and enjoy the same previleges such as having window areas Consider light penetrations into interior space for the majority of workers Consider built-in furniture for managerial level personnel if flexibility is not required in place of free standing furniture In front of all private and enclosed areas should be a major 4'-0" corridor Semi-Private Work Stations Consider space dividers or panels using common panel sizes, the ideal situation is one size Panel sizes must be configured using industry standard sizes The most common panel sizes are 36" or 30" Avoid using panel sizes that are 24" or 18" since they are usually not electrified Avoid placing two primary surfaces against each other and share the same common panels to avoid sudden attacks or impacts from adjacent station Avoid placing primary work surface against panel used by files, storage or equipment due to impacts and vibrations Avoid eye contact with personnel of adjacent stations Do not intermingle open stations with semi-private that create noise and reduce privacy for serious work if semi-privacy is a major consideration Panels and components modules must relate to each other in modularity for hardware attachments and support Group semi-stations in a cluster of 6 to 8 stations using a central spline to consolidate electrical and communication entries and provide flexibility for reconfigurations between adjacent stations Locate pedestals and storages away from knee clearances such as the corners between primary and secondary work surfaces or between two secondary work surface Relate work surface depths with files or storages to clean up irregularities such as using the vertical files adjacent with primary work surfaces in place of laterals Locate splines or high panels perpendicular to the perimeter windows to take advantage of natural light penetrations into the interior spaces Locate storage bins above the secondary work surfaces instead of primary work surfaces to provide shadows and discomfort as a result of shadows generated from the bulk units The ideal placements of storage bins will be along the spline using stand up height panels and perpendicular to the perimeter wall to allow natural light penetrations Consider knock down barriers using transitional height panels for personnel that need to work together or in teams Maximimum privacy can be achieved using standing height panels if privacy is a considerations for personnel that do serious work The four drawers high files are usually used with semi-private work stations since panels are usually 60" - 65" high Stand up panel heights should not exceed 69" otherwise they will be considered partitions and need 4'-0" isles Use towers or cabinets in place of credenzas to reduce total footprint and provide the same features. Many new towers and cabinets also provide box, box, file and shelving behind doors similar to credenzas
	Open Work Stations Avoid large uninterrupt groups of open work stations, where possible break into groups of 2, 4 but no more than 6 work stations Separations between thes stations can be configured using space, files or storages Use 3 drawers high files for counter height, 4 drawers high files for standing privacy in open areas or 5 drawers high files to provide separation between open departments if security is not a issue Continuous open spaces requires some degree of separations using space dividers, panels or partitions to provide accoustical controls between open areas and act as fire stops Avoid placing open stations against a wall to avoid eye strain Avoid direct sight lines with adjacent workers by placing primary work surfaces facing each other or the typing return facing each other Avoid joining primary work surfaces side by side to prevent over flow of paper work into other users' work surfaces for privacy. This group of stations can be separated by space or storages or panels Avoid placing open stations facing the window due to glare or distractions Maintain consistent grouping concepts thoughout the same project except in special cases such as running into columns or other situations Avoid slight off set between adjacent stations or corner to corner placement of furniture which create chaos If files are needed for open stations, group them together in clusters of 3, 4 or 6. Support Spaces These are files, shelving, cabinets, work tables, conference areas, etc. that needs to be located near to work groups to support their daily work. Build these furniture against the partitions or walls if possible If these are needed in open areas, group them in related depths and heights in banks of 6, 8 or 10 to avoid unsightly irregularities Locate support spaces near to work groups that needs them and place them in a centralized location for easy access Group lateral files in banks that are back to back but avoid exceeding 10 units for ease of circulations If density of files is a consideration along a partition or wall, use vertical files in place of lateral files Avoid using vertical files back to back in banks at semi-private or open areas due to the bulk size, lateral files are more appropriate Use vertical files to maximize file density in file rooms Enclose untidy units of equipment, work tables or over size storages behind panels, or locate in enclosed areas to avoid unsightly irregularities Avoid locating storages, files or shelvings directly in front of windows to avoid damage to material and wasted the natural light to workers Use common isles to serve 2 rows of files, storages or shelving to reduce isles Group odd number of units by turning the last unit ninety degree from the rest to form an even cluster in place of odd numbers arrangement Interchange support spaces with semi-private or open stations using the same modularities
	Important Clearances Corridors and Isles Corridors or primary isles - 4'-0" minimum Seconday isles - 3'-0" minimum Isles with files on both sides - 3'-6" minimum Isles with shelves on both sides - 3'-0" minimum Isles with storage cabinets on bothe sides - 3'-6" minimum Work Stations Enter two adjacent work stations for 2 is 30" minimum Enter a single desk is 24" minimum Clearance between a professional or average desk and a rear unit - 3'-0" minimum Clearance between a management desk and a rear unit is 3'-6" Clearance between an executive desk and a rear unit is 4'-0" Work station averages: 30" panel modules non-management - 7'-6" x 7'-6" professional - 10' x 7'-6' low management or supervisory - 10' x 10' or 10'-6" x 10' Work station averages: 3' panel modules non-management - 6' x 9' professional - 9' x 9' low management or supervisory - 12' x 9'
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