Republic of the Philippines

Palawan State University

College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology

Department of Architecture

OFFICE BUILDING: PLANNING AND DESIGN

Architectural Design 5 – Space Planning 2

Ar. Argie Tenorio

Suriaga, Raymond Abbas

2020-04-0061

Block A

September 05, 2022

 Introduction

The primary purpose of an office building is to provide workplace and working

environment primarily for professional workers. The office building is capable of insights in
employment evolution occurred over so many years all over the world. The office is a place for
collaboration, recruitment and different activities to perform but due to the recent pandemic,
office buildings are experiencing a lot of change on how to execute the requirements needed
accordingly.

Based on my research about the regular life-cycle cost circulation for an ordinary
association is 3 to 4 percent for the workplace, 4% for task, 1% for furniture and 90% for pay rates.
Therefore, if the workplace construction can only use 3 to 4 percent of the work environment, it
can affect faculty commitments or responsibilities to assist the association expenses.

To achieve this objective, the office building should benefit from the design that focuses
on meeting the plan targets. Using coordinated plan can help the owners and users increased
productivity, to enhance their performance and a greater flexibility.

For many people, “work is life”. They spend almost 50 hours a week at the office and their
performance depends on how well their office space is set up. The planning of workplace must
focus on what benefits the employees not just how the space looks. There are many things to
consider when designing a new office or workplace.

General Principles of Office Space Planning & Design

1. Accessibility and Inclusivity – creating an inclusive and accessible office that can be used
by a wide range of people. Spaces and facilities should avoid separation and also usable
by person with disabilities (PWD). This includes accessible parking, ventilation, entrances,
routes, toilet rooms, bathing space, accessible countertops, workstations, assistive
technology.
2. Aesthetics – well-designed office affects employee satisfaction and productivity. It can
also help employee on great collaboration with clients, less distracting and better usage
of technology. Proper lighting and proper placement of desks and chairs also affects the
execution of every task.
3. Cost-Effective – optimize the various aspect of construction without changing the quality
of the final product. Cost-effective does not mean substandard or poor qualities structure.
Optimize resources and material utilization, available space should be properly utilized.
4. Functional/Operational – the building design must consider the requirements of the
occupants. This includes their operating hours, security issues, group size, utility services,
operation, health hazards, used of vehicles and public access. Make the flow of work as
regular as possible.
5. Flexibility – open layouts for easy collaboration and access to technology. Many offices
were designed to fit people of a wide range of sizes or “one-size-fits-all” layout, designed
to adopt and evolve. Office space that comes with several creative desk layouts are
considered as flexible workspace.
6. Secure/Safe – office building security begins at the site border or property line. This
includes planning for access to the site, parking, walkways and security elements that
protect the building during the day and at night. Designed to protect the occupants and
assets against manmade attacks as well as natural hazards.
 Office Layout by Function

These are the grouping workers, their equipment, and spaces/offices to provide for
comfort, safety, and movement information. Office layout also corporate statement of your
business. It creates wholesome environment that can make everybody comfortable but efficient
at their work at the same time. Also, to ensure proper and effective use of the floor space
available, steady and effective workflow to increase production.

1. Open-Plan Office Layout – there are no walls or separators between workstations. All
employees work on the same floor and in the same open space. Open plan spaces usually
using redundant cubicles for more collaborative environment.
2. Private Office Layout – uses a cellular style workstation, with the interior walls reach up
to ceiling. These means that these parts are completely sealed off from the rest of the
office floor. Small rooms or cabinets that are separated by partitions.
3. Cubicle Office Layout – a type of open plan layout where the workspaces are separated
from one another using partition walls to form a shape of a cube.
4. Co-Working Office Layout – often have an open-concept layout and are shared with
anyone who is member of the space. To maintain the environmental collaboration and
communication, spaces are typically filled with comfortable furniture, shared technology
like Wi-Fi, and even free coffee.
5. Home Office Layout – no specific format and you can use space as much as you want.
Good chair and a working table are enough to create a home office layout.
6. Small Office Floor Plan – mostly used by company with a fewer employee. There are some
small office floor plans like power position, client-focused, efficient triangle design and
room for two.
7. Oval Office Layout – using it needs a big extra space where you can place sofas and chairs
along with your chair and table in the middle. Sides must be empty for people to move
freely or quickly around the office and no straight wall designs.

Office Space Allowance Guidelines

Workspace sizes are allowances, not qualifications. Higher allowances assigned based on
type of work performed by the end users. Some job functions that include meetings at their office
or require the use of multiple materials may be assigned for more work space. Workplace is based
on the functional requirements of the four different worker profile by role.

1. Leadership: 100 sq. ft. – 300 sq. ft. (maximum)

- may be allocated an enclosed office but it is not mandatory. Enclosed offices are for
employees requiring high degree from other employees requiring visual privacy due
to the nature of their daily tasks.
2. Fixed: 36 sq. ft. – 64 sq. ft. (maximum)
- employees whose function is impossible to mobilize and typically at their desk for
most of their day, paper works and documentation storing works. Example, manager,
analyst, administrative assistant.
3. Flexible: 25 sq. ft. – 32 sq. ft. (maximum)
- workers who are mobile or typically at their desk for part time task and require
minimal space and basic storage.
4. Free Address: 16 sq. ft. – 20 sq. ft. (maximum)
- laborers who is useful to be completely portable or require small design space. Such
as students or employees that may only need a short period of time.
 Office Landscaping

The term “office landscape” refers to an interior design concept focused on aesthetically
pleasing or satisfying arrangements for companies. It involves furniture and desk placement,
especially in open-plan office settings. It also involves the selection of plants, the creative use of
natural light and the use of artwork to create ambiance or mood. Sometimes, the term is also
applied to outdoor landscape architecture, which focuses on creating appealing ang sustainable
outdoor gardens, park and green spaces around office building. These are some of the advantages
and examples of office landscaping:

• give good impression

• attractive working environment
• low construction cost
• easy location of workers
• staff movement is minimum
• time saving
• low maintenance cost
• saving of floor space
• promotes teamwork
• transparency
• promotes sharing
• easy supervision