Sizing a Co-Working Space: Open Desks, Meeting Rooms and Pantry
Square footage alone doesn't capture a co-working space's layout. See how to size the open desk area, meeting rooms and pantry separately.
Key takeaways
- Total square footage doesn't reflect how a co-working space is actually divided into zones.
- Apply the CADR formula to the open desk area separately from enclosed rooms.
- Meeting rooms and the pantry usually need their own sizing, not a share of the open-area figure.
- Two zones can sometimes share coverage if they're open to each other with good airflow between them.
- A full-space survey is the most reliable way to confirm which zones need their own unit.
Why Square Footage Alone Doesn't Capture a Co-Working Layout
A co-working space's total floor area is a poor proxy for what each part of it actually needs, given how differently each zone is typically used through the working day. An open desk area, several enclosed meeting rooms and a shared pantry all sit under one lease, but they function as separate rooms for air purification purposes, especially where meeting rooms have their own doors and walls that seal them off from the open floor.
Sizing off total square footage alone risks under-serving an enclosed meeting room that gets no benefit from a unit placed out in the open desk area on the other side of a closed door.
Operators who have only ever priced a co-working fit-out by total square metres sometimes carry that same habit into air purifier sizing, without realising the two exercises don't actually use the same logic once enclosed rooms are involved.
Applying the CADR Formula to the Open Desk Area
The open desk area is usually the largest single zone and can be sized directly with the CADR formula: floor area in square metres, multiplied by ceiling height in metres, multiplied by a target air changes per hour figure. Offices, the bracket a co-working open area falls into, are recommended at 4 to 5 ACH.
Use the air purifier size calculator to get a specific figure for the open area rather than estimating from the space's total lease size, which usually includes several enclosed rooms that shouldn't be folded into the same number.
Open desk areas also tend to have higher and more variable occupancy through the day, from a quiet early morning to a fully booked afternoon, which is worth factoring in when deciding where in the office-level 4 to 5 ACH range to target.
Sizing Enclosed Meeting Rooms and the Pantry Separately
Each enclosed meeting room should be sized on its own floor area and ceiling height, since it's functionally a separate room once the door is closed for a call or a client meeting. The pantry, often smaller but used intensively during breaks with food and drink brought in throughout the day, deserves the same individual treatment rather than being folded into the open-area total.
Sizing each zone separately also means each can be matched to the model whose coverage band actually fits it, instead of over- or under-specifying based on an average that doesn't represent any single room accurately.
A meeting room booked back-to-back for calls all day has a different practical need from one used only occasionally, even if the two rooms are an identical size on the floor plan, which a survey can help distinguish.
When Zones Can Share Coverage Versus Needing Their Own Unit
Zones that are genuinely open to each other, with no door and reasonable airflow between them, can sometimes share coverage from a single well-placed, correctly sized unit. Any enclosed room with its own door, most meeting rooms and often the pantry, needs its own unit regardless of how close it sits to the open area, since a closed door stops shared coverage from reaching it in any meaningful way during the hours it's actually in use.
A phone booth or small huddle room, common in many co-working fit-outs, usually falls into the same category as a meeting room for sizing purposes, since it's enclosed and used intensively despite its small footprint.
Getting a Full-Space Survey to Confirm the Plan
A full-space survey walks through every zone, open desks, meeting rooms and pantry, confirming which can share coverage and which need their own unit based on the actual layout rather than an assumption from the floor plan. That gives a co-working operator a single, consistent plan across the whole space rather than a series of separate room-by-room guesses made at different times by different people.
An operator managing several locations can also use one survey format across every site, which makes it easier to compare specifications and servicing costs across the portfolio rather than treating each location as a one-off exercise.
Operators renewing a lease or renovating a floor are in a particularly good position to have this survey done at the same time, since wall placement and room layout are already under review and any changes can be factored into the sizing plan before fit-out is finalised.
Next step
A co-working space's real layout, not its total lease size, should drive the sizing plan. Use the air purifier size calculator to start, then request a full-space survey to confirm every zone.
Frequently asked
Why doesn't square footage alone determine co-working space sizing?
A co-working space's total floor area doesn't reflect how it's actually divided into open desks, enclosed meeting rooms and a shared pantry. Sizing off total square footage risks under-serving an enclosed meeting room that gets no benefit from a unit placed in the open area.
Should enclosed meeting rooms be sized separately from the open area?
Yes, each enclosed meeting room functions as its own room once the door is closed, so it should be sized on its own floor area and ceiling height rather than folded into the open desk area's total.
Can two nearby zones share one unit's coverage?
Zones that are genuinely open to each other with no door and reasonable airflow between them can sometimes share coverage from a single correctly placed unit. Any room with its own door, including most meeting rooms, generally needs its own unit regardless of proximity.
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