Serviced Apartments: Sizing Common Areas Versus Individual Units

Key takeaways

• Common areas and individual units have different occupancy patterns and need separate sizing
• A lobby or gym sees continuous turnover of different guests; a unit sees the same guest for the length of their stay
• Applying one blanket spec across the property usually undersizes shared spaces or oversizes units
• Size each zone with the CADR formula against its own floor area and ceiling height
• A property-wide survey lets you compare quotes on a like-for-like basis across every zone

Why the Lobby and Gym Differ From Individual Guest Units in Occupancy Pattern

A serviced apartment lobby sees a steady stream of different people across the day: guests checking in and out, visitors, delivery staff and building personnel passing through continuously. The gym and function room follow a similar pattern of shared, rotating use, often by guests who don't know each other and are staying in the property for different lengths of time.

An individual guest unit is the opposite. One party occupies it for the length of their stay, whether that's a few nights or several months, and no one else uses that specific room during that period. The air quality priorities differ accordingly: common areas need continuous filtration built for high turnover and varied occupancy, while a unit needs quiet, steady operation suited to whoever is staying there at the time.

Treating both the same, either by putting an oversized unit in every guest room or an undersized one in the lobby, wastes the property's air purification budget in the wrong direction.

Sizing Shared Common Areas for Continuous Higher Turnover

Common areas should be sized generously relative to their floor area, since they run for most of the day rather than intermittently, and see a wider variety of people passing through than any single guest room. Apply the CADR formula, floor area in square metres multiplied by ceiling height in metres multiplied by target air changes per hour, using the commercial range of four to five air changes per hour as a starting point for lobbies, gyms and function rooms.

A larger lobby or multipurpose room may fall into the coverage range of AIRE's Pro 800S, while a smaller gym or meeting room may suit the Classic 400S, which also includes WiFi connectivity for checking that a unit is actually running as expected without walking the floor to look.

What Individual Units Need Compared to Shared Spaces

Individual guest units are typically smaller and occupied by fewer people, so they don't need the same coverage as a lobby or gym. What matters more in a unit is quiet operation, since guests are sleeping and working in the space, and straightforward sizing to the room's actual floor area rather than the building's overall square footage.

Because different units vary in layout, an open-plan studio and a two-bedroom unit with a separated living area won't need the same spec even at similar total floor areas. Run each unit type through the Air Purifier Size Calculator separately rather than assuming a single unit type fits the whole property. A property with several unit configurations may end up with two or three different product sizes across its inventory, which is normal and expected.

Coordinating Both Under One Property-Wide Plan

Sizing each zone separately doesn't mean managing them separately. Once common areas and unit types are each sized correctly, the servicing, filter changes and any WiFi monitoring can be coordinated under a single property-wide plan so facilities staff aren't juggling multiple vendors or schedules.

This also makes budgeting clearer. Instead of one blended estimate for the whole property, you get a breakdown by zone type, common areas as one line, and each unit configuration as another, which is easier to present to ownership or a management company than a single lump figure. It also means that if the property adds units or renovates common areas later, the existing plan for the unaffected zones stays untouched.

Getting a Property-Wide Survey

The most reliable way to get both zone types right is a room-by-room survey rather than an estimate based on total building area. A surveyor walking the lobby, gym, function room and a sample of unit types will catch differences in ceiling height, layout and airflow that a floor plan alone won't show.

AIRE offers a free room-by-room Air Report with no upfront cost, which covers exactly this kind of mixed-use property. Businesses can also compare buying outright against renting, where filters, servicing and two-way delivery are bundled into the rental rate, which can suit a property adding or renovating units over time.

Next step

Start with the Air Purifier Size Calculator to get an indicative range for your common areas and typical unit sizes, then follow up with a free Air Report for exact figures across the whole property.

Frequently asked

Do common areas need different sizing from individual guest units?

Yes. A lobby, gym or function room sees continuous turnover of different guests throughout the day, while an individual unit is used by the same guest for the length of their stay. Sizing each by its own floor area and occupancy pattern avoids undersizing shared spaces or oversizing guest rooms.

Why does turnover pattern matter for common area sizing?

Higher and more varied foot traffic means a larger airborne load moving through a common area over the course of a day compared with a single-occupancy unit. Common areas generally warrant sizing toward the higher end of the commercial air changes per hour range because of this continuous turnover.

Can common areas and individual units be coordinated under one plan?

Yes. Each zone can be sized separately using the CADR formula, then servicing, filter changes and monitoring can be managed under a single property-wide plan rather than separate arrangements for each area, which simplifies scheduling and budgeting for facilities staff.

Related reading

• How Many Air Purifiers Does Your Office Need?