We want an urban space plan, baby
Can anyone help?
I am the facilities manager for a medium-sized insurance company that has a London office of just over 3,000 sq m and 267 staff. Last month we took over a smaller rival and the plan is to close their London office and relocate approximately 100 staff into our building. How can we achieve this? And how can we achieve this without spending huge amounts?

Answers and solutions:
This is a common scenario, not just for medium- sized insurance companies, but for all sorts of organisations both large and small. Without knowing more details about your company, we need to make assumptions, mainly relating to the comment about expenditure. We, therefore, assume that you do not want to take additional space, completely refurbish the building or spend more on furniture than is necessary. Even with these constraints there remain a number of measures that you could consider.

Layouts can often be improved by reviewing secondary circulation space. An improved layout may also help to free up 'trapped' space. Your standard workstation footprint needs to be assessed against the functions involved. If you have gone over to (or are thinking of introducing) flat screen technology, this space can almost certainly be reduced. If there are currently cellular offices this could be an opportunity to review the functional need with a view to introducing more open layouts.

Storage frequently takes up a lot of space and while primary storage needs to be kept on site, secondary storage could be moved off site. If secondary storage is in the basement (often the case) then this area could be turned over to meeting room space thus freeing up meeting rooms elsewhere in the building, which could then be made over to office space. If there are staff amenities such as a staff restaurant in the building, could they be made smaller or made to earn their keep throughout the day by doubling as a meeting facility?

Any change in working practices will need buy-in from a high level, but given the circumstances this could be a good time to consider the applicability of flexible working techniques. You may be able to identify working groups where ownership of space is leading to poor use of space over time. A 'free address' approach will probably suggest new furniture but could bring considerable space savings and be easier to move or reconfigure. Homeworking may be a possibility for some staff although they would still need touchdown space when in the office.

A good yardstick for would be a space allocation of 100 sq ft per person of 'net usable space'.

Bernard Crouch, Business Development Manager at workplace environment consultants Cochrane McGregor & Associates
Tel: 020 7378 1828

There are a number of issues here, not least of which are the motivational and cultural issues arising for staff from both organisations. Communication is the key for achieving buy-in and staff satisfaction.

A good approach is to ask individual teams to nominate a staff representative, and then involve those representatives in regular focus group sessions.

Before you start, it is important to define, within reason, what is achievable. In practical terms, a reduction in average space per head from 120 to 88 sq ft overall implies that you will need to consider some form of desk-sharing.

I find that the provision of good support facilities — most commonly meeting space, breakout areas and private study bays — goes a long way towards alleviating the obvious objections.

A space planning and budgetary feasibility study will take between two and three weeks to complete, and will give you a reasonable idea of possible solutions with costs and timescales. Armed with this information, the internal communications programme can commence in earnest.

The end result may well be that the creation of additional facilities — together with layout and storage rationalisation — will provide a solution without the expense of a complete re-stack and re-fit.

David Mackie, director of design and construction company The Interiors Group
Tel: (01932) 779999