How much office space for rent do I need? – Few useful tips

Taking an office space for rent is a very important decision, which is bounding by a contract for years to come, so choosing the right office size is very important. In addition, the right office size will provide you with a calm and pleasant work environment with enough space for you and your employees. Choosing the right size of the office depends on several key things:

1. Type of the office building

First of all, it is good to decide what kind of building you want your office to be situated at. In other words, whether you are looking for an office for rent in class A office building, class B, mixed-use building or office in a residential building.

In almost all cases, the offices for rent are offered with their gross area, which includes the net area of the office and added area for common parts of the building, corresponding to a percentage of the common parts. The rent is calculated on the gross area of the office.

An exception to this are the old administrative buildings, as well as the old residential buildings built before 1998, which offer offices for rent with their net built-up area.

What is the difference in % of common parts for different types of buildings?

Class A office buildings are the largest business buildings in Sofia with large and representative common areas. The rental area of the offices in these buildings includes a larger % of common areas, which is between 14 – 24% depending on the building.

For smaller, class B office buildings this percentage is between 10-12%, and for residential buildings – about 10%

What does “leasable area” mean and include?

The leasable area is the area on the base of which the rent for an office is paid. It includes the net area of the office (the built-up area of the office, together with the walls), as well as the area of common areas, in accordance with the above-mentioned percentages.

2. Additional premises in your office

The additional rooms that you will need are also important when choosing the right size for your office.

Additional, auxiliary rooms are the second thing you need to think about before determining the size of the office. It should provide enough space to work comfortably and without worries about lack of space or excessive waste of space in it.

In addition to the workrooms where your employees will work, you need to consider what additional rooms you will need – such as a meeting room(s), kitchen, lounge, storage room, server room, terrace, etc. The area of these additional premises should also be taken into account when determining the size of the office you are looking to rent.

Keep the following standards in mind when choosing an office space:

The standards assume an average of 7-10 square meters minimum space required per person in an office.

In open-space premises, you can put in more workstations than on the same area in an office divided into separate rooms.