BCO GUIDE | OFFICE DENSITIES A revision to the BCO guide to fitout comes after changes to office use in a post-pandemic world. The ramifications for future office design are summarised in the new Future of office densities report SPACE: THE NEXT FRONTIER I n 2001, average office density in the UK was approximately 14.8 m2 per desk on a typical floor. By 2018, the British Council for Offices (BCO) found the average density was 9.6m2 per desk.1 This gradual densification made UK offices among the most densely populated in the world. This summer, the BCO published a position paper2 proposing new benchmarks for occupancy that reflect changes in office use in the aftermath of Covid-19. Now, new research has been released in the BCOs Future of office densities report to support the revised BCO guide to FitOut recommendations. However, recent definitive occupancy research showed that the average office has a 40-60% utilisation of its space, with mid-week peaks of only 33%. The impacts of the pandemic and concerns about climate change mean work patterns and occupancy levels have changed, and the BCO says new guidance is needed on how to redesign and operate offices for this new normal. As a result, the position paper proposes that the highdensity occupancy of 8m2 net internal area (NIA) per work setting is withdrawn and that the effective workplace density for core design elements of 12.5 m2 NIA per person is replaced with 16.7 m2 NIA per person. The original effective density was based on 10m2 per workspace and 80% utilisation. The position paper now recommends that utilisation levels are reduced to 60%, which effectively means the BCO is proposing that density is now 16.7m2 NIA per person. The new report looked at the impacts of overdensification (8m2 per person) on UK offices in terms of performance and wellbeing, occupant expectations post-pandemic, work patterns and setting, and the need to create offices that meet net zero carbon targets. The researchers gathered evidence from quantitative and qualitative sources, then triangulated and interrogated the findings to arrive at the new recommendations. There was an in-depth analysis of a longitudinal dataset Figure 1: Benchmark density in UK offices over time (Source: Leesman) of 13 offices, tenancies and floors spanning 21 years by Dr Roderic Bunn and an analysis of the Leesman Index database (which includes a subset of 74 buildings with measured density data). The Leesman survey3 was designed to enable occupiers to understand how the spaces that employees use impact their ability to do their work, and the key drivers for employee experience. The survey helps identify the important activities associated with respondents roles, and how well the workplace supports those activities. Leesmans 2018 statistical analysis revealed a series of distinct patterns, which uncovered critical work activities and workplace features that determine workplace experience. These components are key drivers for employee experience. (See panel Factors contributing to workplace satisfaction). The worst-performing office areas with density-related problems combined the following elements: high density permanent workstations, not enough toilets, limited personal space, few escape opportunities, open plan control zones unfit for reconfigurement, unbalanced temperature for gender difference, and high reverberation times. If uncontrolled, these factors adversely affected work activities. Conversely, there can be adverse effects of an office of low density, for example, knowledge transfer between employees may be restricted. 30 November 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Nov 22 pp30-31 BCO density.indd 30 21/10/2022 16:34