With the ‘evolution’ of offices continues, work methods and space functions are becoming increasingly flexible, and the measure of office space is changing. The per capita use area is no longer the only criterion.

In NOVAH’s view, no matter how the space form and office mode change, seats always exist, and the utilization efficiency of seats is a continuous measure.

Therefore, we will focus on analyzing the characteristics of office space in various industries and its relationship with space efficiency and personnel efficiency from the perspective of space seat index.

SPl @Summary of Five Industries （PART Ⅱ）

01 Usable Seat

The seat-to-employee ratio refers to the average number of seats available per employee in an office space. 

The Real Estate and Investment industry has the highest seat-to-employee ratio among industries, which is closely related to the strong interpersonal relationship needs in the Real Estate and Investment industry. There is a need for ample space to support social behavior and facilitate business development.

02 Collaboration Index

The Meeting Index is an indicator that supports meeting behavior, indicating how many people can be supported for discussion at the same time in a space.

The Real Estate and Investment industry has the highest meeting index among industries, with more demands for employee training, administrative reception, and formal discussions. These activities require relatively fixed and formal spaces to take place.

The Internet and Auto-Mobile industries have lower meeting indices, which may indicate issues with conference room shortages in daily office operations. At the same time, these two industries tend to have fewer formal meetings, with employees preferring ad-hoc discussions or online communication. This could be one reason for their lower meeting indices.

The ‘Open Collaboration Index’ refers to the support provided by open areas for employee collaboration, discussion, leisure, and social interaction. The allocation of open collaboration spaces in various industries is gradually increasing. Even industries with lower Open Collaboration Indices, such as the Internet and Auto-Mobile sectors, still occupy a significant proportion in communication indices. This is largely due to the increased demand for space flexibility from enterprises.

03 Private Communication Index

The Private Communication Index refers to the support provided by small enclosed spaces for private conversations. Small enclosed spaces include private offices, meeting and reception rooms, focus rooms, and other space resources.

The private communication index in the Real Estate and Investment and Finance and Investment industries is at a higher level. The Real Estate industry has frequent interactions with clients such as government agencies and has more negotiation and reception needs; the Finance and Investment industry, on the other hand, has more reception needs for external investment clients. At the same time, both of these industries have certain requirements for information security.

04 Storage Index

Storage Index, including public storage in open spaces and storage of items in enclosed spaces.

The development of office informatization has reduced the demand for storage in enterprises. However, the Finance and Investment and Real Estate and Investment industries still have storage needs for paper materials and business attire, so more storage space is allocated; in addition, the storage index in the Auto-Mobile industry is also high due to the need for storage management of equipment and parts in the industry.

Creating customized office spaces

What does the perfect office space look like? A thousand employees would give a thousand answers: perhaps it’s not having to queue up for meeting rooms, or maybe it’s having a tidy and invigorating work station…

Likewise, companies in different industries, of different sizes, and with different cultures also have diverse requirements and expectations for their office spaces. Some emphasize enhancing space usage efficiency, while others concentrate on employee welfare… To cater to their unique needs, tailored office strategies are necessary.

NOVAH is dedicated to providing spatial data references for various industries through spatial characteristics, utilizing spatial indices to develop personalized office strategies for different enterprises, delivering solutions that offer high experiential value, and empowering and adding value to clients’ office spaces.