Space Types
A Space type in Space Pro is the definition of the spaces that occur in the space program. In BIM models these are typically referred to as rooms. They are the things that take up space in a building.
A Space type consists of the following information:
| Name* | The name of the Space type. This will be used in generators and is displayed in the Chart view and the List view. |
| Code | A specific code can be attached to this Space type. This code allows you to connect the output of SpacePro to other systems such as FMIS, Design software, Specification, or requirements gathering systems. |
| Surface definition* | Space types have a length and a breadth. The surface of the space type is the result of multiplying its length by its breadth. If a Length and Breadth are entered they are used to calculate the Surface. If the Surface is directly supplied, that is used. |
| Capacity | The number of people this space can contain in normal usage. In most cases, this is the number of seats a room holds. Not every Space type needs to have a Capacity. |
| Workplace Count factor | Each seat in the Space type counts as (part of) a Workplace. The Workplace Count factor of the Space type is multiplied by the Capacity of the Space type to count the total Workplace Count of each Space type. |
| Primary Workstations | A workplace is not necessarily a Primary Workstations. Most countries have specific rules and regulations, related to Health and Wellbeing, as to what a Workstation must offer in order to be considered a Primary Workstation. Examples of such regulations might be the minimal amount of space, the amount of light, and/or the level of reflection. The Primary Workstations field allows you to specify the number of Primary workstations the Space type holds. |
| Description | A short description of the Space type. |
| Image | An image depicting a typical example of the Space type. |
* required items
Why Capacity, Workplace Counts and Primary Workstations
In order to understand why and how these items are used, we will give an extensive example. In "Activity-Based Working, The Purenet Practice Guide" the need to count workplaces is described as follows:
When counting workspaces, the question is whether to count desks only or to count any place where people can open their laptop and work? The ABW philosophy argues for the latter, but for the sake of clarity, the recommendation is to focus on the first and to count 'proper' workstations (those with an ergonomic chair, a height-adjustable work surface, a monitor and daylight access). Those are the kind of workspaces that employees are most interested in and that still have the largest impact on the space requirements. The many other, informal workspaces (e.g. booths, soft seatings) are relevant, but they are 'seats' rather than workstations. The number of seats is typically much larger than the number of workstations (double or even more).
Because most modern workplaces need to be able to count the workspaces, and not all workspaces are equal, SpacePro offers a flexible and precise method by providing each Space type with the needed settings to support the most sophisticated workplace concepts.
- The Capacity field simply captures the total number of seats in the room. Each place where one can sit is counted.
- The Primary Workstations field captures the total number of 'proper' workstations. (the ones that comply with the health and safety regulations).
- If the Workplace concept you are managing with SpacePro has something in between these two values, you can model it with the Workplace Count factor field.
Each seat can be given a Workplace count factor. The total Workplace count of the Space is this factor multiplied with the Capacity.
Example 1: A Project Room
Enclosed room with several workstations, combined with collaborative features such as a meeting table and whiteboards. Suitable for project work or teamwork.
It has 4 proper ergonomic workstations where the core developers of the project work. It also has 2 smaller desks where the part-time scrum-coach, the interaction designer, or the client sometimes work at. It also has a small table with 4 comfortable chairs.
Capacity would be: 4 workstations + 2 smaller desks + 4 chairs: 10
Primary workstations would be: 4 workstations: 4
By setting the Workplace Count factor to 0.6 the calculated number of workplaces for this room is: 6
Example 2: A 6 person Meeting room
Enclosed room with one meeting table and 6 chairs, one wall contains a display device.
Capacity would be: 6 meeting chairs: 6
Primary workstations would be: 0
By setting the workplace count to 0.5 the meeting room would offer 3 workplaces to the total number of workplaces.
The following PDF visualizes the differences between each counter and why one might track each of them.