Glossary
Activity classification
The measurement most often missing, and the one that changes the space requirement most.
Activity classification records what a space was being used for at the moment it was observed — focused individual work, a two-person conversation, a formal meeting, a call — rather than only whether it was taken. It is the measurement that turns an occupancy figure into a space requirement, because two buildings at the same occupancy can need different rooms.
Also called Activity profile, Use-type classification
How it is calculated
Share of activity a = observations of a ÷ all observations of occupied workplaces × 100
- Observations of a
- Occupied workplaces recorded against one activity category.
- All observations
- Every occupied workplace observed in the period, across all categories.
Expressed as A percentage share per category, summing to 100 across the period.
The categories have to be fixed before measurement and kept identical across buildings, or the shares cannot be compared. Categories invented during a study describe the observer, not the building.
Worked example: one floor over a measured week
- Focused individual work
- 38%
- Calls and video calls
- 24%
- Two- and three-person conversation
- 21%
- Formal meetings
- 17%
Nearly half of the observed use is talking, in a floor laid out almost entirely for silent desk work.
Occupancy on this floor is unremarkable. The activity profile is what says the next fit-out needs enclosure rather than more desks.
Where it goes wrong
Measuring occupancy without it
An occupancy figure says how full the floor is. It cannot say what to build, and a space programme written from occupancy alone reproduces the layout that is already failing.
Letting the categories drift
Two observers with different category definitions produce two incomparable studies of the same building. The definitions are part of the method, not a detail of it.
Reading a single week as a season
Activity mixes shift with the work cycle. A week in a reporting period and a week outside it are different buildings.
Where this measurement decides something
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