How Much Does an Office Space in Belgium Cost per m²?
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As a business grows and becomes more successful, it's natural for the current workspace to reach its limits. There are a few clear indicators that suggest it's time to seriously think about upgrading to a new workspace. Some of these signs include:
- Your current workspace no longer provides enough room to accommodate all employees, and your office is getting cramped.
- The work environment is becoming increasingly noisy and distracting, impacting overall productivity.
- People are reluctant to come to the office to work.
- Your company's brand and culture have evolved, and your office space no longer sends the right message to your employees and clients.
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You might be thinking, "Alright, I get it! I need a solution for my office. But how much is this new office going to cost me?”. It’s not easy to give a concrete answer right away. The budgets depend on several variables: the existing building conditions, the complexity of the technical systems and architectural design, and the quality of finishes and materials used.
The online estimates for an office fit-out in Brussels can be too broad to give you any direction. In 2023, CBRE mentions €900 per m2, and Cushman&Wakefield even quotes €2,415 per m2.
Based on our experience and past work with clients, the average cost of interior design and build projects goes from €500 to €1,500 per m2.
But €500 to €1,500 is still quite broad, right? Let’s start defining your variables.
The first question to ask is:
How much space do you need?
The key metric here is the number of fixed workspaces you’ll need. Knowing that you can use 10-12 m2 per person to calculate the space required.
Now, let’s get into the calculations.
Estimate what the upcoming 5 years of growth of the company will look like:
- How many people you might end up hiring?
- Will you need to provide permanent desks, hot desks or a hybrid system?
- What are the different functions on your team you have now and will have in the future and do they need different kinds of spaces, like call rooms for salespeople or quiet areas for developers?
Some departments would be attending 5 days a week whilst others might only attend 2 or 3 days. Once you worked out your business and growth plan with the approximate number of people in individual departments, you’ll have the correct space estimation.
Let's say, you need 50 fixed spots to accommodate the entire team now, and in the next year, you plan to add 20 more spots. 70 spots per 10-12 m2 per person make it 700-840 m2.
With hybrid and agile workspaces, you can save money on leasing the office space and on the cost of fit-out. We can help you with designing an office space that provides a mix of private spaces for concentrated work and collaborative activities and helps with the overall well-being of your staff to increase productivity.
Knowing this, you can answer the following question:
What are your custom requirements?
To get to an accurate estimate, several factors must be taken into account, including but not limited to:
- Do you require large open-plan areas or more cellular offices?
- How many meeting rooms do you require? How many people usually attend those meetings?
- What is the current state of the building’s facilities?
- Do you receive a landlord contribution towards any part of your fit-out works?
- How many workstations are needed for the space?
- What type of furnishings and design elements can then be adjusted to your budget?
These and many other factors can significantly impact the total cost of the project. When we start working with you, each of them helps us arrive at an accurate evaluation, which is only possible after the design phase is completely finished.
The good news for you, at this consideration stage, is that we have recently developed a Pricing Tool based on our previous projects' average costs. This remarkable tool allows us to get a more accurate initial budget estimate. All we need to know is an idea of the surface of your existing or future office. And even if you don’t have that or the growth plan, I can help you figure that out together. You can’t imagine how many times we did it right on the call with the client!
If you are looking for a more precise rough estimate or have questions, hop on a call with me! This is the kind of magic we can do for you:
