Facilities Management Course Spotlight: Space Planning

Anyone who has moved knows the challenges of trying to fit the contents of your former home into the new one. What goes where? Will everything fit? Will everything that needs power be close to outlets? Imagine trying to apply those same concepts to a new office space, hospital, or other business setting.

Enter space planning. Construction and facility managers, architects, and designers all work together to ensure that the new space is not only properly constructed but is also effectively constructed.

Capitol Tech’s course offerings include Space Planning, which introduces the process of design, problem solving, and building management as it relates to the use of interior space. Projects involving space planning, regulatory codes, building systems, material use, and construction methods are also a part of the coursework.

The Designing Buildings Wiki article shares, “good space planning can improve the wellbeing and productivity of the occupants of a space.”

The article explains that space planning can occur as part of the design process but may also occur as a space is being developed, in the case of a multi-use building where a tenant has specific needs for a section of a building.

Requirements of Space Planning

Space planning involves addressing a number of requirements. They are often driven by budget and time constraints, but the guiding force is often the intended use of the space.

Items that may need to be considered, according to the article, include:

• The number of occupants and space required per occupant
• The need for or availability of windows and doors
• Circulation within the space
• Lighting, IT, and other building requirements
• Environmental requirements

There are many ways to approach space planning in order to create a usable plan for the construction management team.

Creating a Plan for the Construction Team

“A common early technique is the ‘bubble plan’. This involves drawing a plan of the space and using ‘bubbles’, or circles, to roughly delineate the various activities that will take place, overlapping according to the relationship between them,” states the Wiki.

From there, detailed plans are established to show the layout of the individual items that will exist in the space.

While space planning is not a new idea, several software programs have helped modernize this task. The programs allow users to digitally create spaces and determine the best locations for furniture and fixtures and how traffic will flow. Many can be integrated into existing construction management software, enhancing the ability to share information with the entire construction team.

Capitol Tech is the perfect place to explore your education in construction management. Learn more about degree programs in Construction, Facilities, and Safety. Many courses are available both on campus and online. For more information, contact admissions@captechu.edu.