Space and Adjacency Planning – Maximizing the Efficiency and Layout of Office Interior Space

An efficient floor plan isn’t just about fitting people into the available square footage. It should reflect how people, information and work actually move through the organization.

Originally published July 2011. Updated September 2026 to reflect current owner-side planning considerations.

A floor plan can look efficient and still make the business harder to operate.

The workstation count works.
The conference rooms fit.
The circulation looks clean.

Every department has been given the square footage in the program.

But I would want to know something else before approving it:

“Does this layout reflect how the business actually works?”

That is the purpose of adjacency planning.

It isn’t simply deciding which departments sit next to each other. It is understanding the relationships between people, functions, visitors, equipment and support spaces—and translating those relationships into the physical plan.

Start With Operations, Not Boxes on a Plan

Before deciding where departments belong, understand what they do.

• Who works together throughout the day?
• Which groups exchange information frequently?
• Who needs access to shared resources?
• Where do visitors go?
• Which functions create noise or distraction?
• Which teams need privacy?
• What equipment or support spaces are operationally important?

Those questions begin to establish the relationships the floor plan needs to support.

An organizational chart can tell the design team who reports to whom.

It doesn’t necessarily tell them who needs to be near whom.

Adjacency Is About Frequency and Consequence

Not every relationship has equal importance.

Two groups may interact occasionally and function perfectly well on opposite sides of the floor.

Other groups may exchange information dozens of times each day. Separating them can introduce unnecessary movement, delays and informal workarounds.

The owner should help the team distinguish between:

• relationships that are operationally critical;
• relationships that are useful but flexible; and
• relationships that require separation because of noise, confidentiality, security or workflow.

That hierarchy gives the design team something much more useful than a list of departments and headcounts.

Follow the Movement

One of the simplest ways to test a plan is to follow the people who will use it.

• Consider an employee arriving for work.
• A visitor coming to a meeting.
• A team moving between focused work and collaboration.
• Someone receiving a delivery.
• An employee accessing shared equipment.
• A confidential conversation.
• A facilities or IT technician responding to a problem.

Where do they go?

What do they cross?

What requires controlled access?

Where do paths conflict?

The answers can expose planning problems that aren’t obvious when reviewing individual rooms.

Support Spaces Matter More Than Their Size Suggests

Some of the smallest spaces can have an outsized effect on how well the workplace operates.

Copy and print areas.
Storage.
IT rooms.
Wellness rooms.
Pantries.
Reception.
Mail and delivery areas.
Shared equipment.

These spaces are often treated as secondary because they occupy relatively little square footage.

Operationally, they may be anything but secondary.

Their location can affect circulation, noise, security, convenience and the amount of time employees spend moving through the workplace.

Don’t Confuse Proximity With Collaboration

Putting people near one another doesn’t automatically improve collaboration.

Some work benefits from proximity.

Some requires concentration.

Some requires confidentiality.

Some teams interact primarily through technology regardless of where they sit.

The planning question isn’t:

“How do we get everyone closer together?”

It is:

“Which interactions should the physical environment make easier?”

That distinction matters.

Test the Plan Against a Real Day

Before approving the layout, I would test it against actual operating scenarios.

• What happens on a heavily attended day?
• Where do visitors accumulate?
• What happens when several meetings end simultaneously?
• Can employees reach the people and resources they regularly need?
• Are quiet functions protected from noisy ones?
• Can deliveries, service personnel and vendors move through the space without disrupting normal operations?
• Can the workplace accommodate changes in staffing or work patterns without immediately requiring reconstruction?

A floor plan should survive more than a design presentation.

It should survive Tuesday morning.

The Owner Has a Role in Getting This Right

The architect or workplace strategist can develop the adjacency plan.

But they cannot independently determine how the organization should operate.

That information has to come from the business.

The owner’s job is to make sure the right operational voices are involved, assumptions are challenged and the resulting plan reflects more than departmental preferences.

Otherwise, the project can deliver exactly what was drawn and still leave the organization asking why the new workplace doesn’t work as expected.

Leadership takeaway: Don’t approve adjacency because the departments fit. Approve it when the relationships, circulation and support functions reflect how the organization actually needs to operate.