Berkeley Tower by Ellington Properties
Berkeley Tower by Ellington, Business Bay: office space calculator
Enter how many people will work in your office and how you plan to lay it out. This free calculator shows a suggested net office area in sq ft and sq m, and how that area compares with the office sizes published for Berkeley Tower. It is general guidance, not advice. theberkeleydubai.com is an independent website, not the developer's.
01
The calculator
How many people will work in the office, from 1 to 2,000. The sum counts one desk for each person. If people share desks, enter the number of desks.
Enter a headcount to see a suggested area.
General guidance, not advice.
The calculator did not start. Use the table in assumptions and source: multiply the area per person for your workplace style by your headcount.
02
Reading the result
The result is a range, not a single figure. The lower end is a compact plan. The upper end leaves more room for each person.
It is a net area. It counts the usable space inside your own office: desks, meeting rooms, storage and the walkways between them. It leaves out the shared parts of the building, such as lobbies, lifts and stairs.
The sum counts one desk for each person and rounds the answer. One square metre is about 10.764 sq ft.
Berkeley Tower's published sizes. The brochure and brief group the 109 offices into 10 size bands. The smallest office is 1,132 sq ft and the biggest is a triplex of 22,191 sq ft. The brochure's summary page gives a different overall size range from the project brief's unit table. The calculator uses the brief's table. These sizes are indicative and subject to change.
The calculator compares your suggested range with that span. It says where the range sits against the smallest and the biggest size: below, between or above, or partly below or above. The 10 bands leave gaps between some sizes, so a range between the smallest and the biggest can still fall between two bands. It compares sizes only. The floor plans page shows all 10 bands and what to check on a plan.
03
Assumptions and source
The calculator rests on one source: the Occupier Density Study 2013 by the British Council for Offices (BCO), a UK body that researches the office sector. The study measured 381 office properties and 1,331 floors in the UK, almost 2.5 million sq m in all.
It found a mean of one workplace for every 10.9 sq m of net internal area. 38% of the properties fell in the band of 8 to 10 sq m, and 58% in the wider band of 8 to 12 sq m.
Net internal area (NIA) is the usable floor space inside a building. The study leaves out toilets, lift and plant rooms, stairs, shared halls, lobbies and corridors, and car parking.
The study gives no figure for each workplace style. We placed the three styles along its results. The numbers behind the ranges are the study's; the ranges are ours.
| Workplace style | Sq m per person | Sq ft per person |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly open plan | 8 to 10 | 86 to 108 |
| Mixed | 10 to 12 | 108 to 129 |
| Mostly private offices | 12 to 17 | 129 to 183 |
- Mostly open plan, 8 to 10 sq m. 38% of the properties in the study fell in this band. The study says space per workplace is typically cut by more open plan and fewer enclosed offices.
- Mixed, 10 to 12 sq m. The study's overall mean, 10.9 sq m, sits in this band. 58% of the properties fell between 8 and 12 sq m.
- Mostly private offices, 12 to 17 sq m. The most generous space in the study went to occupiers with a lot of support space, such as corporate headquarters and some law firms. The corporate sector averaged 13.1 sq m and law firms 17.3 sq m. The study says lawyers typically keep more cellular and allocated space. We use 17 sq m as the top of the range.
The study covers UK offices. Space habits in Dubai may differ, so treat the ranges as a starting point.
Source: British Council for Offices, Occupier Density Study 2013, September 2013 (figures on pages 4, 14 and 17). Read the report (PDF): https://cdn.rt.emap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2013/09/29221214/BCO-Occupier-Density-Study-Final-report-2013-1.pdf. The BCO's page for the study: https://www.bco.org.uk/research-report/occupier-density-study-2013. Checked 29 October 2026.
04
What else affects size
- Meeting and shared rooms. A team still needs somewhere to meet. For several meeting rooms, a reception or a pantry, use the upper end of the range or add to it.
- Desk sharing. If people work from home part of the week, you may need fewer desks than people. Enter the number of desks you plan to have.
- Growth. Size the office for the team you expect to have, not only today's team.
- The shape of the floor. Columns, window lines and the depth of the floor change how well a plan fits. The plan matters as much as the area.
- How an area is measured. The area quoted for an office is not always measured the same way as net internal area. Ask how any area is measured, and ask for the plan.
- Special uses. A showroom, a lab or a trading floor needs its own plan.
More questions to put to Ellington are on the what to ask Ellington page, and the FAQ answers the common ones.
This page is general guidance, not advice. The calculator is a starting point for a conversation with a space planner, not a design. Only the final Sales and Purchase Agreement has legal effect.
If you would like the brochure and floor plans, request them here.
Get the brochure and floor plans.
Leave your details once and we send the Berkeley Tower brochure and floor plans.
Berkeley Tower home · FAQ · Floor plans · Location and Metro · The developer · What to ask Ellington