A 3,000 square foot office for 25 people is the most common fit out in London and the one with the least margin for error. There is no cost consultant, no project manager, and usually no second chance. Here is where the money should go.
Spend on
Acoustics. In a small open plan office the difference between a good place to work and a bad one is whether you can take a call at your desk. Acoustic ceiling rafts, soft finishes and two well built phone booths matter more than anything visible. Budget 8 to 10% of the construction cost here and do not let it get cut.
The kitchen. It is the room everyone uses every day and the one that shows up in every recruitment tour. A proper kitchen with a dishwasher, a decent fridge and a table people want to sit at costs £15,000 to £25,000 and repays it in retention.
Lighting. Base build fluorescent grids make everyone look ill. Replacing the lighting in the areas people sit costs £8 to £12 per square foot and changes the feel of the whole office.
One good meeting room. Not four. One room with proper AV, acoustic separation and a table that seats eight, built well, beats four mediocre ones.
Save on
Partitions. Every enclosed room costs £8,000 to £15,000 by the time doors, glazing, lighting and mechanical adjustment are counted. Ask whether each one is really needed or whether a booth and a good meeting room would do.
Reception. At 25 people you do not need one. A well signed entrance and a bench is enough.
Bespoke joinery. It is beautiful and it is three times the cost of good standard furniture. Save it for the one wall people photograph.
Feature ceilings and flooring in circulation. Nobody notices the corridor.
A sample split for £200,000
Construction at roughly £65 per square foot, or £195,000 in round numbers: strip out and preparation £10,000, partitions and doors for one meeting room and two booths £25,000, mechanical and electrical adjustments £35,000, kitchen £20,000, lighting £30,000, floor finishes and decoration £30,000, acoustics £18,000, data and small power £15,000, preliminaries and contingency £12,000. Furniture on top at £2,000 a workstation adds £50,000. The whole thing lands at £250,000, which is where the cost per desk method says it should.
Choosing the firm
At this size, use a boutique firm that will design, build and furnish with one team. The small office fit out companies list is filtered to exactly those. Ask for three completed projects under 5,000 square feet, and ask what the quote excludes, because on small jobs the exclusions are where the surprises live.
