With an increase in current and upcoming facilities projects, the County of Santa Clara needed a set of space planning standards to assist its departments and agencies in planning for consistent, equitable spaces among County clients and staff. Having already completed several programming efforts with the County, ABA was engaged to develop a comprehensive set of space planning standards.
Utilizing surveys, workshops, and open house events to gather feedback, ABA worked collaboratively with stakeholders to create guiding principles, space allocation guidelines, and space standards for typical space types utilized by County departments. The space planning standards developed included spaces for client consultation, client support, staff collaboration and interaction, staff support, individual workspaces, and storage.
The final document went beyond a list of space types and numbers; it included guidelines, critical considerations, and evaluation metrics. The new document will help guide a positive transformation in space use, balance flexibility with consistency, and address the space needed for quality client services and employee success.
