This is a size, not a floor plan
It gives you a number you can defend in a lease conversation or a business case. A real layout depends on the roof height, the pillars in the way, the fire rules, where the docks are and which trucks you drive.
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Warehouse space calculator
How many square metres do you actually need? Tell us how many pallets you have to store and how high you can rack them, and you get a realistic hall size, including the aisles you have to drive through and the space for docks, packing and everything else that is not racking.
Your figures
How many pallets you need to have standing there at the same time when it is busiest. Not the yearly average, or you will be renting extra space every December.
How many pallets you can stack on top of each other in the racking, counting the one on the floor. Limited by the roof height, the sprinklers and how high your truck can lift.
The long side of the pallets you store. Normally 120 cm.
The short side. 80 cm for a euro pallet, 100 cm for the bigger industrial one.
How much extra floor you need to drive and turn between the racks, as a percentage on top of the racking. Around 45% with normal reach trucks, less with narrow-aisle equipment.
Everything that is not storage: goods in, goods out, packing benches, battery charging, canteen and office. About 20% is a safe starting point.
Space needed
835
Total space
m2. The hall size to look for, aisles and support space included.
- Ground positions
- 500
- Racking footprint
- 480
- Aisles
- 216
- Inbound, outbound and support
- 139
How many pallets end up standing on the floor once you rack upwards.
m2 taken by the racks themselves.
m2 you need just to drive around.
m2 for docks, packing and offices.
A one-page summary with your figures, the method and what the answer means.
Before you rent more square metres
Most warehouses free up space by fixing where stock sits and how locations are used, not by moving. Worth checking what that is worth to you first.
Work out what better use of space savesHow this works, in plain English
In plain terms: stacking pallets in racking means the same patch of floor holds several of them, so first we work out how many pallets end up standing on the floor. That gives the racking footprint. Then we add room to drive between the racks, and finally a slice for docks, packing and offices. Add the three together and you have the hall you need.
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Two things worth knowing
Before you rent more, look at what you have
Count how many locations are half empty and how much stock has not moved for a year. Tidying up where things are stored frees up more space than a second building, and it costs nothing in rent.
Questions people ask
How much space does a pallet position take?
A euro pallet footprint is 0.96 m2, but with aisles and support space a working figure of roughly 1.6 to 2.2 m2 per ground position is more realistic for conventional racking.
Does racking height reduce the floor I need?
Yes, in direct proportion. Doubling from three to six levels halves the ground positions, provided your building height, equipment and fire approval allow it.
Other calculators
Pallet and loading metre calculator
Loading metres, floor area, volume and trailers needed, from your own pallet sizes and stacking height.
Volumetric weight calculatorDimensional weight, real weight and the chargeable weight your carrier actually bills.
Safety stock calculatorSafety stock from demand and lead time variability, at the service level you choose.
These sums get easier when the data is already right
Loading metres, stock levels and order points are only as good as the stock data behind them. That is what a warehouse management system keeps accurate, every movement, without anyone maintaining a spreadsheet.