New Westminster City Hall Space Planning Strategy

Optimizing City Hall’s Workspace for a More Equitable, Collaborative, and Productive Future.

The City of New Westminster’s City-Wide Space Planning Strategy is a forward-thinking initiative designed to meet both current and future staffing needs at City Hall. Through a combination of surveys, workshops, and strategic collaboration, ph5 and the project team worked to enhance spatial efficiency, streamline workflows, and establish clear guidelines for workstation use, desk-sharing, and remote work policies.

As the Space Planning Consultant, ph5 led the development of a comprehensive move plan, established workstation standards, created desk-sharing etiquette guidelines, and addressed key spatial challenges and opportunities.

To ensure data-driven decision-making, the process began with an in-depth assessment of existing workspace allocations. Surveys and site visits captured details, including workstation arrangements, staff positions, departmental groupings, and furniture inventories. The analysis uncovered several pressing issues: inconsistent space allocations led to staff inequities, unoccupied desks highlighted inefficiencies in remote work policies, and fragmented workstation assignments disrupted workflow and accessibility.

To address these challenges, ph5 facilitated workshops with departmental representatives to refine workstation requirements, optimize team adjacencies, and evaluate remote work and desk-sharing models.

With clearly defined workstation standards and desk-sharing guidelines, this strategy transforms City Hall into a more equitable, collaborative, and productive work environment.