FM team unable to tell leadership what proportion of desks are actually occupied on a typical working day because booking data and badge data sit in separate systems with no integration?
Real estate team making footprint and lease decisions based on headcount data rather than measured occupancy because the space utilisation data has never been properly collected or analysed?
Space Management Software
Custom space management platforms tracking occupancy, managing desk and room booking, analysing utilisation by floor and department, and giving facilities teams the data to make evidence-based decisions about footprint, layout, and lease commitments.
Most organisations managing hybrid workplaces have desk booking in one system, room booking in another, and badge access data in a third -- with no way to combine them into an accurate picture of how the building is actually being used. The data exists. The platform to connect it doesn't.
Space inventory and floor plan management linked to FM operational data
Desk and hot-desk booking for hybrid workforces with utilisation tracking
Meeting room booking management with occupancy confirmation and no-show release
Occupancy analytics combining booking data, badge reads, and sensor inputs into a single view
RaftLabs builds custom space management platforms for facilities and real estate teams managing hybrid workplaces and multi-site portfolios. We develop space inventory and floor plan management systems, desk and hot-desk booking platforms, meeting room booking and management, occupancy analytics with heatmaps, department space allocation reporting, and badge and sensor data integration. Most space management software builds deliver in 10--14 weeks at a fixed cost.
100+Products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·10-16Week delivery cycles
Space decisions made on assumption rather than data are consistently wrong
Organisations managing hybrid workplaces routinely discover that their space strategy is based on assumptions rather than measurements. Desk utilisation is estimated from headcount rather than measured from occupancy data. Room booking rates are tracked but whether booked rooms are actually occupied is not. Badge data shows how many people entered the building but not where they sat. Facilities teams cannot give leadership a credible answer to the question of how much space is actually being used because no single system has ever had all the inputs.
A custom space management platform connects the data sources that already exist -- booking systems, access control, occupancy sensors -- and builds the analytics layer that turns disconnected events into a clear picture of how each floor, each zone, and each department is using the space allocated to it. The result is a space utilisation report that reflects reality rather than assumption, and the data foundation for footprint decisions that are evidence-based rather than negotiated.
What we build
Space inventory and floor plan management
Space inventory management covering every lettable, assignable, or bookable space across the portfolio -- linked to floor plans so every space has a visual location alongside its operational record. Space records include function type, department allocation, capacity, condition, cost per square metre, and FM maintenance status. Floor plan viewer with space overlay showing current allocation, upcoming bookings, and recent maintenance activity per space. Space handover and reallocation workflow for departmental moves with approval routing. Space standards configuration per function type -- workstation density, meeting room ratios, break-out space allocation -- for benchmarking current allocation against target. The space data layer that connects FM operations to real estate and portfolio planning.
Desk and hot-desk booking
Desk booking platform for hybrid workforces covering assigned desks, hot desks, and neighbourhood booking zones. Employee self-service booking via web and mobile with floor plan view showing available desks in real time. Team booking coordination so team members can see where colleagues are sitting and book nearby. Advance booking window configuration -- full week booking, day-of booking only, or a combination by desk type. Desk amenity filtering -- height-adjustable, monitor configuration, accessibility requirements. Utilisation tracking from confirmed bookings and check-in confirmation at the desk. Booking policy enforcement per floor or zone. The desk booking platform that serves hybrid working without requiring FM staff to manage individual desk assignments manually.
Meeting room booking and management
Meeting room booking for all bookable spaces -- formal meeting rooms, collaboration areas, phone booths, and event spaces. Room capability filtering covering capacity, AV equipment, video conferencing, and accessibility. Booking confirmation with calendar integration for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Occupancy confirmation prompt sent shortly before the booked start time -- if not confirmed, the booking is released for others to use, reducing the no-show rate that makes meeting rooms appear fully booked while sitting empty. Catering and facilities request linked to room bookings with routing to the appropriate service team. Room utilisation reporting showing booking rate, confirmation rate, and actual occupancy rate by room and by floor.
Occupancy analytics and heatmaps
Occupancy analytics combining data from multiple sources -- desk booking confirmations, meeting room bookings, badge reads at floor and zone entry points, and occupancy sensor readings where sensors are installed. Heatmap visualisation of occupancy by floor, zone, and time period showing where the building is being used and where it is consistently underutilised. Peak occupancy analysis by day of week and time of day for capacity planning. Trend analysis over rolling periods to identify changes in utilisation patterns as hybrid working policies evolve. Comparison reporting across sites for portfolio managers making cross-site space decisions. The occupancy picture that replaces assumption with measurement.
Department space allocation reporting
Department allocation reporting showing which departments occupy which spaces, at what total area, against what agreed allocation, and at what cost allocation based on a configurable internal charge model. Utilisation rate by department -- combining allocated space against measured occupancy -- so FM and real estate teams can identify departments occupying more space than their actual headcount and occupancy patterns justify. Space allocation change history for audit and planning purposes. Allocation versus actual reporting for real estate strategy presentations. The department-level data that makes internal space chargeback credible and gives real estate teams the evidence base for footprint reduction or reallocation decisions.
Badge and sensor data integration
Integration with existing access control systems to capture badge-in events at floor and zone level for occupancy measurement without installing new hardware. For organisations investing in occupancy sensors -- passive infrared, ultrasonic, or computer vision sensors -- we build the data pipeline that ingests sensor readings and incorporates them into the occupancy analytics alongside booking data. Sensor-to-space mapping so every sensor reading is attributed to a specific bookable or non-bookable space in the space inventory. Data quality monitoring to flag sensors that have stopped reporting. The integration layer that makes existing building systems contribute to space utilisation analytics rather than generating data that sits unused in separate vendor platforms.
Frequently asked questions
Desk booking confirms that someone intended to be in a space, not that they actually used it. To measure actual occupancy we integrate with additional data sources. Access control badge reads at floor and zone entry points give a count of people present in a zone without sensor hardware investment. Passive infrared (PIR) sensors detect motion and presence at desk or room level with installation costs that are typically low. Ultrasonic sensors provide more accurate continuous presence detection. Computer vision sensors using camera feeds with privacy-preserving processing provide the highest accuracy but require more infrastructure consideration. We assess which combination of data sources is available and practical for your building portfolio during scoping and design the analytics around the data that can actually be collected.
Hybrid work patterns mean that traditional headcount-based space planning consistently overestimates the space required. A team of 100 people with a three-day in-office pattern may need space for 60-70 at peak, not 100. The space management platform tracks actual peak occupancy by day of week and time of day over a rolling period, giving FM and real estate teams a measured peak demand figure rather than an assumed one. This data supports decisions about desk-to-headcount ratios, neighbourhood zone sizing, and whether to implement unassigned seating across additional floors. The platform also tracks how hybrid patterns are changing over time so space strategy can respond to actual behaviour rather than stated intent.
Yes. Space management platforms we build include reporting exports specifically designed for real estate and lease planning use cases -- total occupied area by building, occupancy rate by floor and zone, peak and average utilisation trends, department allocation versus measured occupancy, and space cost per occupied person. These outputs can be exported to Excel or PDF for use in lease renewal negotiations, fit-out planning, or portfolio rationalisation analysis. For organisations working with external real estate advisors, we can configure scheduled report delivery in formats the advisors specify. The connection between FM operational data and real estate decision-making is one of the primary reasons organisations invest in a proper space management platform rather than continuing to estimate from headcount.
A focused build covering desk booking and meeting room booking with utilisation analytics typically runs $20,000 to $55,000. Adding floor plan integration, badge and sensor data ingestion, department allocation reporting, and multi-site portfolio analytics extends the cost depending on the number of sites, the sensor and access control integrations required, and the complexity of the reporting layer. We scope each project before pricing so you know the cost before development starts. Fixed project costs only -- no hourly billing.
Tell us how many sites you manage, what data sources you have available -- booking systems, badge access, sensors -- and what space decisions you need this to support. We will scope the right platform and give you a fixed cost.
