Check your clinic layout
Total area and the schedule of rooms you need in it.
How this calculator works
- Consultation area = rooms × the allowance for your clinic type. A general consultation room at 110 sq ft holds a desk, two visitor chairs, an examination couch and a washbasin.
- Procedure rooms are 180 sq ft each, enough for a couch with access on three sides, a trolley and equipment.
- Waiting = seats × 16 sq ft, which includes the aisle in front of the seating rather than just the chair.
- Washrooms = ceiling((consultation + procedure rooms) ÷ 3) × 35 sq ft, minimum one.
- Store, utility and clinical waste = 7% of the total area.
- Circulation = total − everything above, reported as an area and as a percentage so you can see whether the schedule fits.
| Space | Allowance | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| General consultation | 110 sq ft | Desk, two chairs, examination couch, washbasin |
| Dental operatory | 130 sq ft | Chair, unit, cabinet, operator and assistant positions |
| Diagnostics room | 150 sq ft | Equipment plus the clearance it needs around it |
| Procedure room | 180 sq ft | Couch with three-side access, trolley, equipment |
| Waiting seat | 16 sq ft | Chair plus its share of the aisle |
| Reception | 80 – 200 sq ft | Desk, records, and pharmacy where relevant |
| Washroom | 35 sq ft | One per three clinical rooms, at least one accessible |
| Store and clinical waste | 7% of area | Consumables, linen, segregated waste |
These are planning allowances for a private outpatient clinic in India. A facility requiring NABH accreditation or a licence for day-care surgery carries additional statutory requirements that override every figure here.
Design and build under one accountable roof
Worked example — a 1,400 sq ft general practice
| Space | Quantity | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Consultation rooms | 3 × 110 | 330 sq ft |
| Procedure room | 1 × 180 | 180 sq ft |
| Waiting | 16 seats × 16 | 256 sq ft |
| Reception and records | 1 | 130 sq ft |
| Washrooms | 2 × 35 | 70 sq ft |
| Store and utility | 7% of 1,400 | 98 sq ft |
| Total allocated | — | 1,064 sq ft |
| Circulation remaining | 1,400 − 1,064 | 336 sq ft — 24% |
Acoustic privacy is the whole job
The single most common complaint about a finished clinic is that the waiting area can hear the consultation. It is almost never a wall specification problem — it is a partition that stopped at the false ceiling, leaving an open plenum over every room. Sound travels across that void as if the wall were not there. The fix is to take every consultation partition to the underside of the slab, seal the head joint with acoustic sealant, and seal every service penetration through it.
The second path is the door. A hollow flush door with a 12 mm undercut for air transfer will pass conversation clearly. A solid-core door with a drop seal costs about ₹6,000 more per opening and is the difference between a private consultation and a performance. Where the door must have a vision panel, use two panes with an air gap rather than a single sheet.
The third is the corridor itself. A consultation room opening directly into the waiting area, with no lobby, means every opening of the door broadcasts the room. A short corridor, or even a 3 ft offset lobby, breaks the direct path. Clinics that are planned as a ring of rooms around a waiting hall almost always have this problem, and it is very difficult to retrofit.
Every constant on this page comes from Greenbox site records — measured drawings, signed BOQs and completion certificates from projects delivered between 2023 and 2026 — rounded to the figures an estimator would actually write down. We publish them so the arithmetic can be audited rather than trusted. Treat the output as a planning figure: accurate enough to brief a landlord, a bank or a family, and not accurate enough to sign a contract against.
What this tool does not cover
- Statutory and licensing requirements, which for anything beyond a basic outpatient clinic in Maharashtra are significant and override every allowance here.
- Medical gas, dedicated earthing, UPS and equipment power, all of which need coordination with the equipment supplier.
- Infection control finishes — coved skirting, washable surfaces, antimicrobial flooring.
- Biomedical waste storage and its separate collection route, which is a regulatory requirement.
- Accessibility, which needs a 5 ft turning circle in at least one washroom and step-free access throughout.
- Fit-out cost, which for a clinic runs above a plain office rate — use the office fit-out calculator as a floor, not a ceiling.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
How big should a consultation room be?+
About 110 square feet for general practice — a desk, two visitor chairs, an examination couch and a washbasin. Dental operatories need 130 and diagnostics rooms 150, because the equipment sets the clearance rather than the furniture.
How much space per waiting seat in a clinic?+
Sixteen square feet including the aisle in front of the chair. Sixteen seats therefore take 256 sq ft, which in a small clinic is usually the largest single area after the clinical rooms themselves.
How wide should clinic corridors be?+
Four feet minimum, five feet anywhere a trolley or a wheelchair has to pass another person. Circulation overall should be 15 to 20% of the floor area — below that the corridors and door swings stop working together.
How do I stop consultations being overheard?+
Take every consultation partition to the underside of the slab rather than stopping it at the false ceiling, seal the head joint, and use a solid-core door with a drop seal. A partition stopping at the ceiling leaves an open plenum over every room, and sound crosses it as if the wall were not there.
Does a clinic need different finishes from an office?+
Yes. Coved skirting so there is no dirt-trapping junction at the floor, washable wall finishes, seamless or welded flooring in clinical rooms, and a separate segregated route for biomedical waste. Those requirements are why a clinic fit-out sits above a plain office rate per square foot.