Purpose shapes the design and function of many room elements, and whilst there are several standard sizes, exactly how high raised access flooring needs to be will depend on why it has been installed in the first place.
For example, if a raised flooring element has been added purely for protective purposes, such as to preserve the flooring of a listed building, then the access flooring only needs to be raised to a level to safely distribute the weight without disturbing the historic materials.
However, in most cases, access flooring is used as an essential component in various commercial and industrial buildings. Data centres, for example, effectively require the use of the void space underneath the access flooring for cable management and underfloor cooling systems.
Exactly how large the void space should be and how high the access flooring should be raised will depend on several room layout considerations.
How Low Or High Can Raised Flooring Be?
There is a huge level of scope for raised flooring, with systems having as little as 35 mm of additional height or up to 2000 mm if required, although the latter might require bespoke installation and manufacturing of the required materials.
What Services Need To Be Laid?
Form follows function, and the biggest determiner for access flooring height is ensuring that any services that are to be installed underneath the floor have enough space to be placed and function optimally.
This is particularly important for water-based underfloor heating and cooling systems, which need enough space to function.
How High Is The Ceiling?
Raising the floor will inherently reduce the overall height of the room, so any door frames and ceilings must be tall enough to avoid making a room less comfortable and therefore less usable.
Many offices are built with high ceilings, but in certain older buildings, the height of the room is an important consideration to keep in mind, particularly if it has a sloping or uneven ceiling.
Different Heights For Different Purposes
Every workspace will be slightly different and thus have varying requirements for the underfloor space, but here are some examples of typical use cases for access flooring and the raised height ranges they would generally use.
Data Centre Raised Floors
As access flooring was developed in parallel to computer and server rooms, they are not only amongst the most common work areas to need access flooring but also tend to require more space than other areas.
They tend to need between 600mm and 1250mm of raised height with the flooring, which not only allows for the management of a huge number of cables and related equipment underneath the floor rather than in skirting and ceiling overhangs but also the installation of huge cooling systems.
The huge space also allows for air distribution for air distribution throughout the room, providing additional passive cooling.
Offices
Offices do not typically have the same cooling requirements but do need power and networking cables to be fitted underneath to allow as many computers and desks in an open-plan room to be fitted as possible.
Typically, this would range from 100mm to 500mm, depending on the air distribution requirements and to ensure the floor remains level with the rest of the building.
