The true cost of archives in office space

An archive room is priced like the rest of the floor and works like a cupboard. Here is how to put a number on it.

Published 18 July 2026Updated 5 October 20261 min read 1 sources verified

Storeroom with overloaded shelving and files in sacks

Most archive rooms were never planned. They are the room nobody else wanted, filled until the door is hard to close. To price one honestly you need two numbers: what the space costs, and what it would hold if it were racked properly.¹

What a room holds, racked to standard

What a room holds, racked to standard (cartons)
10 × 10 ft	70 cartons¹
15 × 10 ft	130 cartons¹
20 × 15 ft	240 cartons¹
24 × 16 ft	360 cartons¹
30 × 20 ft	550 cartons¹
40 × 30 ft	1,120 cartons¹

Godrej skeletal racks, 5 shelves of 2 cartons, 36 in aisles, door clearance kept free. 1 carton = 1.7 cu ft.

Pricing your own room

Measure the floor
Length and width in feet. Ignore the shelving you have now.
Price the floor
Area multiplied by what you pay per square foot, per year, including service charges.
Count the time
Hours per month staff spend filing and searching, at their cost per hour.
Compare like for like
Run the same room through the calculator to see how many cartons it actually holds.

Sources

1 sources verified, last checked 4 October 2026

1
Storage fit model: Godrej skeletal racks, 36 in aisles, 5 shelves of 2 cartons
Blackbox Records Management, 2026
Our own model. Results for any room can be reproduced in the calculator.

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