Warehouse Space Calculator

How big a warehouse do you need for a given number of pallets? The answer depends mostly on how high you can store and how wide your aisles are. This calculator lays pallets out in back-to-back rows served by aisles, works out the floor area each pallet position really takes, and adds an allowance for docks, staging and offices.

How to use this tool

1. Enter the number of pallets to store and the pallet size.
2. Enter how many levels high you will store and how many pallets deep each row is.
3. Enter the aisle width for your forklifts and the clearances in the racking.
4. Set an allowance for non-storage space and the pallet load height.

Formula

Module depth = 2 × Pallets deep × Pallet depth + Flue gap + Aisle width

Area per floor position = Module depth × (Pallet width + Side clearance) ÷ (2 × Pallets deep)

Floor space = ⌈Pallets ÷ Levels⌉ × Area per position × (1 + Allowance %)

A module is one aisle with a row of storage on each side. Narrower aisles and deeper storage fit more pallets per square foot but make each pallet slower or harder to reach. Building columns and fire-code rules are not modelled, so treat the result as a planning estimate. Whole rows, edge aisles and partly empty modules can require more area than this average. Storage levels are limited to 100 for calculation, not as an engineering recommendation.

Example

1,200 pallets of 48 × 40 in stored 4 levels high in single-deep selective racking need 300 floor positions. With 8 in side clearance, a 6 in flue and 12 ft aisles, each module is 20.5 ft deep and each position takes 41 ft². Storage needs 12,300 ft²; a 25% allowance for docks and staging brings the total to 15,375 ft² (about 1,428 m²). Four levels of 60 in loads stack to about 22 ft.