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Skill Claude Desktop · Claude Code

# /workplace-programmer

AI space programming consultant for Claude Code

[Install ↓](#install) [View on GitHub →](https://github.com/AlpacaLabsLLC/skills-for-architects/tree/main/skills/workplace-programmer) [New to skills? →](/articles/claude-code-cheat-sheet) [All skills →](/skills)

[Programming](/skills?tag=programming) [Analysis](/skills?tag=analysis)

## What it does

Type `/as:workplace-programmer` in Claude Code and describe your project. The skill turns Claude into a senior workplace strategy consultant that builds a complete office space program through conversation — no spreadsheets, no templates.

Every recommendation is synthesized from benchmarking data, industry research, and the specifics of your project.

## Install

**Claude Desktop:**

1.  Open **Customize** → **Browse plugins**
2.  Click **+** → **Add marketplace from GitHub**
3.  Enter `AlpacaLabsLLC/skills-for-architects`
4.  Install **Architecture Studio**

**Claude Code (terminal):**

```
claude plugin marketplace add AlpacaLabsLLC/skills-for-architects
claude plugin install as@skills-for-architects
```

Or symlink just this skill:

```
git clone https://github.com/AlpacaLabsLLC/skills-for-architects.git
ln -s $(pwd)/skills-for-architects/skills/workplace-programmer ~/.claude/skills/workplace-programmer
```

## Usage

```
/as:workplace-programmer 30,000 RSF tech company, 200 people, 3 days hybrid
```

Or start with no context and let discovery guide the conversation:

```
/as:workplace-programmer
```

The skill works through four phases:

-   **Discover** — Learns about your organization while sharing relevant research
-   **Synthesize** — Generates custom area splits across five zones
-   **Detail** — Proposes seat types, room schedules, and support spaces
-   **Refine** — Handles adjustments with explicit tradeoff analysis

## Demo: Creative Agency — 10,000 RSF

Real output from a session. The brief: “10K RSF creative agency in NYC, 100 headcount, ~50 peak occupancy, no private offices, heavy pin-up/crit wall needs, client-facing.”

The skill recommended 26% work (low, because only 50 people peak out of 100 hybrid headcount) and 24% meeting (high, to support client presentations and enclosed crit rooms):

Zone

%

SF

Work

26%

2,600

Meeting

24%

2,400

Common

17%

1,700

Circulation

27%

2,700

BOH

6%

600

**Total**

**100%**

**10,000**

**43 seats** (30 assigned height-adj desks + 13 hot desks) at a 0.86:1 seat-to-peak ratio. **22 rooms** including 2 dedicated crit/project rooms with pin-up walls and 8 phone booths for hybrid video calls.

## Demo: Law Firm — 20,000 RSF

Brief: “Maximize attorney headcount, 1 private office per 10 attorneys, 1 support per 10, 5 days in office.”

The skill pushed work to 41% and landed at **111 attorneys + 11 support = 122 headcount at 164 SF/seat**:

Zone

%

SF

Work

41%

8,200

Meeting

17%

3,400

Common

7%

1,400

Circulation

27%

5,400

BOH

8%

1,600

**Total**

**100%**

**20,000**

**30 rooms** including a boardroom for depositions, 10 phone booths (1:10 ratio for attorney calls), and 2 file rooms sized for a digital-first firm.

Every recommendation cites research (JLL, Gensler, VergeSense, etc.) and names the tradeoff. Programs export to `program.json`, `.md`, and `.csv`.

## What’s included

-   **10 archetypes** — Dense Open Office (65 SF/seat) through Creative Agency (233 SF/seat), including 2 built from real programs
-   **22 space types** — Desks, conference rooms, phone booths, support spaces with default SF and capacity
-   **43 research findings** — From JLL, CBRE, Gensler, VergeSense, Density, Leesman, Steelcase, Hassell (including 6 years of Workplace Futures Survey 2020–2025), and peer-reviewed studies

## Customization

Everything the skill knows lives in editable JSON — no code to change.

### Add space types

Your firm uses focus pods, wellness rooms, or lab benches that don’t exist in the defaults? Add them to `data/space-types.json` with an ID, category, default SF, capacity, and optional utilization ratio. The skill immediately uses them in room schedules.

```
{
  "id": "focus-pod-2p",
  "name": "Focus Pod (2p)",
  "category": "meeting",
  "default_sf": 120,
  "capacity": 2,
  "utilization_rsf": 1500
}
```

### Add archetypes

Run a program you like? Save its area splits as a new archetype in `data/archetypes.json`. The skill references archetypes as benchmarks during synthesis — it won’t apply them as templates, but it will cite them when explaining where your program sits relative to norms.

```
{
  "id": "healthcare-clinic",
  "name": "Healthcare Clinic",
  "sf_per_seat": 200,
  "area_splits": { "work": 25, "meeting": 22, "common": 8, "circulation": 27, "boh": 18 },
  "private_office_pct": 40
}
```

### Add research

Drop findings into `data/findings.json` with source, year, and topic tags (`hybrid`, `density`, `meeting-rooms`, `focus`, `acoustics`, `amenity-roi`, `abw`). The skill cites them during discovery and synthesis.

### Change the domain

Edit `SKILL.md` to swap the persona entirely — “senior workplace strategist” becomes “lab planning specialist” or “retail space planner.” The conversation flow adapts to whatever domain knowledge you write in.

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