The situated interpretation of natural language concerning space, spatial relationships and spatial activities is a complex problem spanning contributions from several disciplines. Space plays a central role in many theories of cognition and the spatial language observed in actual contexts of use is extremely flexible. In our work on spatial representations of all kinds, principles drawn from ontological engineering play a central role. Moreover, we have been led to augment those principles in particular ways: most specifically with respect to ontological modularity, ontological heterogeneity, and multiple ontological levels or strata. In the presentation accompanying this position statement, I give an overview of our work on space and the ontologically-relevant conclusions that we have drawn. I also suggest that these conclusions are relevant for ontological work in general, and not just for that concerned with spatial issues.