Office requirements have changed materially, and businesses signing leases on pre-2020 assumptions are frequently committing to space they will not use. The question is no longer how many desks but what the office is actually for.
Work out what the office does
Where hybrid working is established, the office is used differently — less for individual focused work, more for collaboration, meetings, onboarding and the social connection that holds a team together.
That changes the space mix. A floor plate of individual desks is poorly matched to a workforce that comes in to meet. Businesses that reduced headcount space and increased meeting and collaboration space generally report better utilisation than those that simply took less of the same.
Measure actual attendance before committing
Before signing, count. Not what the policy says, what actually happens — attendance by day of week over several weeks.
Most hybrid organisations find attendance concentrates on particular days, which means peak demand is well above average. Sizing to the average produces a space that is uncomfortable on Tuesdays and empty on Fridays.
Options include sizing to peak, staggering team days, or accepting some crowding on the busiest day.
What actually makes a workplace usable
The factors people consistently rate highest are unglamorous:
- Acoustic control. Open plan without acoustic treatment or enclosed spaces is the most common complaint and the biggest barrier to focused work.
- Enough enclosed rooms for calls and video meetings. Hybrid work has increased demand for these enormously, and most offices have too few.
- Air quality and temperature.
- Natural light, and access to it for more than the people nearest windows.
- Reliable technology — meeting rooms where the video conferencing works first time.
- Somewhere to eat that is not a desk.
Health and safety obligations
The workplace must be designed so people can work without risks to health and safety so far as reasonably practicable. For office environments the practical requirements include workstation setup and adjustability, suitable lighting, means of escape, and facilities.
Musculoskeletal issues are the main office health risk, and they are addressed by adjustable equipment and by people knowing how to set it up rather than by expensive chairs alone.
Where people work from home, the employer retains duties. A self-assessment checklist covering workstation, electrical safety and emergency arrangements is a proportionate approach.
Accessibility
Building work generally must comply with accessibility requirements, and changing a building’s use can trigger upgrade obligations that did not apply before. Beyond compliance, an inaccessible workplace limits who you can employ.
Worth checking at lease stage rather than during fitout: step-free access, accessible bathrooms, and lift provision.
Lease terms that matter for flexibility
- Term length, balanced against uncertainty about future requirements.
- Rights of renewal, which give optionality without commitment.
- Assignment and subletting, which determine whether you can offload space you do not need.
- Expansion or contraction rights within a building, which some landlords will grant.
- Make good, which is frequently the largest unbudgeted cost at the end.
- Seismic provisions — who pays for strengthening, and what happens if a rating changes during the term. In Wellington particularly, this is a live commercial issue rather than a theoretical one.
Fitout and consenting
Fitout frequently requires building consent, especially where it affects fire systems, means of escape, plumbing or specified systems. Establish the consent position before signing.
Budget contingency of 15 to 20 percent in an existing building, where conditions are unknown until linings come off. And plan for double rent during the overlap between fitting out and exiting the old premises.
Involve the people who will use it
Workplaces designed by management and imposed on staff produce predictable complaints. Asking what people actually need — and being honest about constraints — produces better decisions and considerably better acceptance.
MBIE publishes building consent and accessibility guidance at building.govt.nz, and WorkSafe publishes workplace design and musculoskeletal material.
General information only, not legal or building advice.
