A UK construction business faced requests for more desk space while parts of its existing offices were underused. It needed to balance workplace demand with real-estate costs and the prospect of further investment in overflow offices.
Establishing how existing space was used
The business began with Observe. OpenSensors deployed 650 sensors across desks, collaboration areas and shared zones, giving the facilities team visibility of usage patterns across departments and at different times of the day and week.
This helped the team understand where space was heavily used, where capacity was available and how desk requests related to actual patterns of work.
Increasing desk sharing and supporting day-to-day use
The case study describes how the facilities team adapted underused areas and used the evidence to plan with departmental leaders. It reports that reconfiguration helped avoid additional investment in overflow offices.
The business increased desk sharing, accommodating more people per desk, then introduced Orbit to help manage the shared workplace. Measurement informed the change; booking supported its day-to-day operation.
Considering consolidation or additional space?
Our guide to reducing the real-estate footprint sets out questions to consider. Today, Observe supports measurement and Tessellate helps explore possible changes, trade-offs and risks using occupancy evidence alongside the wider business context.