South African businesses are paying for space they do not fully use. We analyse how your space is actually being used, model how it should be configured, and develop a practical plan to close the gap — reducing cost, improving productivity, and ensuring your workspace supports the way your business actually works.
South African corporate offices were designed, leased, and fitted out for a working world that no longer exists. Headcount projections that did not materialise. Pre-pandemic occupancy assumptions that hybrid working has fundamentally changed. Growth plans that were scaled back. The result is a generation of offices that are too large, incorrectly configured, and carrying cost burdens that no business would willingly sign up to today if they understood the numbers.
The average corporate office in South Africa operates at between 55 and 65 percent desk utilisation on a typical working day. That means between 35 and 45 percent of the space you are leasing, lighting, cooling, and maintaining is, on any given day, sitting empty.
Workspace optimisation is the systematic process of identifying and quantifying that inefficiency, understanding its causes, and developing a practical plan to address it. The result is not a smaller, worse office. It is a smarter, more purposefully designed workspace that costs significantly less to occupy and works significantly better for the people who use it.
Before any optimisation can begin, the inefficiency must be measured. These are the three most common areas where South African corporate offices carry material cost that is not reflected in any value to the business.
The average corporate desk in South Africa is occupied for fewer than five hours per working day. Hybrid working, flexible schedules, client travel, and remote working days mean a standard desk-to-person ratio of 1:1 typically results in significant vacancy across the working week.
Most corporate offices provision significantly more formal meeting room capacity than they actually use. Rooms are booked and not attended. Large boardrooms sit empty for the majority of the working week. The result is large areas of expensive, fitted space delivering minimal value on most days.
The spaces that hybrid and flexible workers most need when they come to the office — informal collaboration areas, quiet focus zones, and video conferencing spaces — are often the least well provisioned. Offices overinvest in fixed desks and underinvest in the purposeful spaces that drive people to choose to come in.
Every workspace optimisation engagement produces a structured set of outputs — from raw utilisation data through to a practical, costed implementation plan your team can act on immediately.
A detailed, data-led assessment of how your space is actually being used — desk by desk, zone by zone, and hour by hour. The report covers peak and average occupancy, day-of-week patterns, zone performance, and the full cost of underutilised areas expressed in rands per month.
A forward-looking model of your actual space requirements — built around your current headcount, your hybrid working patterns, your growth trajectory, and your operational needs. This model defines the space your business actually needs, as opposed to the space you currently occupy.
A financial quantification of the right-sizing opportunity — the difference between the space you currently lease and the space the model shows you need. Presented as an annual cost saving opportunity, with the lease options available to realise it: renegotiation, sublease, or relocation.
A design brief for your optimised workspace — specifying the right balance of fixed desks, flexible workstations, collaboration zones, quiet focus areas, meeting rooms, and video conferencing spaces. This brief is designed to be handed directly to your interior designer or fit-out contractor.
A phased implementation plan that sequences the recommended changes in order of financial impact and operational practicality — identifying what can be done immediately within the existing space, what requires lease renegotiation, and what would require a relocation — with a cost and timeline for each phase.
A board-ready financial summary quantifying the full value of the optimisation programme — total annual cost saving, payback period on any capital investment, and the net present value of the recommended changes over your remaining lease term. Designed to support a business case for approval.
Measuring space utilisation accurately requires combining multiple data sources. No single method gives a complete picture. We recommend the combination of approaches most appropriate to your premises, your budget, and the level of analytical precision your decision requires.
In most cases, a combination of two or three methods produces a highly accurate utilisation profile within three to four weeks — sufficient to make confident right-sizing and reconfiguration decisions with full data support.
Passive infrared or thermal sensors installed at desk and zone level, capturing real-time occupancy data continuously over the study period. Produces the most granular and accurate dataset, with hour-by-hour visibility at space category level.
Highest AccuracyTrained observers recording occupancy at defined intervals across all areas of the office over a representative two to three week period. Cost effective and highly reliable for offices of up to 3,000 square metres where sensor installation is not warranted.
Cost EffectiveWhere a desk booking or workplace management system is already in place, we extract and analyse booking and check-in data to produce a utilisation profile. Fast to implement and provides excellent time-series data where historical booking records are available.
Data DrivenAnalysis of building or floor access control records to establish patterns of arrival, departure, and peak presence by day and time. Most accurate for building-level occupancy rather than zone-level detail, and most useful when combined with a secondary method.
Widely AvailableA structured survey of your team covering working location patterns, space preferences, and future expectations — combined with HR data on team size, hybrid working policies, and expected headcount changes. Essential context for interpreting utilisation data and modelling future requirements.
Qualitative InsightWorkspace inefficiency rarely has a single cause. In our experience working across South African corporate offices, five drivers consistently account for the majority of the gap between the space a business occupies and the space it actually needs.
Space was leased for a headcount that was projected but never reached, or for a team that has since been reduced. The lease outlasts the growth plan.
Teams now split their time between office and home, reducing peak office occupancy without any corresponding reduction in the leased area.
A fit-out designed for a different way of working — too many fixed desks, too few collaborative spaces, underprovisioned video conferencing facilities.
Space was committed in anticipation of expansion that was delayed, restructured, or cancelled. The lease runs while the growth rationale no longer applies.
Multiple leases across different nodes that could be consolidated into a single, more efficient premises — but where the opportunity has not been formally assessed or acted upon.
Most businesses have adopted hybrid working but have not yet reconfigured their space to reflect it. The result is a growing gap between the space they occupy and the space they actually need.
100 desks. Correct for 100 people in the office five days per week.
A two-days-in-three-days-out hybrid pattern means a peak of 67 people in the office at any time. With a 10% buffer, 60 desks is the correct provision. 40 desks — and the space they occupy — are surplus.
Our workspace optimisation engagement follows a structured six-stage process — moving from data collection through analysis, design brief, and financial modelling to a practical implementation plan your team can act on.
We document your objectives, your current lease position, your headcount, your working patterns, and any known space performance issues. We review your existing floor plans and any available occupancy data. This brief defines the scope of the study and the analytical approach most appropriate to your premises.
We conduct the utilisation study using the agreed methodology — sensor monitoring, observation studies, booking system data analysis, or a combination. The study runs across a representative period of typically two to three weeks, capturing peak and average occupancy by zone, by day, and by time of day. Staff surveys are conducted in parallel to capture qualitative working pattern data.
We analyse the utilisation data and combine it with your headcount model, hybrid working patterns, and growth projections to build a forward-looking space requirements model. This model defines how much space your business actually needs, how it should be configured, and the financial gap between your current occupancy and your optimal position.
We develop a detailed workspace configuration brief — specifying the recommended balance of fixed desks, flexible workstations, collaboration zones, quiet focus areas, meeting rooms, and video conferencing spaces. The brief is based on the utilisation data, the staff survey findings, and current best practice in workplace design for businesses with your working pattern.
We model the financial impact of the recommended changes — quantifying the annual cost saving, the payback period on any required capital expenditure, and the options available to realise the right-sizing opportunity through the lease. Where a right-sizing opportunity exists, we identify the available lease options: renegotiation to reduce the committed area, sublease of surplus space, or relocation to a smaller premises at renewal.
We present the full optimisation programme to your leadership team — walking through the findings, the recommendations, and the financial case. We deliver a phased implementation roadmap that sequences the recommended changes in order of financial impact and operational practicality, and we remain available to support the execution of each phase as your trusted CRE advisor.
A lighter-touch evaluation designed to identify the highest-priority optimisation opportunities within your existing space. Ideal for businesses that need a fast indication of the saving available before committing to a full study.
Workspace optimisation is most valuable when the gap between what a business is paying and what it actually needs has grown — which, in our experience of the South African corporate market post-2020, is most businesses.
Property is typically your second or third largest cost line. If your occupancy cost per person has risen materially without a corresponding increase in space value, workspace optimisation is the fastest route to identifying and quantifying the saving opportunity — and producing the financial case to act on it.
You are managing a workspace that was designed for a way of working that no longer applies. Your team is asking for better collaboration spaces, more video conferencing capacity, and more flexibility. Workspace optimisation gives you the data and the brief to make those changes — and the financial case to fund them from the cost savings they generate.
If your lease expires in the next 12 to 36 months, a workspace optimisation study conducted now gives you the data to renegotiate from a position of clear, evidence-based knowledge of exactly what space you need. It is one of the most powerful inputs into a Stay vs Go analysis and a renewal negotiation.
Managing workspace inefficiency across a multi-site portfolio multiplies the opportunity significantly. We apply the same systematic approach across all your sites, producing a consolidated portfolio view of the total optimisation opportunity — and a prioritised implementation programme that addresses the largest savings first.
Workspace optimisation findings frequently lead to, or are informed by, other CRE advisory services. These are the services most commonly engaged in conjunction with an optimisation mandate.
Tell us your office size, your headcount, and your hybrid working policy — and we will give you a preliminary indication of the optimisation opportunity before you commit to a full study. No obligation. No commitment required.
No obligation. Confidential. Senior advisor guaranteed.
Whether you’re looking to expand your footprint, optimize your current space, or navigate complex lease negotiations, we have the knowledge and experience to help you achieve your goals.
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