Designing the dynamic workplace

Employees today want choice. They want a workplace that lets them decide where to work depending on what they're doing — a quiet corner for deep focus, a lounge area for a quick catch-up, a meeting room when the work needs a door, or a café table when it doesn't.

According to Gensler's 2025 Global Workplace Survey, flexible co-creation spaces now rank as the number-one choice for in-person work across nearly every industry.¹ The traditional conference room is no longer the all-purpose room it used to be. While it still ranks first for scheduled team meetings,¹ it's no longer the default for most other kinds of work.

The static office, built on assigned desks, fixed meeting rooms and one-layout-fits-all floor plans, is evolving.

A new model for a new era of work

For decades, workplace design followed a predictable rhythm. People came in five days a week and sat at the same desk. As long as there were enough meeting rooms and some well-placed amenities, that was largely enough.

That model no longer works. With COVID-19 fundamentally changing our work patterns, hybrid working is now embedded in how most organisations operate. Hybrid working is now embedded in how most organisations operate. In New Zealand, Stats NZ reports that 34% of employed people worked from home either part-time or regularly in the June 2025 quarter, a level that has remained stable since 2022.² CBRE research puts global office attendance at around 39%, with weekly peak utilisation reaching 64%.³ The same desk might now be used by three different people across a week instead of one. Space planning models built around one-person, one-desk assumptions are increasingly out-dated for how offices actually get used.

The response has become the dynamic workplace. A model that offers a range of spaces and technologies that allow people to move through the day in a way that matches the type of work they're doing.

What people are actually looking for

Gensler's 2025 research ranked the most sought-after workplace amenities beyond desks and meeting rooms. Interestingly, food halls and cafés came in first, followed by work cafés and coworking areas, lounges and hubs, rest and nap spaces, and quiet zones for deep-focus work.¹ What unites them is that they each support a different mode of work, rather than forcing everyone into the same setting.

This shift isn't just about office design preferences. It reflects something more fundamental about how people want to work. Research has consistently shown that in-person collaboration delivers better problem-solving outcomes and stronger knowledge transfer than virtual collaboration alone.⁴ Without designed-in opportunities for those interactions, the office becomes just another place to do work that could happen anywhere.

Dynamic design in practice

Dynamic design isn't just about adjustable furniture. It's about how a space responds to the people using it. This shows up in everything from circulation routes that connect different zones to acoustic strategies that let a space shift from quiet to engaging across the day.

Modular furniture is one way to support adaptive spaces, as are floor plans that can absorb a growing or shrinking team without requiring a new lease. According to CBRE, the share of workplace space allocated to individual working dropped from 50% in 2021 to 41% in 2024, with the difference reallocated to collaboration, focus and other shared functions.³

It also means addressing the non-negotiables. Noise, distractions and the availability of the right kind of space when people need it are still the most persistent issues raised in workplace surveys.¹ Sound insulation, designated quiet rooms and good technology integration aren't bonus features. They're the baseline.

Even in a dynamic workplace, personal desks still matter. For office-based staff, a personal desk to own and decorate is part of what makes a workplace feel like theirs.

The business case

A workplace designed around choice and adaptability performs better. Gensler's research found that employees in workplaces offering a great experience are 3.6 times more likely to say their office helps attract and retain top talent. They're 1.5 times more likely to stay with their organisation over the next year and 90% express pride in working for their organisation.¹

But it’s about more than just retention. Employees in higher-rated workplaces are five times more likely to experiment with new ways of working (70% versus 14%), 3.7 times more likely to take time to reflect, and 2.6 times more likely to engage in impromptu meetings with colleagues.¹ All of these behaviours are key to driving innovation, learning and creative output, and they're shaped, in part, by the spaces that people work in.

Designing for what comes next

The most useful thing about dynamic design is that it assumes that change is the only constant. The needs of a workforce in three years will look vastly different from today's, and the workplaces best positioned to meet them are the ones designed to evolve.

That means designing for variety, offering a genuine range of options so people can match their workspace to the work at hand. It also means building in flexibility from the start, so spaces can be reconfigured, repurposed or scaled without major disruption.

A well-designed dynamic workplace gives people control over how they work. The evidence keeps pointing to this as the foundation of a healthier, more productive working life and one of the clearest levers organisations have for improving engagement and retention.

References

1. Gensler, Global Workplace Survey 2025. gensler.com/gri/global-workplace-survey-2025

2. Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission (2025), Conditions of Employment — citing Stats NZ Household Labour Force Survey, June 2025 quarter. publicservice.govt.nz

3. CBRE, Regional Variation, Daily Volatility: Global Office Utilisation Trends. cbre.co.uk/insights/articles/regional-variation-daily-volatility-global-office-utilisation-trends

4. Do, J. et al. (2025). In‐Person Collaboration, but Not Virtual, Enhances Problem‐Solving Efficiency and Knowledge Transfer from Groups to Individuals. Mind, Brain, and Education. Wiley.