Space Savings or Effective Use?

Is it logical to want to save space in a market with a lot of vacant real estate? Should the property owners take their loss? And should users have to realize their future needs within the existing stock? Or is it perhaps unavoidable to tear down some buildings. But will that happen? Normally, it needs a war or a natural disaster to reduce building stock. Let us first look into what is going on at the demand side.

The economic crisis is not the only cause for the decline in the demand for office space. Due to more efficient use of space and the new way of working the average space per employee drops.

Why do end users cut down on the m2? In my opinion end users want to reduce their cost. It does not mean they want to reduce m2. They also want to reduce their CO2 emissions and footprint. But that does not say that they want minimal m2 either. With the present buildings, there is a link between the number of m2, the CO2 emissions and the costs.

Making buildings sustainable can result in fewer CO2 emissions and less cost per m2. Then the building can meet the objectives of the user while there is plenty of space in use. For concepts as the new way of working, having aminimal floor area is no precondition. It can also work fine in a somewhat more spacious environment with more m2. So why squeeze the m2? Space is quality!

Wouldn’t it be more interesting to bend the question from less to more? For example, by providing a network of buildings, where users can hire space in a flexible way? Through participating in the network, an organization can access more buildings in different locations. Which provides better support for the dynamics of the new way of working. And not necessarily with minimal m2. If there is too much floor area in a building, then you may break away some floor and create a void to reduce m2.

Voids make buildings more attractive. By sacrificing some floor area, it is possible to gain spatial quality, air quality and daylighting. I admit, that it is an extra investment, while the amount of rentable space drops. But, the thus raised quality of the building, will pull new users to restore rental income. Abundant use of space adds value for the user. Oversizing leads to more potential usages.

A spacious building offers more flexibility

Real estate providers and users together must find an economic way to use more rather than less space. Abundant use of m2 in sustainable buildings is in my opinion the way to assure property value for the future.