The Workspace Design Show 2025, where industry leaders, designers, architects, and furniture specialists gather to explore all things workplace design.

At the heart of Spacestor’s stand was the Maker Space, an interactive experience that put creativity and customization in the spotlight. We invited visitors to co-create their workspace vision, demonstrating how personalized environments can drive engagement, wellbeing, and productivity. The inspiration to integrate adaptable furniture solutions which are highly customizable and flexible, the space sparked conversations on designing for the modern and diverse workforce. Discussions ranged from hybrid work models, sustainable best-practice, the role of data in shaping the office and advice on creating global design standards.

One theme explored the shift from "I just need a desk" to a more holistic approach that considers flexibility, collaboration, and employee experience. As Sara Leavesley, Director of Corporate Real Estate Management for E.ON noted, “If you can demonstrate the data, you can show how people are really using spaces versus what they think they need.” This was echoed by the Head of Human Capital Consulting at CBRE, Georgina Frazer, a sentiment that “numbers reveal as much as they conceal,” emphasizing the need to blend data with human-centred insights.

Michael Dowds (DWP) provided a government perspective, highlighting the challenge of balancing return-to-office policies with space efficiency. “We moved from two days to three days in-office and had to rethink our space utilization—monitoring actual attendance helped us adjust without overspending,” he shared.

Another fascinating panel explored global vs. local design guidelines, with Sarah Hodge, Global Workplace Experience Director for LSEG, explaining how their workplace strategy has shifted to focus on moments that matter, ensuring consistency in user experience rather than rigid design conformity, “We’re using data to predict what employees will need rather than just reacting to changes,” she explained.

Kornelia Kiss, Projects Lead for Sanofi, emphasized that while global guidelines provide consistency, allowing for local adaptations ensures relevance across different cultural contexts, highlighting “It’s important to create equity across all workplaces, but we must also listen to local teams to understand specific cultural and operational needs.” Danielle Dixon, Director of Global Capital Projects for Syneos Health, shared how their approach involves deep collaboration with local teams, stating, “Small details—like ensuring storage for region-specific office habits—can make a huge difference in how well a space functions for employees.”

The overarching message from Workspace Design Show was clear: the workplace is moving rapidly, and agility is key. The most successful environments will be those that balance structure with flexibility, leveraging data, employee input, and thoughtful design to create spaces where people truly want to be, at the same time being ready for organisational pivots and policy changes.