For businesses outgrowing their office
Is your office design holding you back? 7 signs it needs a redesign
Sviatoslav JerdetchiiCEO & Founder of Craftex. Updated , 5 min read
The short answer
Your office needs a redesign when the space works against the way your team works: no quiet places, desks far from daylight, stuffy air, cramped workstations, or rooms that are always full while desks sit empty.
- Watch where people actually work, meet and take calls for two weeks.
- Fix light, air and seating first; they are legal duties as well as comfort.
- Redesign the layout when the problems come from how the space is divided.
- Move only when the building itself can't give you what you need.
Offices rarely fail all at once. People start taking calls in the stairwell. The one quiet room is booked all week. Half the desks sit empty while the kitchen is packed. Nobody calls it a design problem, but that is what it is.
This guide lists seven signs your office needs a redesign. For each one, it says what usually causes it and what fixes it. It ends with how to choose between small fixes, an office redesign, an office refurbishment or a move. Not sure what your floor needs? Book a site visit and we'll walk it with you.
Seven signs your office needs a redesign
Look for patterns, not one-off complaints. If three or more of these sound familiar, the layout is part of the problem.
- Rooms are always full, desks are often empty. The space was planned for a way of working your team has left behind.
- There is nowhere quiet to think or call. Open-plan floors without acoustic treatment push people out to corridors.
- Desks sit far from daylight. Storage and meeting rooms block the windows, while desks fill the dark core.
- The air is stuffy or the temperature swings. Too many people or new partitions have outgrown the ventilation.
- Workstations don't fit the people using them. Chairs, desk heights and screens cause aches and complaints.
- Clutter and cables are everywhere. There is no storage plan and no power where people actually sit.
- You avoid bringing clients or candidates in. The office no longer says what the business wants it to say.
Signs 1 and 2: the layout no longer matches how you work
Most layouts were drawn for a team that no longer exists. Headcount changed. Hybrid working changed which days are busy. Meetings moved onto screens, so people need small rooms and booths, not one big boardroom.
Good space planning fixes this (why commercial space planning matters) by starting from how people work, not from the furniture. Count meetings, calls and focus hours. Then decide how many desks, booths and rooms you really need. Our office design and space planning service shows how we do it.
The law sets a floor here too. The Workplace Regulations 1992 require every workroom to have "sufficient floor area, height and unoccupied space".
Signs 3 and 4: light and air are working against you
Light and air are legal duties, not just comfort. The Workplace Regulations say lighting must be suitable and sufficient. They add that it should be natural light "so far as is reasonably practicable".
So put desks by the windows and storage in the core. Use glass partitions for meeting rooms, so daylight reaches the middle of the floor. Add task lighting where glare hits screens.
For air, HSE says a reasonable working temperature is usually at least 16°C. Workplaces also need a supply of fresh, clean air. New partitions often cut off the airflow the original system was designed for. Check ventilation every time you add walls.
Signs 5 and 6: desks, chairs and clutter
The Workplace Regulations require every workstation to be suitable for the person and the work. Where work is done sitting down, each person needs a suitable seat. A desk that fits one person can hurt another.
Clutter is usually a storage and power problem. If sockets are on the walls and desks are in the middle, cables cross the floor. At Beaumont House in Kensington, we ran data cabling under the floor to every workstation. That gave a clean look with no trip hazards.
Sviat and his team at Craftex were brilliant to work with on our office redesign. From the first meeting, they took the time to understand how we actually use the space rather than just pitching generic solutions. They came back with clever, practical ideas to maximise use of the space and get more employees and desks inside . Every step was handled professionally, and the process felt surprisingly smooth for a project of this size. They finished one week ahead of schedule, and the transformation is clear — our office feels brighter, more functional, and much more welcoming. I’d happily recommend Craftex to anyone who wants a reliable design team that also makes the journey enjoyable.
Sign 7: the office no longer sells the business
Clients and candidates judge a business by its office. A tired reception or a cramped meeting room sends a message before anyone speaks. Ideas from our trending office design ideas can help refresh the look. But looks come after the layout works.
The same thinking applies at home. If part of your team works remotely, see our guide to an inspiring home office design.
Small fixes, a redesign or a move
Not every problem needs a full refit. Match the fix to the cause.
| Option | Choose it when | Typical work |
|---|---|---|
| Small fixes | The layout works but comfort doesn't | Chairs, task lights, acoustic panels, storage |
| Office redesign | The building is right but the layout is wrong | New layout, partitions, lighting, power, data, finishes |
| Move | The building can't give the space, light or air you need | Relocation and a new fit-out |
A move is a bigger project with its own timeline. Our office relocation and fit-out checklist covers each step. Some landlords whose buildings no longer suit modern offices are converting them to homes instead. See the future of commercial-to-residential conversions in London.
What an office redesign looks like in practice
Beaumont House in High Street Kensington was a 750 sq m rundown office. We removed walls to create an open-plan workplace for collaborative work. Frosted glass partitions formed smaller rooms for private meetings. Lighting and wiring were replaced throughout. A neutral palette kept distraction down.
The whole refurbishment took three weeks and finished with zero snags. Read the Beaumont House case study.
At Portsoken House in Aldgate, overhead lighting was central to the design. It made a bright, energising place to work across 1,550 sq m. The work was done around tenants who kept working, by working nights and weekends.
Start with a walk round your own floor
You don't need a designer to spot the signs. Walk your office at 10am and 3pm on a busy day. Note where people work, where they queue and where they avoid. Then bring that list to a survey.
Craftex has worked in London since 2016. We redesign the layout and build it as one team, so the price matches the drawings. We take on projects from £100,000. If your office is holding you back, book a site visit and we'll show you what to change first.
