Beyond amenity: In an undersupplied London prime office market, retrofit workspaces are proving they can command prime rents without premium amenities. The reason? Workers are returning to the office for colleagues, not climbing walls, Richard Taylor, Partner and Head of Building Consultancy writes for CoStar News.
The London office market in 2025 presents a paradox: while demand remains robust and mid-week occupancy has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the fundamental reasons why people choose to work in offices have evolved dramatically.
British Land’s recent announcement that mid-week occupancy in central London offices has returned to pre-pandemic levels marks a significant milestone in the sector’s recovery. The property development giant’s CEO Simon Carter’s assertion that “return to the office is in full swing” reflects a broader trend of employees gravitating back to physical workspaces, albeit with fundamentally different motivations than before 2020.
The numbers tell a story of selective recovery. Active demand remains well above average, characterised by a significant uptick in large-scale requirements, with A record number of 36 active requirements for office spaces of 100,000 square feet or more have been reported by JLL. This surge in demand is contributing to a competitive market for larger office spaces in London. Prime rents have also increased for the third consecutive quarter, reaching £160.00 per sq. ft. Meanwhile, availability in newly constructed office buildings fell to just 0.5% in the City of London last year, according to Knight Frank.
Yet there’s a fundamental tension: while demand is strong, development viability remains challenging due to rising construction costs, stringent environmental regulations, and evolving occupier expectations.
Retrofit and reuse: a human strategy
The solution increasingly lies in retrofit and reuse strategies. Many office buildings converted over recent years have been 10-20 years old and located in markets that continue to attract occupiers. A modest refurbishment can transform these buildings to meet EPC requirements while providing attractive options for tenants.
These offices may not include every conceivable amenity, but with focus on what matters to their target occupiers, they can still deliver buildings where people genuinely want to work. This approach, combined with the re-use rather than re-new retrofit philosophy delivers lower costs alongside better carbon outcomes – a dual benefit aligning financial and environmental imperatives.
In an underserved market like London’s, this creates genuine opportunity. Retrofit offices can command prime rents and attract quality tenants without the climbing walls or VR rooms that have become synonymous with modern office development.
Beyond the “amenity trap”
The post-pandemic obsession with amenities has created what industry experts like James Mohsen from Oxygen Asset Management now recognise as the “amenity trap” – buildings incorporating gyms, wellness lounges, libraries, and climbing walls without considering actual usage or alignment with tenant needs. The result is often wasted space, poor returns, and facilities that sit largely unused.
But our own employee surveys have consistently shown that occupiers value the “soft stuff” more than physical space features. This aligns with Gensler’s UK Workplace Survey 2025 which found employees value offices primarily for focused work, in-person collaboration and a sense of community – fundamental human contact that cannot be delivered through physical amenities.
The data reveals a crucial change, in that people aren’t attending offices for facilities, but to see colleagues and collaborate – both doing work and in the spaces between work, where meaningful conversations often occur.
The human-centric advantage
It’s not about keeping pace with trends or adding features for the sake of appearances; it’s about understanding what occupiers genuinely value and delivering it with purpose. This sociological shift has profound implications for how office spaces should be designed and valued.
Rather than competing on coffee quality or breakout space aesthetics, successful offices facilitate genuine human connection and collaboration. One clue is that younger workers are in the office more than their older counterparts, with 18- to 24-year-olds averaging over 3 days compared to around 2 days for 35- to 44-year-olds, revealing that early-career professionals particularly value mentorship, networking, and cultural immersion that physical offices provide.
The most effective spaces are designed around conversation flows, chance encounters, and organic workplace relationship development. When thoughtfully planned, amenities like on-site food and beverage can foster community and define building character – but only when run by experienced operators and tailored to the occupier base, focusing on quality over novelty.
The retrofit opportunity
In London’s constrained office supply environment, this presents both challenge and opportunity. Property owners who take the opportunity to retrofit offices can compete effectively with new-build developments loaded with expensive amenities, if they recognise that amenity should be purposeful, not performative. Rather than packing buildings with attention-grabbing features, focus should be on genuinely useful elements aligned with the building’s positioning. The amenities that consistently create value are those facilitating human interaction: flexible collaborative workspaces, shared meeting rooms, breakout lounges, and agile-working zones.
The sector’s emphasis on retrofit and reuse, combined with growing understanding of workplace sociology, suggests a more sustainable and human-centric future for London’s office market. In an era of hybrid work, offices must justify their existence not through luxury amenities but through their unique ability to foster human connections that drive innovation, mentorship, and organisational culture.
Those who successfully navigate the shift from amenity-driven to human-focused office provision will find themselves well-positioned in a market that, while demanding, continues to demonstrate the enduring value of shared physical workspace.
In London’s undersupplied market, the retrofit opportunity is particularly compelling – proving that prime office space isn’t about having every amenity – but about creating the right environment for human connection.
By Richard Taylor, Partner and Head of Building Consultancy
This article originally appeared in CoStar News
