Start Your 2027 Project Now. Here's Why.
If your workplace strategy for 2027 has not started yet, you are already behind.
That might sound provocative, but it reflects the reality we repeatedly see in commercial interiors. The organisations that end up with high performing, future ready workplaces are not the ones reacting to lease events. They are the ones planning years in advance, often quietly, long before urgency forces their hand.
Waiting feels safe. In reality, it is the riskiest option.
Most workplace projects fail before design even begins
By the time many businesses start thinking seriously about their workplace, the timeline is already compressed. Decisions become reactive. Trade offs are accepted too quickly. The project becomes about delivery rather than outcomes.
Industry data consistently shows that rushed workplace projects underperform:
According to JLL, projects with less than 18 months of strategic planning are significantly more likely to exceed budget and miss performance objectives.
CBRE reports that occupiers who plan workplace change more than two years ahead achieve stronger alignment between space, culture, and business outcomes.
The British Council for Offices has repeatedly highlighted that late stage decision making is one of the biggest contributors to long term space inefficiency.
This is not a design problem. It is a leadership and planning problem.
The workplace is now a strategic asset, not an overhead
Senior leaders increasingly talk about culture, performance, and retention, yet many still treat the workplace as a tactical exercise.
That disconnect is costly.
Research from Leesman shows that only 57 percent of employees believe their workplace enables them to work productively. Gallup data links poor workplace experience directly to lower engagement and higher attrition.
If your office does not actively support how your people work, collaborate, and connect, it becomes a liability rather than an asset.
Designing a workplace that genuinely supports performance requires time to:
Understand real behaviours, not assumptions
Align space to business strategy and growth plans
Engage leadership teams early and meaningfully
Design for change, not just for launch day
None of this happens well at speed.
2027 work patterns are already forming
The biggest mistake leaders make is designing workplaces around today’s behaviours.
Between now and 2027, organisations will continue to face:
Ongoing shifts in hybrid and flexible working models
Increasing demand for collaboration led spaces rather than desk-led layouts
Higher expectations around wellbeing, inclusion, and choice
Rapid changes in technology that reshape how teams interact
McKinsey estimates that up to 30 percent of current office space could become obsolete if not adapted to new ways of working. That is a significant risk if your project only responds to present day needs.
Starting now allows you to design for evolution, resilience, and longevity rather than obsolescence.
Cost certainty comes from time, not restraint
There is a persistent belief that waiting saves money. In practice, it usually erodes it.
Late stage projects often suffer from:
Reduced negotiating power on leases and buildings
Limited procurement options and higher material costs
Compressed programmes that drive inefficiency
Short term decisions that require expensive rework later
Savills research shows that early engagement in workplace strategy can reduce total project cost by enabling smarter phasing, better specification choices, and stronger commercial negotiations.
Time creates leverage. Waiting removes it.
Optionality is a leadership advantage
One of the most underestimated benefits of starting early is choice.
With sufficient runway, leaders can:
Test refurbishment versus relocation without pressure
Explore multiple workplace models before committing
Phase investment to align with cash flow and growth
Build internal alignment across finance, HR, IT, and operations
Once deadlines close in, optionality disappears. Decisions become binary. Risk increases.
Strategic leaders preserve options for as long as possible.
Strategy should lead design, not follow it
Too many workplace projects jump straight to layouts and finishes because they feel tangible and safe.
That approach almost always produces good-looking spaces that underperform.
A successful workplace project starts with clarity:
What behaviours do we want to enable?
What outcomes matter most to the business?
How should this space support our future, not our past?
Design is not the strategy. It is the expression of it.
Starting your 2027 project now gives you the time to define success properly before committing to bricks, budgets, and boundaries.
Starting early does not mean committing early
This is where many leaders hesitate unnecessarily.
Starting now does not mean signing contracts or locking decisions. It means building understanding, direction, and confidence.
The organisations that start early are not the ones that rush. They are the ones that stay in control.
If 2027 is on your roadmap, the smartest move is to start thinking now.
Early planning creates better outcomes, stronger alignment, and workplaces that genuinely perform.
At AW Spaces, we work with organisations long before deadlines dictate decisions. We help leaders challenge assumptions, build clarity, and create workplaces that are designed to work hard for the business well into the future.
If you are thinking about what your workplace needs to deliver in 2027, the conversation should start now.
