APAC Fit Out Cost Guide Insights

• Limited meeting facilities, less than 10% of space
• Paint to all walls
• Low specification finishes and carpet throughout
• Vinyl flooring to cafeterias
• Minimal alterations to air conditioning and ventilation
• Data points to equal desk positions
• Support functions limited to basic pantry area, generic meeting rooms and limited drop-in collaborative spaces
• Minimal sustainability certifications, energy efficiency remains the main priority

• Meeting facilities around 10–20% of space, with part single-glazed partitions
• Alterations to less than 25% of ceiling
• Plasterboard ceiling to meeting rooms
• Feature wall finishes in reception
• Medium specification carpet and finishes
• Low/medium quality acoustic attenuation & management
• Shared heating & cooling across cellularised space
• Hard flooring to reception
• Multiple data points to each desk position
• Support functions include an expanded break-out area, a variety of meeting rooms and dispersed collaborative spaces
• Good sustainability certifications, designs focus on energy, greenhouse gas, water, waste optimization

• Meeting facilities to over 25% of space with double-glazed partitions
• Alterations to over 25% of ceiling
• Features & plasterboard ceiling to reception and offices
• Feature finishes to meetingrooms/offices
• High specification carpet
• Dedicated heating & cooling across cellularised space
• Medium/high quality acoustic attenuation & management
• Heavily tech-enabled spaces with frictionless audio-visual connectivity
• Support functions include multi-functional breakout area, a variety of meeting rooms, dispersed collaborative spaces augmented with specialist lifestyle elements such as a library, focus and relaxation zones
• Client facing areas with hospitality look and feel
• Broad spectrum of sustainability activities and top level certifications; health and wellness, employee productivity, reductions in embodied carbon add to standards expected in basic or medium

Cost is still important, but it’s no longer a question of spending or not spending. Instead, companies are investing in fit outs more strategically, focusing on where they direct the spend and how it improves performance: 

• Companies are spending more on key areas, like collaboration spaces and client-facing zones, while simplifying the rest. 
• Many companies are refurbishing instead of relocating, avoiding the cost and disruption of a move while improving how their current space works.
• Seamless audio-visual technology, improved soundproofing, and layouts that accommodate different working styles are key focus areas. The goal? Reducing barriers to working in the office and accelerating employee performance.

Technical due diligence has traditionally been more common on the investor side, but we’re now seeing much stronger demand from occupiers looking for upfront risk mitigation and cost certainty. There are a few different areas we are seeing this play out:

• Companies are investing more in brief development, space planning, test fits, technical audits, compliance reviews and detailed cost planning during the option assessment phase.
• A whole-of-life approach to decision making is becoming more common, with greater focus on operational and end-of-lease make-good costs, particularly for supplementary air-conditioning, partitioned layouts and internal stairs.
• Base building performance is under increased scrutiny, as occupiers seek assets that can support both operational requirements and employee experience. This includes closer assessment of HVAC capacity, ceiling heights, server room requirements, parking provision and end-of-trip facilities.
• Expectations around security, compliance and user experience are rising, particularly in the finance and government sectors. Occupiers are paying closer attention to access controls, public interfaces, neighbouring tenants and the broader precinct environment to reduce operational risk and avoid costly issues later in the project lifecycle.

Sustainability is still a priority for occupiers in mature markets, but the conversation is shifting from ratings and certifications alone towards more practical ways to improve energy performance. Here are some of the common themes we heard.

• Occupiers are thinking about sustainability before the lease is signed, spending more time selecting sites with the right sustainability features, lower climate risks and better energy performance to save on long-term costs.
• There is a growing trend toward well-designed spaces, without necessarily having them accredited. The goal is spaces that make better use of natural light and materials to use less energy and better support how people work.
• Multinational companies are building out their sustainability plans programmatically at a regional or global level, then cascading this consistent, repeatable approach to all offices for economies in time, cost and effort.  

In short, the focus is expanding from targets and certifications to long-term performance and practical, well-designed spaces.

Currently, AI’s impact on the workplace is more operational than structural, with bigger shifts likely to emerge over the next 2-3 years. But we have seen how AI is accelerating existing trends:

• Better data is informing design as the ‘Internet of Things’ provides more sophisticated datasets. Occupiers are using this data to better understand how their space is used, and adjusting layouts to match.
• Accordingly, we are seeing growing interest in sensors, access control systems, wifi analytics and desk booking systems as occupiers look for additional datapoints to inform their workplace decisions.
• As more systems become cloud-based, there’s less need for large, dedicated tech areas in the office. Whether cloud-based computing could potentially impact location decisions for occupiers, especially those needing highly resilient connectivity, is an area to watch in the coming years.   

In short, AI is driving demand for data as occupiers look to optimise their workplace design decisions—but the real impact on office fit outs is yet to come.

Hybrid work is now well established across many organisations, but companies are still refining their workplaces to better accommodate flexible ways of working.

• Companies are adding more meeting rooms and investing in improved acoustics and AV technology to support virtual and in-person collaboration.
• Occupiers are expanding breakout and multi-purpose spaces to support a wider range of work activities for in-office days; flexibility of space is key. (Acoustics are important here too.)
• End-of-trip facilities and nearby amenities are an important factor for driving higher employee engagement with the workplace.  

Hybrid work is still a key workplace concern, but the focus has broadened from workplace density to creating offices that better support performance, regardless of how teams connect and work together day to day.