Scottish spotlight: Office space trends for 2026

What are the biggest trends you're seeing right now in Scotland in terms of flexible or hybrid working?

There's been a big shift in what companies are doing, but this does vary by sector. Coming out of COVID, many companies tried to move to fully flexible environments with lots of social spaces. We often removed desks due to lower demand and introduced spaces like pods.

Now, we're seeing a trend back towards traditional desk space. Though there's still a flexible element, the swing is more office-based now than work-from-home. That can be difficult to navigate when, say, offices are often quieter on a Monday and Friday, but overrun with people needing space in the mid-week.

This demand could mean removing collaborative spaces that colleagues actually want and were only fitted a few years ago. A balance between employee needs, occupancy levels, and space rightsizing is crucial. Technology like occupancy management systems and carbon sensors can help with that by providing real-time insight into these trends, so that you can track underused spaces and energy consumption patterns, to either consolidate or rework spaces.

We’re seeing this return-to-office trend with larger organisations, especially those with headquarters in America. In the US, the average requirement of in-office work is 3.8 days per week in 2025, compared to just 2.6 days mandated in 2023. American corporate real estate strategies are likely driving this trend, and it will have a ripple effect throughout UK branches.

But in sectors like law, we have found that organisations find colleagues more productive at home, so not all industries are due to follow suit. There is a mental health aspect to consider with this, too. Often, working from home, especially alone, can make it hard to switch between home life and work life, so offices can provide that differentiating space.

How are landlords and developers in Scotland adapting spaces to meet these changing demands?

Serviced office space use has increased drastically, and we anticipate it will continue in popularity. For example, if a company has a full-time headcount of 30 staff and they can reduce desk space by 15, they don't need to pay £50,000 for an office in a central city location. They can use a furnished office where facilities management and furniture are already covered. We're seeing that approach used more, even in long leases.

Cost is a main factor here. With serviced offices, the burden of management is taken away from the business, which is particularly helpful for smaller teams who would need to routinely refurbish buildings to suit their needs. But there are downsides to this; without managing these spaces, you can’t as easily adapt them to your own colleagues’ needs.

How important are sustainable reuse projects, for example, refurbishing old office buildings or furniture, in Scottish workplaces?

They’re incredibly important. One challenge is persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in foam padding on chairs and furniture. In 2024, Scotland introduced new guidance for the disposal of POP items, meaning they needed to be stored differently at waste sites and kept separate from other types of waste.

But that disposal needs to be the last step of the process. When we refurbish spaces, our first step is always to look at reusing what’s already there. If we’re speaking to a client who wants to either downsize or upsize, we look across the entire estate to see what can be reused. That is why digital asset registers are important, as they act as guides for reuse, recycling, remanufacturing and low-carbon material adoption.

Once we’ve worked out what can be used, we can also either resell unwanted items via second-hand furniture outlets or consider donating the items to charity and offset that cost or price against what we quote for clients. If neither of these is viable, we review recycling options.

The recycling process for POPs requires careful planning for environmental impacts, and should involve end-to-end carbon reporting, detailing what has gone where. The material is hazardous and needs to be destroyed in a certain way through incineration, which means working with specialist POP recycling centres that strip the material down, allow for POP processing, and separate it from the plastic that can be recycled.

Though the policy has changed recently, we have been implementing circular economic recycling principles for the better part of a decade, so our process is refined, and organisations can understand every step of what happens to assets. In 2026, keeping up that transparency is essential, especially as organisations are often unaware of the pollutants and embodied carbon in their everyday furnishings and assets.

Do you think there's currently a shortfall in high-quality office space? If so, what's driving that?

There’s not enough high-quality space available in Scotland, which is evident through the high spend on fitouts. Landlords often want to redevelop space after tenants move out, to take it back to a lower category and give them business rates relief. This means whoever moves back in must create a new fit-out from scratch.

This isn't a new trend, but it's very common, and one we expect will continue into 2026. The issue is that if a landlord has a building and doesn't have a new tenant lined up, the rates are significantly higher than if they strip back spaces. Even if there's only a month's turnaround between tenants, stripping out and refitting prevents that risk of financial loss.

In ten years' time, how do you envision the typical Scottish workplace?

We're in a transition period. We don't think we're at the point where there's a clear model everyone is working towards in 2036. What companies need, what staff want, and what return-to-office policies to adopt aren’t turning into clear trends.

In ten years’ time, we do anticipate most workplaces working full-time, in office. We also expect to see higher refurbishment rates to meet this demand, which might also require further new builds, an increase in fit outs, or a bit of both.

That increased footfall will likely have a knock-on effect in hospitality and retail in central city spaces, making the location chosen for retrofitting or new builds key. In terms of sustainability trends, increased reusage of furniture will lead to more condition reports, quantity assessments, and support through circular economic furniture processes, including reupholstery and repair options.

Support with your estate strategy

BMG supports organisations in auditing asset footprints, implementing workplace change, managing furniture and delivering relocations. Contact our team in Scotland or fill out a quote enquiry form to explore how we can help your workplace change strategy in 2026.