Flex Space Isn’t the Future. It’s the Correction.

A conversation with Zoe Ellis-Moore on what the workplace really needs next

There’s a lot of noise in the workplace world right now.

Hybrid. Flex. Experience-led. Smart buildings. AI-ready offices. Most of it sounds impressive. Very little of it survives contact with reality.

That’s why this conversation with Zoe Ellis-Moore, Flex Space Consultant, stood out.

Zoe works at the coalface of flexible and managed workspace. Not theorising. Not trend-spotting from a slide deck. But seeing, daily, how offices are actually being used — and where they’re failing.

What became clear very quickly in this episode of The Future Workplace Podcast is this:

Flex space isn’t a trend. It’s a correction.

A correction to years of overbuilt, underused, poorly designed office space that was optimised for leases… not people.

The Big Lie About “The Office Is Back”

One of the first things we unpacked was the narrative that “everyone’s coming back to the office”.

Yes — offices are being used again. But not in the way they were designed for.

Zoe shared how many occupiers are still working with static layouts, rigid meeting rooms, and technology decisions locked in years ago, despite behaviours changing dramatically.

The result?

• Meeting rooms that are either empty or constantly overbooked

• Collaboration spaces that don’t actually support collaboration

• Tech that technically works… but frictionally slows everything down

People aren’t rejecting the office. They’re rejecting offices that make work harder.

And this is where flex space has surged — not because it’s fashionable, but because it removes friction.

Flex Space Isn’t Smaller Offices — It’s Smarter Ones

A key misconception we tackled is that flex space just means “less space”.

It doesn’t.

Flex space means:

• Spaces designed for multiple use cases, not single functions

• Technology that works across teams, locations, and devices

• Rooms that adapt day-to-day, not layouts frozen at practical completion

Zoe explained that the most successful flex environments aren’t the prettiest — they’re the ones where people don’t have to think about the technology.

That line should make every workplace leader pause.

Because most AV decisions are still made at:

❌ the wrong time

❌ by the wrong people

❌ based on yesterday’s use cases

Avoid Designing Yesterday’s Meeting Rooms

If you have an office move, refurbishment, or flex project planned in the next 12–18 months, this is exactly where most risk sits.

We see it constantly:

AV is treated as a late-stage add-on, not a strategic design input.

That’s why we built the SPOR AV Bundle — to help workplace teams:

• Understand what actually needs specifying

• Avoid over-engineering (or under-specifying) rooms

• Design meeting spaces that work across hybrid, flex, and future change

Download the AV Bundle here and pressure-test your current thinking before decisions get locked in.

---

The Real Cost of Getting Workplace Tech Wrong

One of the most powerful parts of the conversation was around hidden cost.

Not capital cost. But operational drag.

Zoe shared how poorly thought-through tech decisions quietly cost organisations in:

• Time lost at the start of meetings

• Reluctance to collaborate across locations

• Frustration that erodes office attendance over time

None of this shows up in a budget line. But it absolutely shows up in behaviour.

And this is where many landlords and occupiers are still missing the point.

You can design a beautiful space. But if your meeting rooms don’t work seamlessly, people vote with their feet.

Why “Future-Proofing” Is Usually a Lie

We also challenged the phrase everyone loves to use: future-proof.

Zoe was refreshingly honest about this.

You cannot future-proof a workplace. You can only design for change.

That means:

• Interoperable technology (not locked ecosystems)

• Simple, intuitive user experiences

• Infrastructure that allows for upgrades without rip-out

Too many projects chase shiny headlines rather than asking:

“How will this space adapt when behaviours change again?”

Because they will.

Stress-Test Your Office Strategy

If you’re currently relying on:

• Vendor brochures

• Generic “best practice” layouts

• Or what you did on your last office

…you’re already behind.

The AV Bundle includes tools that let you:

• Map risk across different room types

• Understand where hybrid meetings break down

• Align AV decisions with actual workplace behaviour

Get the AV Bundle here and sanity-check your current plans.

What Workplace Leaders Should Be Doing Differently Now

Towards the end of the episode, we focused on practical takeaways — not theory.

Zoe’s advice to workplace leaders was clear:

1. Stop designing for averages People don’t work “normally” anymore. Design for variation.

2. Bring technology into the conversation earlier AV decisions made late cost more and deliver less.

3. Think in systems, not rooms Meeting rooms don’t exist in isolation. They’re part of a wider collaboration ecosystem.

   
   

This aligns exactly with what we see across enterprise AV projects.

The best workplaces aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones with clarity of intent.

Why This Conversation Matters Right Now

Flex space isn’t replacing the corporate office.

It’s exposing where traditional workplace thinking has fallen behind.

And whether you’re:

• A landlord repositioning assets

• An occupier planning a move

• A workplace leader under pressure to justify office investment

…the decisions you make now will define how usable your space is for the next 5–10 years.

This episode with Zoe Ellis-Moore cuts through the hype and brings the conversation back to reality.

The full podcast episode goes live this Thursday on The Future Workplace Podcast.

If you’re serious about designing offices people actually want to use — and not repeating the mistakes of the past — this is a must-listen.

Get the AV Bundle

Before you sign off layouts, specs, or budgets…

Download the SPOR AV Bundle It’s built to help workplace teams make better decisions earlier — and avoid expensive, painful rework later.

Because flex space isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing what actually works.