A relocation is the one time a company properly rethinks how it treats its people. New floor, new fit-out, new habits. It is also when a lot of the amenity budget gets spent on things nobody ends up using.
We see it often. Wellness rooms that sit empty. Breakout spaces nobody breaks out to. The money goes into the building instead of into the people in it.
That is why I offer to audit amenity for free when a company is moving. Send me your plans and I will tell you where the dollars are likely to be wasted and where they would work harder.
Where the budget tends to leak
The pattern is simple. Spaces get specified because they look right in a floor plan, not because anyone has checked how often similar spaces are used in the current office.
The usual suspects:
- Wellness rooms built for a handful of people
- Breakout zones with no reason to gather
- Furniture-led social areas with nothing at the centre of them
- Kitchenettes that tick a box but draw nobody in
PMG Group's commentary, drawing on CBRE and Hassell research, suggests checking how often wellness and breakout rooms are used before building more of them. It is commentary rather than measured data, but it is a sensible first question.
What people say draws them in
CBRE Australia's workplace research, Beyond the Desk, found 68% of employees cite collaboration with colleagues as an important reason to come to the office. In-person meetings followed at 58%.
The same research found cafés and restaurants were named by 57% of employees as features that draw them in. Informal pantries and kitchenettes were named by 25%. These figures come from employee survey responses, not measured usage, but the gap is telling. Shared, social, food-led spaces matter to people far more than a pantry in the corner.
Build a magnet, not another room
What works is one place everyone wants to be, with something worth coming together for. Done properly, coffee does that. A crafted coffee moment is a reason to leave the desk, a reason to bump into someone from another team, and a reason to linger for a conversation.
The halo reaches well past the cup. It shapes how the space feels, how often people cross paths and how much belonging a new office builds in its first months. That is the idea behind our workplace coffee offering: baristas who become part of the day, not an appliance in a corner.
Why the decision matters more right now
The Property Council of Australia's Office Market Report (January 2026) put national office vacancy at 15.9%, up from 15.2% over six months. Melbourne CBD vacancy sat at 19.0% and Sydney CBD at 13.8%.
Tenants moving in either city have plenty of choice and bargaining power. With that comes a clearer obligation: every dollar of fit-out and amenity should earn its place.
What to do before you sign off the plans
Before the amenity spend is locked in, list every shared space in the new plan and write next to each one the reason a person would choose to go there. Where that line is blank, you have found the budget most at risk. Then send the plans through to us and we will go over them with you.
