Recent press releases have featured a number of articles posing this very question. It seems that with the push to improve the sustainable credentials of buildings, some organisations are looking beyond just technical fixes to increasing space density for occupants. Gains of up to 20% have been quoted! But just how far can you go with this approach? Are there limits, and what might be the negative consequences for business if these limits are exceeded?

Until now the answers to these and other questions have been in the realm of junk science, unsubstantiated anecdotal evidence or designer “gut-feel”.

However recent research carried out at the University of Sydney under the supervision of Dr David Leifer, Coordinator of the FM Program, sheds new light on these important questions. Indeed it has been demonstrated that there are in fact “tipping points” for workspace density, beyond which the performance and other features of teams or workgroups is clearly degraded.

The possibility of minimising workspace costs without killing the business is now within reach.