How to Write an Office Refurbishment Brief: What to Decide Before Speaking to a Design and Build Contractor

 

There comes a point in an office refurbishment project when research needs to turn into decisions. Perhaps you've established that your workplace is no longer working as well as it should.

Meeting rooms are constantly booked. Other areas sit empty.

• Your team has grown.
• Hybrid working has changed how the office is used.
• Technology has moved on.
• The space doesn't reflect your organisation anymore. Or you've simply reached the point where maintaining an ageing workplace no longer makes sense.

Whatever the reason, the next question is usually:

What do we need to know before we speak to an office refurbishment contractor?

The answer isn't a perfectly finished specification. And you certainly don't need to have designed the office yourself. What you need is a good project brief.

A useful office refurbishment brief explains what needs to change, why it matters, what the business needs from the finished workplace and the constraints the project needs to work within.

Think of it as the starting point for a conversation rather than the finished answer.

A good design and build contractor should then challenge, develop and test that brief through workplace assessment, office design, space planning, technical surveys, budgeting and project planning.

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The stronger that first conversation is, the easier it becomes to move from, "we think we need to refurbish" to a workplace project with clear objectives and a realistic route to delivery.

In This Guide

 

• What is an office refurbishment brief?
• Why write the brief before choosing finishes?
• Start with the reason for the project
• Understand how your workplace is actually being used
• Think about the people, not just the headcount
• Define the spaces you need
• Plan for future growth
• Identify your technology and building-service requirements
• Decide what can stay
• Establish your priorities
• Think about budget differently
• Set a realistic programme
• Plan around business continuity
• Identify decision-makers
• What you don't need to know yet
• What happens after the brief?
• Questions to ask an office refurbishment contractor
• Download the Office Refurbishment Project Brief
• FAQs
• Further Reading

What Is an Office Refurbishment Brief?

An office refurbishment brief is a practical description of what your organisation needs from its workplace project. It helps establish the project's objectives before detailed office design begins.

That might include:

• Why you're refurbishing.
• How many people use the workplace.
• How those people work.
• What isn't working now.
• What spaces are required.
• What needs to change.
• What should remain.
• Your future growth plans.
• Your budget expectations.
• Your desired programme.
• How the business needs to operate during construction.

It does not need to contain all the solutions. That's an important distinction.

If you already knew precisely how the office should be designed, how the building services should work and how construction should be phased, there would be little need for workplace consultancy.

The brief should explain the problem and desired outcome.

Your project team can then help develop the solution.

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Before You Choose Colours, Start With Why

It's tempting to start an office refurbishment with the visible things.

• Furniture.
• Flooring.
• Colours.
• Meeting-room styles.
• Kitchens.
• Lighting.

They're exciting decisions because you can immediately imagine the finished workplace. But they're rarely the most important decisions at the beginning. You'll want to start with a much simpler question:

Why are we doing this?

There may be several answers.

• Your organisation might be growing.
• Perhaps you're struggling to recruit or want the workplace to better support employee experience.
• Hybrid working may have left you with the wrong balance between desks, meeting rooms and collaboration areas.
• Your brand may have evolved while your office hasn't.
• Energy performance or building services may need improvement.
• You may be considering relocating but want to establish whether your current workplace could accommodate the business more effectively.
• Or the office might simply be reaching the end of its useful life in its current form.

Write those reasons down and they'll become the reference point for later decisions.

When budgets are being allocated or design options compared, you can return to the original objective and ask:

Does this help us achieve what we set out to achieve?

 

Understand How Your Workplace Is Actually Being Used

 

An office designed for 100 employees doesn't necessarily need 100 identical desks. Equally, having 60 people in the office on an average day doesn't automatically mean 60 desks will be sufficient.

Occupancy changes by day, department and activity.Tuesday morning might look completely different from Friday afternoon.

You can start by analysing and taking note of:

• Which days are busiest?
• Which areas fill first?
• Which meeting rooms are difficult to book?
• Are large rooms regularly occupied by two people?
• Are employees taking video calls from desks because there aren't enough appropriate spaces?
• Where do informal conversations happen?
• Which spaces are rarely used?
• Where are the noise problems?
• Are there teams that should work closely together but are physically separated?

This is where workplace audits and office space planning become valuable.

Rather than designing around assumed behaviour, you can begin designing around the way your organisation actually operates and how your people like to work.

 

Think About People, Not Just Headcount

 

"120 employees" isn't a workplace brief. Those 120 people might perform completely different activities. One team may spend most of its day collaborating. Another may need extended periods of concentration.

Some employees may regularly host clients. Others may handle confidential information. Managers may need spaces for private conversations.Hybrid workers may come into the office specifically to collaborate. People participating in video calls need appropriate acoustics and technology.

There are also different physical, sensory and accessibility needs to consider. So it's well worth asking not only:

How many people do we have?

But to instead define:

What do those people need to do when they're here? Which can dramatically shift the office design strategy as you take into account the need of your people within the operation of your business and how the teams need to function within that.

Define the Spaces You Think You Need

Once you understand the activities, begin considering the settings required to support them.

Your initial wish list might include workstations, meeting rooms, a boardroom, acoustic pods, focus rooms, collaboration areas, breakout spaces, a reception, kitchen facilities, storage, wellbeing areas or flexible multi-purpose spaces.

Don't worry if everything doesn't fit.

That's partly what the space planning process is designed to establish.

A good office refurbishment company should be prepared to test your wish list against the available footprint. You may discover that one flexible space can perform several functions.

1. A meeting suite could incorporate movable walls.
2. Furniture can create informal meeting areas without constructing additional rooms.
3. Acoustic booths can relieve pressure on meeting rooms.
4. Storage can be consolidated.

Underused spaces can be reassigned as the objective isn't to fit every idea into the office -- it's to create the right combination for the organisation and its people.

Design for the Business You're Becoming

One of the most expensive mistakes can be designing a workplace around today's organisation alone. You'll want to think about the next few years.

• Are you recruiting?
• Could teams expand?
• Are working patterns changing?
• Could departments be reorganised?
• Might more people work flexibly?
• Could technology change the way certain roles operate?
• Are there new services or business functions planned?

Of course, nobody can predict everything. Because future-proofing an office design isn't about knowing exactly what will happen. As it's about creating enough adaptability that every organisational change doesn't require another refurbishment.

Flexible furniture, adaptable meeting spaces, appropriate power and data infrastructure and spaces capable of performing more than one role can all contribute.

Don't Leave Technology Until the End

Technology should form part of the refurbishment brief. So it's worth considering what employees currently struggle with.

Is it:

• Video meetings?
• Wi-Fi?
• Power?
• Charging?
• Displays?
• Room booking?
• AV?
• Data connections?
• Acoustics?

Then consider what the finished workplace needs in order to support those current challenges. A beautifully designed meeting room that doesn't work effectively for hybrid meetings is not a successful meeting room. As your technology, acoustics and physical office design need to work together.

The same applies to mechanical and electrical requirements.

Lighting, ventilation, heating, cooling, power and data may all affect what is achievable within the project.

An experienced design and build contractor can coordinate these requirements alongside the architectural and interior elements rather than treating them as separate afterthoughts.

Decide What Doesn't Need Replacing

Refurbishment doesn't mean throwing everything away.

Before creating a replacement list, create a retention list.

• What still works?
• Could existing desks be reused?
• Could chairs be retained?
• Can storage be relocated?
• Are partitions suitable?
• Could elements be refreshed rather than replaced?
• Are existing finishes still performing?

This can influence both budget and environmental impact and it can also reveal where investment will make the greatest difference.

Perhaps existing workstations are perfectly suitable but meeting facilities aren't or the layout works well while lighting, acoustics and furniture need attention.

The most effective office refurbishment isn't necessarily the project that replaces the most -- it's the project that solves the right problems.

Separate Must-Haves From Nice-to-Haves

This is one of the most useful exercises in the entire brief.

Create three categories:

Your Must haves are the requirements the project needs to deliver.

Your Should haves are the Important improvements that deliver meaningful value but could potentially be adjusted.

Your Could haves are the Ideas you'd like to explore if space, programme and budget allow.

That hierarchy becomes extremely useful when design and budget decisions begin.

For example,

• Improved ventilation may be a must-have.
• Additional acoustic booths could be a should-have.
• A feature reception installation might be a could-have.

Another organisation could rank those completely differently and that's the point. Because your refurbishment should reflect your priorities, not somebody else's standard office specification.

 

Talk About Budget Earlier, Not Later

Budget conversations can feel uncomfortable early in a project but the budget gives the design team a framework. Without one, it's possible to spend time developing proposals that aren't commercially realistic.

Instead of treating your budget as something revealed after the design is finished, use it to help determine where investment will deliver the greatest value.

Your project budget may need to account for more than construction.

Depending on the project, considerations could include design, building works, M&E, furniture, technology, professional services, landlord requirements, temporary working arrangements and contingency.

Your office refurbishment contractor can help you understand how scope, specification and programme affect investment. If you're still establishing what may influence your budget, read our guide to Office Refurbishment Costs Explained: What Really Impacts Your Investment.

Your Programme Is More Than the Construction Period

"When can you start?" and "When can you finish?"are useful questions. But there is work before construction starts.

Depending on the project, that can include workplace audits, surveys, space planning, office design, cost planning, approvals, procurement, technical coordination and employee communications.

If you have a non-negotiable completion date, include it in the brief.

• Perhaps there's a lease event.
• A planned recruitment programme.
• A company launch.
• An important client date.
• A period when business activity becomes significantly busier.

Then work backwards.

The earlier your design and build contractor understands the deadline and why it matters, the more effectively the programme can be developed around it.

For more detail, see our guide to How Long Does an Office Refurbishment Take?

 

How Will the Business Operate During the Refurbishment?

 

Don't wait until construction planning to ask this and include business continuity in the brief.

• Does the office need to remain fully operational?
• Can teams work remotely temporarily?
• Are there spare areas available for decanting?
• Could work happen floor by floor?
• Can disruptive works happen during evenings or weekends?
• Are there critical areas that cannot be unavailable?
• Are there periods when construction activity must be avoided?
• Occupied-office refurbishment requires more than a construction schedule.

It requires a programme built around the organisation.

If this is one of your biggest concerns, our guide to How to Refurbish Your Office Without Disrupting Your Business explores phased refurbishment and business-continuity planning in more detail.

 

Who Actually Makes the Decisions?

Projects slow down when nobody is quite sure who can approve what that's why identifying the internal project team early is important.

You may need input from operations, facilities, IT, HR, finance, senior leadership, marketing or brand teams.

Not everybody needs to approve every decision.

You'll want to establish:

• Who owns the project?
• Who controls budget?
• Who signs off design?
• Who coordinates IT?
• Who represents employees?
• Who liaises with the landlord?
• Who makes the final decision when priorities conflict?

Having clear governance can be surprisingly important to keeping an office fit out or office refurbishment moving.

What You Don't Need to Know Yet

There is another side to creating a good brief so don't feel you need to answer all questions, all at once.

You don't necessarily need to know:

• Exactly where every partition should go.
• How much HVAC capacity is required.
• What lighting specification to use.
• Which acoustic system will perform best.
• Whether a particular space complies with every technical requirement.
• Which furniture manufacturer to choose.

Because that's where a professional input comes in. A useful brief doesn't pretend you already know the solution -- as it gives your project team enough information to begin finding it.

 

What Happens After You've Written the Brief?

This is where the project starts becoming tangible. A good next step is a workplace audit and survey.

Your design and build team can assess the existing environment, discuss your objectives and begin testing your requirements against the physical space.

That may lead into:

Workplace assessment → surveys → space planning → office design → budget development → programme → detailed specification → construction → handover.

The process may reveal that some assumptions from the original brief need changing and that's a positive outcome as the brief is supposed to start the conversation, not restrict it.

TB Fit Out's current office refurbishment service combines workplace assessment, space planning, office design, technical works and project management within a fully managed refurbishment approach.

The objective is to turn your business requirements into something that can actually be designed, budgeted and delivered.

 

Questions Worth Asking a Design and Build Contractor

Once you're ready to speak to potential project partners, don't focus only on the quotation.

Ask how they think.

• How will you assess our existing workplace?
• How will you test whether our brief works within the available space?
• Who will manage the project?
• How do you approach occupied offices?
• How will the design and construction teams work together?
• How are M&E, IT, furniture and specialist trades coordinated?
• How will the programme be developed?
• How will changes be managed?
• What happens if surveys reveal something unexpected?
• How will we understand what the finished workplace will look like before construction begins?
• What happens after handover?

You're not simply appointing someone to build an office -- you're choosing the team that will help turn an organisational requirement into a functioning workplace.

Download the Office Refurbishment Project Brief

We've created a practical Office Refurbishment Project Brief to accompany this guide.

Use it to capture:

• your project objectives
• current and future headcount
• working and occupancy patterns
• workplace pain points
• meeting and collaboration requirements
• technology and M&E requirements
• spaces you think you need
• furniture and elements you could retain
• budget considerations
• target programme
• business-continuity requirements
• sustainability priorities
• must-haves and nice-to-haves
• measures of project success

You don't need to complete every section, in fact, the unanswered questions can be just as useful because they show what needs exploring during the workplace audit and design process.

Download the Office Refurbishment Project Brief and use it to prepare for your first project conversation.

 

Already Have a Brief? The Next Step Is to Test It

A written brief tells you what the business thinks it needs and a workplace assessment helps establish what the space can deliver. That's where the two come together.

TB Fit Out works with businesses and organisations across London, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire and the wider South East as an experienced design and build contractor, office refurbishment contractor and fit out contractor.

We can review your existing workplace, discuss your brief, identify opportunities through office space planning and help you understand the potential route from early ideas through office design, refurbishment and project delivery.

And if your brief isn't finished yet, that's fine too.

You don't need all the answers before the first conversation.

Book a complimentary workplace audit and bring what you have. We'll help you work through what's next.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What should an office refurbishment brief include?

A useful office refurbishment brief should explain why the project is happening, how the workplace is currently used, employee and operational requirements, anticipated growth, spaces required, technology and building-service considerations, budget expectations, target programme and any business-continuity constraints.

It should focus primarily on the outcomes the organisation needs rather than attempting to design the solution.

Do I need an office refurbishment brief before contacting a contractor?

No. You can approach an office refurbishment contractor at a much earlier stage.

However, gathering your initial requirements beforehand can make the first conversation more productive. A good contractor should then help develop and challenge the brief rather than simply accepting it without question.

Who should be involved in creating the refurbishment brief?

That depends on the organisation, but input may be useful from facilities, operations, IT, HR, finance, leadership and employees.

One person or small project team should ideally retain responsibility for coordinating decisions.

How detailed should the budget be?

You don't necessarily need an exact figure immediately, but an indicative budget or investment range helps your design and build team develop proposals that are commercially realistic.

The budget can then become more detailed as the design, surveys, specification and scope develop.

Should employees be involved in planning an office refurbishment?

Employee insight can be valuable because employees experience the workplace every day.

The aim isn't necessarily to ask everyone to design the office. Instead, feedback can help identify recurring issues around collaboration, meeting rooms, noise, technology, facilities and different working activities.

When should office space planning begin?

Space planning should happen early, once the project team understands your headcount, working patterns, activities and future requirements.

It helps test whether the desired spaces can work within the available footprint before detailed design progresses.

What is the role of a design and build contractor?

A design and build contractor can bring workplace assessment, space planning, office design, costing, technical coordination, construction and project management into a coordinated process.

This can reduce the number of separate project interfaces the client needs to manage and help connect early design decisions with practical delivery considerations.

What happens after the initial workplace audit?

Depending on the project, the next stages may include further surveys, space planning, concept design, 3D visualisation, cost planning, programme development, technical design, approvals and detailed specification before construction begins.

 

Further Reading

The Essential Guide to Office Refurbishment
For businesses still exploring the overall refurbishment process.

Office Refurbishment Costs Explained: What Really Impacts Your Investment
For the next conversation around budget and priorities.

How Long Does an Office Refurbishment Take?
For programme planning from initial audit through to completion.

How to Refurbish Your Office Without Disrupting Your Business
For businesses planning works within an occupied workplace.

Office Design & Space Planning
For understanding how your brief becomes a workable office layout.

Office Refurbishment Services
For businesses ready to move from research towards a project conversation.

 

One Final Question Before You Start

Before sending your brief to an office refurbishment company, read it once and ask:

Have we described the office we want - or have we explained the business problem we're trying to solve?

The second is far more valuable.

Because good workplace design shouldn't begin with a predetermined answer.

It should begin with understanding your people, your organisation, your space and where the business needs to go next.

That's the foundation from which a design and build contractor can turn a brief into a workplace that genuinely works.

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