London’s skyline tells a story of ambition and adaptability. Yet behind the shiny façades, hybrid working has left many offices underused, with JLL citing average occupancy across the working week at just 54%. 

Meanwhile, community spaces vanish at an alarming rate. Between 2018 and 2023, 46 community venues in the capital closed permanently. This mismatch presents an extraordinary opportunity: to rethink commercial real estate as part of our social infrastructure. 

As architects and designers, we are custodians of place. Our responsibility extends beyond creating efficient workplaces; it’s about shaping environments that serve the wider community and crafting tangible opportunities to connect building owners and occupiers with their localities in a meaningful way. 

So, we asked ourselves: What if we opened up vacant space to those who need it most? What might this look like? And how would it work? 

Our research, Making Space, was born from these simple but powerful questions. 

The benefits are clear. Offering underused office space to local groups and charities strengthens neighbourhood ties, supports social enterprises, and fosters resilience. Buildings that embrace shared use become more vibrant, more relevant, and more sustainable. They contribute directly to ESG goals by maximising existing assets rather than consuming resources to build anew. 

Of course, challenges exist. When asking the thoughts of landlords, developers and occupiers, security, flexibility, and management topped the list with 80% saying that this was the greatest barrier. Additionally, existing workplaces are not designed with the flexibility in mind to cater for external use. 

But these are not insurmountable. Smart technology can control access and monitor usage, while modular furniture and adaptable layouts allow spaces to transform from meeting rooms by day to community hubs by night. Creative thinking – such as zoning strategies and managed booking systems – can balance openness with protection. Ask: how far can we push the boundaries to remove obstacles without compromising trust? 

At the conclusion of our report, we’ve created a manifesto. It’s a practical framework for turning good intentions into meaningful action. It begins with a call for authenticity and early engagement. This isn’t about retrofitting community access as an afterthought; it’s about embedding purpose into the DNA of a project from day one. Understand what your local community truly needs, and design with those needs in mind. That means moving beyond generic solutions and creating bespoke strategies that reflect the identity and aspirations of the neighbourhood. 

Collaboration is key. Landlords, occupiers, designers, and local organisations must work together from the outset. 

Making Space is a call to rethink the role of commercial real estate as part of social infrastructure. By opening underused spaces or designing future-ready workplaces with flexibility built in, we can create places that are not only economically productive but socially valuable. This is how we move from intention to impact, from vacancy to vibrancy. 

The future of London’s built environment depends on this shift. Offices should not be isolated workplaces when they can be so much more for the communities they inhabit. As an industry, we have the creativity and the intent to lead this change. 

The question is: how can you make space where you are?

Read the full research from TP Bennett here: https://tpbennett.com/news/making-space-a-manifesto-for-shared-commercial-spaces/