The Future of Workplace Design: Bringing Space and Technology Together
Squaredot’s recent acquisition by SPOR Group has been featured in Business Sale, highlighting the coming together of Squaredot’s workplace design expertise with SPOR’s experience in workplace technology and AV. The move reflects an increasingly important shift in how workplaces are designed: recognising that the physical environment and the technology within it need to work together from the outset.
Workplace design is about more than how a space looks
A successful workplace is not simply a well-designed interior.
The most effective environments are shaped around how people actually work, collaborate, concentrate and connect. That means considering everything from spatial planning, furniture and materials through to acoustics, lighting, collaboration spaces and the technology employees rely on every day.
Yet these elements are often considered separately, with interior design and workplace technology brought together late in the process.
That can create unnecessary compromises.
Design and technology should start with the same conversation
When technology is treated as an afterthought, it can become something that has to be accommodated within an existing design rather than something that contributes to the overall experience.
Screens need to be positioned somewhere. Video conferencing equipment needs to be installed. Power and connectivity need to be available. Meeting spaces need to function effectively.
These practical requirements can have a significant impact on the finished environment.
By considering them alongside the workplace strategy and interior design from the beginning, they can become part of the design rather than something added afterwards.
This creates a more cohesive workplace, where technology supports the way people use the space rather than competing with it.
Designing around people
At Squaredot, our approach has always started with understanding people.
How do teams collaborate? Where do they need focus? How much flexibility do different areas require? What behaviours does the organisation want to encourage? And how should the workplace support its wider culture and business objectives?
These questions provide the foundation for workplace strategy and interior design.
Technology should then be considered within that same context.
A collaboration space, for example, needs more than a screen and a table. It needs to support the way teams actually meet. A quiet area needs to provide the right environment for concentration, while informal spaces may need to support spontaneous interaction.
The design decisions and technology decisions are therefore closely connected.
Creating workplaces that work as a whole
The coming together of Squaredot and SPOR Group creates an opportunity to look at this relationship more closely.
Squaredot brings extensive experience in workplace strategy, space planning and interior design, while SPOR brings specialist expertise in workplace technology and AV.
Together, these disciplines can contribute to a more joined-up approach to workplace projects, helping organisations consider the physical environment and the technology that supports it as part of one experience.
For clients, this means having the opportunity to address these conversations earlier and more strategically, rather than waiting until the design is already established.
What should organisations consider before redesigning a workplace?
Before starting a workplace project, it is worth looking beyond the immediate question of what the space should look like.
Consider:
How people actually work: Understand current behaviours rather than designing around assumptions.
How teams collaborate: Identify where technology-enabled collaboration is genuinely needed.
How spaces need to adapt: Build flexibility into both the physical environment and the technology infrastructure.
The employee experience: Consider how people move through and interact with the workplace.
Future requirements: Design with changing technology, working patterns and organisational needs in mind.
The relationship between design and technology: Bring the two conversations together as early as possible.
A more connected approach to workplace design
The workplace is continuing to evolve, and so is the role of interior design within it.
Great workplace design is no longer simply about creating an attractive environment. It is about creating a space that works for people, supports the organisation and enables the technology and infrastructure needed to make it function.
The acquisition of Squaredot by SPOR Group is one reflection of that wider shift.
By bringing workplace design and workplace technology closer together, there is an opportunity to create environments that are not only better designed, but better connected, more intuitive and more effective for the people who use them.
Read the Business Sale feature: Workplace tech firm acquires interior design consultancy.
We've pulled together what we're seeing across the market right now, how organisations are actually using their space, where hybrid working is heading, and what's shaping smarter workplace decisions, in The Dynamic Workplace 2026 Report.
It's a useful benchmark whether you're at the start of planning a project or just want to see how your current workplace stacks up.
