The business environment is rapidly changing, and with it, the way work is being done. Uncertainties in the macro environment, talent attraction and retention, and the need to increase speed to market are some of the challenges that businesses face, and these have implications on a company’s accommodation strategy.

In CapitaLand’s engagement programme to uncover tenants’ needs, one concern frequently surfaced: Agility. Companies wanted the ability to change their short-term and/or long-term physical footprint during various business cycles, as well as access to different types of workspaces that can help facilitate different work activities.

CapitaLand has responded to these needs by offering current and potential tenants a “core-flex” solution, as part of its new Office of the Future initiative. This solution aims to redefine and challenge the traditional lease model by enabling tenants to mix and match traditional office space (core) with flexible spaces (flex) into a lease, as well as customise the fixed and variable lease terms according to their needs.

To maximise the effectiveness of the coreflex solution, CapitaLand aims to provide tenants a wide variety of flexible spaces across its portfolio. This is achieved through a strategic partnership between CapitaLand and The Work Project to complement and integrate the former’s core offerings with the co-working space operator’s flexible spaces.

Capital Tower and Asia Square Tower 2 will be the first two buildings in Singapore to embrace core-flex offerings under this strategy. In addition to the co-working spaces run by The Work Project, other flex spaces include meeting and conference suites, collaboration spaces, serviced offices and more. These spaces will be progressively rolled out across all CapitaLand’s office buildings.

How does core-flex work?

The core-flex model does not provide a one-size-fits-all solution to businesses, and whether it is a viable solution for tenants depends on their individual needs.

Some situations where core-flex would benefit include:

• A tenant currently in the co-working space that has successfully grown its business and desires to take on its own core space that will be built and managed by CapitaLand 
• A tenant currently located in the core space that has a special project team requiring a dedicated “war-room” for six months. This team can be accommodated in the coworking space within the same building
• A tenant that wants to create a standalone “lab-like” environment where its innovation team can brainstorm and develop new ideas. The team can make use of purposebuilt innovation spaces in CapitaLand’s office buildings 
• A tenant that has converted its meeting rooms to workspaces as it expands, and thus now requires new meeting spaces. The company can take up meeting room packages with CapitaLand to access collaboration spaces at its office buildings.
  

Is core-flex right for you?

Here are some factors to consider:

Growth plans

What are your company’s growth plans in the next 12 months? How certain are these plans? Is there a possible merger or acquisition in the pipeline?

The core-flex solution could help companies unable to commit to long-term space requirements but have immediate operational space needs to bridge the timing gap until business conditions are more predictable.

Transformation of the business and workplace

Is your office in need of an overhaul? Do you want to transform the way your employees work and collaborate with one another? Do you want to set up an innovation hub to accelerate business transformation?

While these objectives can potentially be achieved by designing your space differently, CapitaLand’s integrated “design, build and operate” option within the core-flex solution could transform your business and workplace.

Not only do flex spaces support employee engagement, the amenities and services available encourage collaboration, openness and knowledge-sharing. This is perfect for innovation teams, for instance, which typically benefit from members being able to work closely with one another.

Variable meeting/training needs

Are you always running out of meeting rooms? Are you paying rent to hold large training rooms that are underutilised?

The core-flex solution will provide tenants a wide variety of meeting spaces that are available on demand. Tenants with high volume requirements can sign up for meeting room packages to qualify for bulk discounts.

As the nature of work rapidly evolves, workplaces are increasingly adopting flexible spaces, which allow for greater productivity and enable companies to be more nimble in the face of uncertainties in the business environment. CapitaLand, with its core-flex model that innovatively combines traditional and flexible spaces for tenants, is leading the way by offering a novel solution to a trend that is here to stay.