After spending weeks talking about frameworks, audits, and strategy, I want to share what this looks like in practice.
Because the truth is, the most valuable workplace lessons rarely come from theory.
They come from watching real teams interact with real spaces over time.
The Seeka head office project is one I still think about often… not because it was the biggest or most complex build, but because it highlighted something I see again and again.
A New Building Doesn’t Automatically Fix Old Problems
When Seeka purchased the Kiwi 360 building in Te Puke, there was a real sense of opportunity. A new site. A new chapter. A chance to reset.
But partway through the refurbishment, a familiar pattern emerged.
Even with a new building, the proposed layout was recreating the same departmental silos the team had struggled with in their previous office. Sales here. Finance there. Marketing somewhere else. Minimal overlap.
It’s a common assumption that a new space will naturally lead to better collaboration.
In reality, space tends to reinforce existing behaviour unless it’s designed intentionally.
The Constraint Was the Clue
By the time we were engaged, the building structure was largely fixed. Major walls weren’t moving. The architecture wasn’t changing.
That could have been a limitation… but instead, it became the focus.
If we couldn’t change the structure, we needed to change the flow.
So rather than asking, “How do we add more rooms?”
We asked, “How do people move? Where do they pause? Where do paths cross?”
Designing for Everyday Interaction
Two moves made the biggest difference.
First, we turned the centre of the building into a shared collaboration zone… not a formal meeting space, but a place people naturally passed through and felt comfortable stopping in.
Second, we rethought the staff café. Not as a functional kitchen, but as a space people actually wanted to spend time in. Somewhere that felt like home base.
These weren’t dramatic gestures.
They were deliberate, human ones.
What Happened Next
A few weeks after the team moved in, I was told something that stuck with me:
Friday drinks had turned into most nights.
People weren’t being told to collaborate more.
They weren’t attending extra meetings.
They were simply staying because the space made it easy.
That’s when you know a workspace is working.
The Bigger Lesson
Most workplace challenges aren’t people problems.
They’re environment problems.
When a space supports connection, collaboration follows naturally.
When it doesn’t, even the best teams struggle.
This is why strategy matters.
Not to overcomplicate things, but to make sure the space is actually supporting the way the business wants to work, now and into the future.
See the Seeka Case Study here