How much will an office refurbishment cost in 2027?

If an office refurbishment is on your agenda for the coming year, one of the first questions you’re probably asking yourself is: how much is it going to cost? Planning spending and allocating budget is a crucial part of the preliminary planning, so we’re here to help you out.

Unfortunately, there’s no single figure we can give you. Office refurbishment costs can vary significantly depending on everything from the size and condition of your existing workspace to how much you actually want to change. It’s very much down to your individual needs. 

There are, however, some useful ballpark figures that can help you put a realistic starting point in place when it comes to figuring out what you want to spend. 

In this blog post, we explore typical office refurbishment costs going into 2027, what influences the price of a project and some of the ways you can make your budget work harder.

How much does an office refurbishment cost?

As a general rule of thumb, for Cat B refurbishment projects, you could typically expect costs to fall somewhere between £50 and £120 per square foot, depending on the scope and specification of the project.

A helpful way to break that down into tiers is:

• Low-range refurbishment: approx. £50–£70 per sq. ft. 
• Mid-range refurbishment: approx. £70–£90 per sq. ft.
• High-range refurbishment: approx. £90–£120 per sq.

So, for example, Cat B refurbishment works for a 10,000 sq. ft. office could cost somewhere in the region of £500,000 to £1.2 million, depending on various different factors. 

It’s important to stress that these are guideline figures rather than quotes and that they relate specifically to Cat B works. This means it doesn’t include any structural, electrical or architectural elements that come with Cat A or Shell & Core projects. 

Other things you may need to budget for also include:

• Office furniture
• AV and workplace technology
• IT equipment and infrastructure
• Professional or statutory fees
• Surveys and approvals
• Temporary working arrangements or relocation costs

Location can make a difference too. An office refurbishment in London will typically cost more than a comparable project elsewhere in the UK due to factors such as labour rates, access and logistics. Rather than applying a blanket London rate, though, it’s much more accurate to assess the individual building and project requirements.

We’ll explore other factors that influence how much an office refurb costs later. But if you’d like a specific quote that matches your requirements and your budget, that’s where a professional office design company, like the Penketh Interiors team, comes in.

What does an office refurbishment involve?

Before we get further into costs, it’s useful to clarify what we mean when we talk about an office refurbishment.

An office refurbishment involves updating or transforming an existing workspace, rather than taking a new or empty commercial space and fitting it out from scratch. The extent of that transformation can vary enormously.

At one end of the scale, an office refurbishment might involve refreshing finishes, replacing flooring, redecorating and making relatively minor changes to the layout. At the other end of the scale, it could mean stripping significant parts of the existing workplace back, completely reconfiguring how the space is used and upgrading mechanical, electrical and other building services.

That difference in scope is exactly why office refurbishment costs can vary so widely.

If your existing office already has good-quality flooring, lighting, furniture or partitions that can be retained and incorporated into the new design, for example, there may be opportunities to reduce costs.

If a lot of the existing environment needs removing or replacing before the new workspace can take shape, on the other hand, the investment is naturally going to be higher.

What affects the cost of an office refurbishment?

Square footage (i.e. how big the space is) gives you a useful starting point for estimating costs, but two offices of exactly the same size can still have very different refurbishment budgets.

Here are some of the biggest factors that will determine where your project falls within that guideline £50–£120 per sq. ft. range.

Scope of the refurb

One of the biggest cost factors is simply how much you want to change. If the existing office layout fundamentally works and the project is mostly about refreshing outdated finishes and just improving certain areas, there may be far less construction work involved.

If your current workspace no longer supports the way your people work, a more substantial office refurbishment might involve changing the layout, integrating new tech, creating new work settings, replacing partitions, upgrading kitchens or altering electrical services.

Condition of the existing space

One of the advantages of refurbishing an existing office is the opportunity to work with what you already have. However, how much can realistically be retained depends on its age, condition and suitability for the new design.

Existing flooring, ceilings, lighting, partitioning and building services may still have plenty of life left in them and can be easily repurposed or incorporated into a new design scheme. In other cases, ageing infrastructure or damaged finishes may need to be repaired or replaced before the other parts of the refurbishment can begin.

This is why understanding the condition of the space early in the process is so important. A detailed assessment can help identify potential issues before they become unexpected costs or snags later on.

Mechanical and electrical requirements

Some of the biggest costs in an office refurbishment are often the things you barely notice once the project is finished. A refurbishment that largely works around existing electrical services, for example, is likely to look very different financially from one that needs extensive mechanical and electrical updates.

Heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, power and data all need to support the new office layout. Things like improving a meeting room, adding more enclosed spaces or changing occupancy levels can have knock-on effects on these kinds of elements. Especially if you want to add room booking systems or real-time occupancy trackers into your space.

Specification and finishes

The products, materials and finishes you select will also influence the overall cost. We tend to categorise projects as bronze, silver or gold, which is dictated by how budget-friendly or premium the various components are. Marble-effect vinyl, for instance, is going to be a whole lot less expensive than the real thing. 

Flooring is a great example. There can be a significant difference between specifying an economical commercial carpet tile and a premium floor finish across thousands of square feet. Wood-look vinyl planks, for instance, are much less costly than real wood flooring. The same applies to lighting, partition systems, doors, kitchen finishes and bespoke joinery.

Higher specification doesn’t automatically mean better office design, though. A good commercial interior design strategy should help identify where investment will have the biggest impact and where more cost-effective choices can achieve the same objective to optimise the budget.

How much you can reuse

Refurbishment projects present a particularly good opportunity to retain, recycle, reuse and repurpose what is already in your workspace. This can help reduce unnecessary spending while also lowering the amount of waste generated by the project, helping to reduce your carbon footprint (double win).

Rather than automatically replacing everything, consider what could be incorporated into the new design. Existing furniture might be relocated or reconfigured. Soft seating could potentially be reupholstered. Storage, partitioning and other features may be reusable elsewhere in the floorplan. Same with decor, lighting and indoor plants (if they’re still thriving, of course). 

Location and access

As we touched on earlier, where your office is located can affect your refurbishment costs too. London projects, for example,  will generally cost more than equivalent office refurbishments in other locations like Manchester or Liverpool. Labour costs are part of that, but practical considerations such as deliveries, parking, loading restrictions and access can also have an impact.

The building itself also matters as much as the postcode. Refurbishing an easily accessible, empty office is a very different logistical exercise from carrying out work on an upper floor of a busy city-centre building. Refurbishing listed buildings also comes with its own complications and cost implications. 

Read more: Navigating office fit out regulations in listed London buildings >>

Whether the office will remain occupied

Not every business can simply move out while an office refurbishment takes place. If the space needs to stay operational while the project happens, that can introduce additional logistical and labour considerations that can come with extra costs. Requiring contractors to work out-of-hours or during the weekend is a common example, as this sometimes means additional rates. 

If employees need to continue using the workplace during the project, the refurbishment may need to be completed in phases. Certain work might also need to happen during hours when staff aren’t there to minimise noise, dust and disruption.

How to make your office refurbishment budget work harder

Keeping costs under control doesn’t necessarily mean choosing the cheapest possible option at every turn. In fact, doing that can sometimes prove more expensive over the lifespan of the workplace as it leads to more replacements or repairs.

Instead, it’s about understanding what you need the refurbishment to achieve and investing in the places that matter most and cost-engineering smartly.

Here’s how:

Start with the problems you need to solve

Before discussing colours, finishes or furniture (all the fun stuff), establish why you’re refurbishing in the first place. The reasons behind the project will then help you make more informed decisions and approach the project more strategically. 

Perhaps your office no longer has enough meeting rooms. Maybe hybrid working has left rows of desks sitting empty while collaboration spaces are constantly crammed. Your workplace might simply look tired, or perhaps it no longer represents your brand or the experience you want to give employees and visitors.

Clear objectives make it much easier to prioritise your budget because every decision can be measured against what the project actually needs to achieve.

Read more: How office design can strengthen your employer branding >>

Keep what still works

An office refurbishment doesn’t need to mean ripping everything out and starting again. A good workplace refurbishment strategy should consider the existing space first and identify what still has value. Retaining suitable elements can free up more of the funds for the areas that genuinely need the most TLC. 

Spend wisely

Lower upfront cost doesn’t always mean better value. Commercial workplaces experience a lot of wear, so flooring, furniture and finishes need to withstand everyday use. Selecting products based purely on a low price point to keep initial costs down can lead to more frequent repairs and replacement later on.

Where possible, think about the lifetime of the workspace rather than simply the cost on completion – think long-term, not short-term. Durable products, reputable manufacturers, adaptable layouts, high-quality AV and tech and furniture that can be reconfigured as your needs change can all help your investment go further.

Build flexibility into the design (and don’t rely on trends)

Nobody can predict exactly how their business will work several years from now, so designing every area around one highly specific use can create expensive problems later. Reconfigurable furniture, modular layouts and multi-purpose spaces can make it easier for the workplace to evolve as headcount, working patterns and business needs change.

The less you need to physically rebuild every time something changes, the longer your refurbishment investment can continue delivering value. That’s why it’s also super important not to base the foundational design decisions on trends that change quickly. 

Work with an experienced office refurbishment company

Getting specialists involved early can help you understand what is achievable within your available budget before you become too attached to ideas that may not be financially realistic.

An experienced office refurbishment company can assess your existing workspace, help you pinpoint your workplace issues, identify opportunities to retain and reuse elements, highlight potential risks and advise where spending more (or less) will make the greatest difference.

It also gives you a clearer picture of the overall project before work begins, rather than discovering additional requirements once everything is already underway.

Paying for an office refurbishment

Any space transformation can present a significant financial investment, particularly for larger workplaces, so it’s worth considering how to pay for an office refurbishment as part of the planning process.

Businesses might choose to self-fund the project, explore commercial lending or grants where applicable, use asset or lease financing or fund different elements of the project in different ways. Financing can provide an alternative to paying the full cost upfront and help businesses spread expenditure over a longer period, protecting working capital for other priorities.

If funding is going to form part of your refurbishment strategy, factoring it into the conversation early can help you establish a realistic project budget from the start. 

Get in touch with the Penketh Interiors team today to find out how our experienced team can help bring your project to life.