Office Space in Town (OSiT), the London flexible office space provider, has added beds for staff to sleep in to its offer in what it is describing as a "new era for office life", one that inevitably raises questions about work/life balance.
The launch comes as Wise's new headquarters in London, developed by HB Reavis, have opened with saunas for staff to meet in, the latest example of the battle to provide top-of-the-range amenity and luxury in offices to recruit staff.
The Cabins, which OSiT describes as a suite of five luxury bedrooms, is being launched at its Monument offices in response it says to increasing numbers of commuters wanting to "play late in the city and skip the morning rush hour", and to accommodate international clients looking for a "convenient and luxurious hotel-quality stay close to the office".
The group said the bedrooms form part of a wider vision to create ‘Omni-Offices’ which it describes as a "one-stop shop for all of OSiT’s tenants including nurseries and restaurants to healthcare clinics, yoga studios and dog grooming facilities".
The company said it is now seeking to acquire new, larger Zone 1 London sites ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 square foot to allow it to roll out the vision.
It says its London flexible office locations - including ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in Waterloo, ‘Nautical’, in St Paul’s and ‘Monopoly’ in Liverpool Street - are already equipped with a wide range of high-quality amenities including rooftop bars, gyms and "speak easy social lounges".
Occupiers of The Cabins at OSiT Monument can visit The Deck, a rooftop café and bar open late with views over the River Thames.
The addition of luxury beds for staff to sleep in will inevitably lead to questions about work/life balance, particularly at long-hour jobs such as the legal profession.
Giles Fuchs, co-founder of Office Space in Town, explains that the way people have worked has changed and the spaces people work in must evolve with it.
Peter Hall, Global COO/Head of Innovation for legal services firm Cognia Law and a tenant of OSiT Monument, has tested The Cabins and says it is very convenient to accommodate visitors close to the office. He says it simplifies out of time zone calls and meetings that need to be conducted from the office.
"We regularly have our overseas team members visiting our London office from Monday evening and Friday morning, and this makes the planning and execution of the visit painless.''
International architecture and design firm HLW this week said it had completed the interior design and fit-out of the relocated headquarters for global technology company, Wise, in Shoreditch, London – Worship Square. It says that inspired by Wise's Estonian roots, the offices balance a focus on wellness with agile workspaces that create environments for teams to "grow, thrive, and collaborate".
The five-storey, 83,000-square-foot office pioneers the use of a sauna, nap pods, massage chairs, and a fitness studio.
For Estonians a trip to the sauna is a daily occurrence and HLW says that for employees, office saunas are spaces for cross-team socialising and relaxing and a "powerful icebreaker for all teams". It adds that in the UK, the number of public saunas has jumped from 45 in 2023 to 147 so far in 2025 – tripling in the space of two years – according to the British Sauna Society.
Pendrick Brown, managing director, London, at HLW, says that the headquarters balances the "restorative with the collaborative" and is "designed for the needs of a dynamic team, with agility and adaptability in-built from the ground-up".
In terms of whether offices are becoming over-amenitised post the Covid lockdowns, Brown says: "It really depends on the client and their staff. It is so important to get the brief right at the beginning. I remember decades ago a law firm that had sleep pods put in the basements in London and that was definitely because they did not want staff to go home so they could work late. Everything evolved through the pandemic though as everyone was at home and of course lawyers were able to set themselves up very well at home. Now you are having to earn the commute back across all sectors.
"The post work culture of going for a beer with colleagues has gone a bit, but if staff know they can stick around and not have to commute back necessarily you can have more of those offline conversations where so much gets learned. Willis Towers Watson put in hotel rooms a long time ago and that is a great environment in the heart of Fenchurch Street for people flying in to the business.
"But it can go wrong if you are trying to do these things just because you think you have to give staff everything. It has be about making the office as seamless and frictionless as at home. The amenity is an extension of that. There is definitely a balance now between what the landlord can offer - say putting in an auditorium - so that the tenant has more space to do what they need. The nap pods and break out areas I think offer shorter break space, but don't encourage people to be at their desk 24/7. What you have to think is are we doing it for the right reasons, and that is for the employer and employee to be as productive as possible. There has been some over-amenitised space though so the important thing is to get the brief right."
It is clear that tenants are demanding more and more from their offices. Dorian Wragg, Partner and Head of Commercial Property at Bruton Knowles, points out: “There’s a clear shift away from outdated, period-style office buildings that no longer meet modern needs. From smart technology and biophilic design to quiet zones and community hubs, the office of 2025 is about creating an experience that brings people together.”
A key question is the cost of introducing this amenity worth it for landlords and office operators?
A recent report from London offices adviser RX London in partnership with autonomous amenity and gym provider for real estate Refit showed that wellness facilities and gyms in particular were proving crucial - and cost-effective - in securing occupiers.
It found that previously overlooked areas, such as basements and storage rooms, are now being reimagined as wellness hubs to maximise the use of low-value spaces but also creating a unique selling point for office buildings for potential occupiers.
Henry Sims, co-founder and COO of Refit, said at The Carter building in London the installation of state-of-the-art gym and studio facilities has exceeded expectations. "Our tenant survey revealed that 20% of respondents cancelled external gym memberships, while over 50% reported increased likelihood of regular office attendance due to these new amenities.
“While the capex was covered by the developer, the occupier was happy to cover the running costs via the service charge, creating an outsized return on investment for both parties.”
Helena Pryce and Hannah Buxton and RX London, who co-authored the report, say wellness amenities have moved from being a luxury to a necessity.
"By investing in multi-functional wellness spaces, landlords are not only improving the lettability of their assets and stickiness of their income, but also contributing to the health, happiness, and productivity of the workforce occupying their spaces," they write.
But landlords will be watching the performance of additions such as beds and saunas to see if they become an essential for staff going forwards, or investments that begin to erode important differences between work and home life.