Four Spatial Dilemmas Facing Scale-Up Startups on the Verge of Office Expansion

Are you preparing to scale up to a 330–990 m² (100–300 pyeong) office after a successful funding round? Whoever takes charge of the office relocation inevitably falls into an endless series of spatial dilemmas: "How large should the lounge be?", "How should we lay out the executive office?", and so on. Instead of a one-size-fits-all answer to these daunting questions, SPACEBASE proposes the "optimal decision criteria" tailored precisely to your company. Find out right now the core know-how behind how SPACEBASE reconciles countless considerations through real project meetings and, in a single construction, completes "an office that keeps functioning exactly as first designed, for years to come."

Dilemma 1. "How large should we make the lounge?" (Shared space vs. purpose-built space)

🤔 The dilemma "We need a town hall space where all employees can gather, but we worry it'll just sit empty most of the time and waste valuable space."

💡 The spatial solution SPACEBASE proposes

This is one of the most common concerns companies face as they scale up from startup. For dilemmas like this, SPACEBASE finds the answer based on a space's "frequency of use" and "multi-purpose potential." Suppose, for example, that you need a space capable of holding 100 people, used at least once a month for external training or company-wide meetings. In this case, insisting on a dedicated auditorium that mostly sits idle is not efficient. SPACEBASE instead creates an environment where, on ordinary days, people can hold casual meetings freely in an open lounge. We propose a direction that naturally redistributes the demand otherwise concentrated in regular meeting rooms toward the lounge.

Considering a space's frequency of use and multi-purpose potential, SPACEBASE proposes designing the town hall meeting area so it can serve multiple functions. (WAVVE project case)

In a project SPACEBASE actually carried out, we applied movable folding doors (* open foldable doors made of several connected panels that can fold up, and depending on the situation, can divide or combine spaces as needed) on every wall of a 100-person space, and carefully positioned monitors sized to each meeting room. As a result, the space could be used as one enormous town hall, or split into two separate areas. When needed, it could be flexibly divided into three individual seminar rooms, maximizing the space's usability. In this way, SPACEBASE closely analyzes the communication style between the interior task-force team and the organization, and designs the optimal lounge form in which no single space is left neglected and every space functions to the fullest each day .

Movable folding doors and custom-fit monitors were arranged in a 100-person space so it could be used for a variety of purposes. (AB180 project proposal case)

Folding doors can be applied so that two spaces can be expanded or, conversely, separated for use. As shown in the image above, using glass as the material can even add a sense of openness to the space. (FuturePlay project case)

Dilemma 2. "Assigned seating vs. free seating—which is right?" (Reconciling by work style)

🤔 The dilemma "We'd like to adopt free seating in line with the trend, but work styles differ by job function, and we worry about pushback or inconvenience from certain departments."

💡 The spatial solution SPACEBASE proposes

Rather than blindly following trends, SPACEBASE closely analyzes the client's detailed requests and finds the most suitable solution based on the "work characteristics of each job function." Spatial zoning can be applied differently according to each department's characteristics and needs. For example, there can be cases where spatial separation is needed by department work characteristics—such as "developer-only free seating" where dual monitors are essential, and "assigned seating for the HR, finance, and legal teams" requiring built-in bookshelves with door-lock features for strict security. In fact, to maximize members' work focus and keep their circulation paths from tangling, SPACEBASE has even designed developer-only seating and general department seating onto entirely separate floors.

Above all, what matters most is scalability matched to the company's pace of growth. From the initial design, SPACEBASE secures generous spacing of 1,800 mm or more between seats and aisles, while focusing on building "circulation that does not change" so that seats can easily be added later as headcount grows. This is because it's important to look not only at the present form but also at the situation after scaling up.

Considering the company's pace of growth, SPACEBASE proposes securing generous spacing between seats and aisles. (Star Law Firm project case)

Dilemma 3. "Does the executive office need symbolic presence, or openness?" (The form of leadership space)

🤔 The dilemma "We're debating whether to eliminate the executive office for a flatter culture. But when we think about external VIP meetings or security issues, we need an independent space—and yet making it closed off might come across as too authoritarian."

💡 The spatial solution SPACEBASE proposes

Flat-office trends—such as removing partitions or tearing down the walls of an authoritarian-looking executive office—have grown more common. But what matters most is designing the space based on the organization's actual work culture. Simply following trends or reflecting only fragmentary opinions when building a space can cause problems down the line. You might have to re-erect a partition wall over security concerns, or conversely, end up tearing down walls after building a closed room despite frequent communication. Such frequent revisions harm the space's unity and incur enormous additional costs.

To prevent this in advance, rather than reflecting the client's requests exactly as given, SPACEBASE communicates closely throughout the entire process from planning to construction, grounded in continuous design proposals. We analyze the executive's actual work style, the frequency of external visitors, and more from multiple angles, and we propose not a single approach but several alternatives. It's a method of clearly explaining the pros and cons of each option and finding the optimal compromise together .

A case where a small meeting room was placed next to the executive office to guide natural circulation without an authoritarian feel. To complete an efficient, consistent office that needs no future reconstruction, SPACEBASE finds the optimal solution together through multifaceted proposals and close communication.

We went through this very process in a startup project we actually carried out. SPACEBASE proposed creating a phone booth and a small meeting room separately, right next to the executive office. It was a design that, without taking on an overly authoritarian or closed-off form, used the circulation path to naturally encourage the executive to use them first. In this way, through constant communication and multifaceted proposals, SPACEBASE builds the most efficient and consistent office—one that requires little major reconstruction even as time and circumstances change.

Dilemma 4. "Is detail the real cost? The hidden elements that are easy to miss"

🤔 The dilemma "We made the overall layout and design look great, but once we actually moved in and started working, unexpected inconveniences kept cropping up in small, trivial places."

💡 The spatial solution SPACEBASE proposes

When SPACEBASE begins a project, we don't decide everything at once. Starting from the planning stage, we go through meetings at each phase and relentlessly check even the tiniest elements that clients tend to overlook. This is because design with the future in mind is completed in the details.

Looking at SPACEBASE's actual project meeting notes, we attend meticulously to real users' convenience—for instance, "changing the recycling bin door to a swing type" *(for reference, since the pandemic we sometimes recommend not fitting a door at all, for the sake of hygiene and convenience), "adjusting the upper sink cabinet depth from 300 mm to 350 mm," and "checking in advance with the furniture vendor for any wobble in the table legs" so there are no problems after move-in.

SPACEBASE's actual project meeting notes contain the meticulous care that attends, from the planning stage, to even the small details clients tend to overlook.

We also discuss invisible infrastructure in fine detail—such as where and how to install the LAN cabling for telecommunications. Anything not yet decided during a meeting is re-proposed as a design in the next meeting. We confirm and complete everything to the end so that nothing has to be torn up and redone over minor inconveniences after the initial construction. This is because attending to seemingly trivial details is, in the end, the surest way to prevent unnecessary additional costs.

The photo above is a case where, for hygiene and convenience, no door was fitted to the recycling bin at all—showing SPACEBASE's attentiveness in relentlessly checking even a single small detail.

From the right size for a lounge, to seat zoning by department, to the form of the executive office, to small furniture details—there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the concerns a startup office faces. But if you follow only fragmentary demands and trends, you'll have to revise circulation paths and pay enormous additional costs every time the company grows. This is exactly why SPACEBASE goes through phased meetings to present various alternatives and relentlessly attends to the details.

Rather than flashiness for the moment, SPACEBASE aims for "a space whose original design values do not change," accommodating growth two to three years ahead. If you want to prevent unnecessary reconstruction with a single construction, and to flexibly capture your company's own organizational culture, talk it over with the SPACEBASE team—your dependable space partner.

*Photos and designs provided by SPACEBASE

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