CEO of SiiLA, Giancarlo Nicastro, Moderates Office Connection Panel at ABIMAD 40

The 11th edition of Arena Office welcomed as guest speakers Marcos Saade, CEO of Spaceplan; Fernando Gorguet, Sales & Business Development at DeskBee; and Marina Risse, architect and co-founder of Stractos

Photo of the participants at the 11th edition of the Arena Office panel

By: SiiLA News

08/08/2025

This Friday (8), the final day of the ABIMAD 40 trade fair took place at São Paulo Expo Imigrantes, which also hosted the 11th edition of Arena Office, organized by Office Connection and sponsored by Cavaletti. SiiLA CEO Giancarlo Nicastro was invited to moderate a panel in the Office Connection space on the theme Offices in Transformation: What the Data Reveals About Occupancy Trends.

The conference featured guest speakers Marcos Saade, CEO of SpacePlan; Fernando Gorguet, Sales & Business Development at DeskBee; and Marina Risse, architect and co-founder of Stractos. The discussion addressed key topics in the commercial real estate market, ranging from the rise in corporate office occupancy rates to the implementation of ESG practices in client companies.

Occupancy Rate

The panel took place at the ABIMAD event, in São Paulo

The first topic addressed was the high current occupancy rate of offices, now at 80%, raising questions about the return to in-person work in the post-pandemic period and possible strategies companies are adopting to encourage employees back into the corporate environment."Hybrid work began as a trend, but today corporate buildings are viewed as more than just office space — they’re assets," said Marina.

"An 80% occupancy rate is very high. Just look at SiiLA’s data or the traffic on the streets. It’s more than just a return to the office — companies are looking to expand their teams and increase efficiency in product development," added Saade.

From another perspective, Gorguet offered an analytical view of corporate strategies. According to him, the demand for meeting rooms has grown nearly five times faster than for desks, highlighting the desire for closer collaboration among employees, as well as creating a more welcoming workplace: "One of the most important demands today is making it easier for employees to enter the office, replacing analog technology with digital, integrating data from security systems, and improving the employee experience."

Spaces or Interaction Fields?

"The way we design offices has completely changed," said Saade.

Later in the discussion, Saade shared an anecdote about people participating in the same meeting but scattered throughout the office, which raised the importance of integration and the need for new types of spaces. "Often people are so focused on what they’re doing that they don’t realize they may be disturbing someone nearby working on a report."

In cases where areas are poorly distributed and conflicting, this can trigger employees’ reluctance to be physically present at the company. Saade warned: "If you stay home too long, you become an antisocial professional who gets annoyed even by the sound of the air conditioner."

The suggested solution was to diversify workpoints in offices with spaces such as phone booths, decompression areas, brainstorming zones, and meeting rooms.

Gorguet also emphasized the importance of understanding employee movement in the workplace: "Real-time data is the biggest challenge. It’s not enough to have access control — you need to understand people’s behavior. That leads to efficiency in investment and in how the company is organized."

How Are Corporate Offices Chosen?

One of the big questions in the commercial real estate market is what drives leasing decisions. While the standard answer would be location, Marina took a different route: "Location is important, but cost-benefit will never go out of style. Clients now approach us wanting to understand their needs before making decisions — for example, what would be the ideal space size to meet their demand."

At the end of the panel, Saade turned the question back to the moderator. Nicastro replied: "It’s a combination of factors — proximity to public transportation, quality services, safety… and now, with the wellness trend, even gyms have become a factor to consider. But the golden rule in real estate is still location."

A Country Falling Behind

In the final part of the panel, participants raised a concern about education in Brazil and its impact on understanding the market. During a debate on ESG, Marina noted that Brazil, unfortunately, is often one step behind global trends, mainly due to a lack of knowledge and appreciation of new practices.

Echoing her point, Nicastro — CEO of SiiLA, a market intelligence solutions company — lamented: "People don’t see data as an investment, but as a cost. Data is essential for guiding business decision-making." He highlighted that the main barrier not only for the market but for the country as a whole is its shortcomings in education.

Office Connection and Arena Office

Leaders of the Real Estate Market

With nine years in the market, Office Connection, founded by Luis Onaga and Gustavo Sígolo, has positioned itself as the leading content and networking hub for professionals involved in the design, acquisition, and specification of products and services for the corporate commercial environment.

Arena Office emerged as a natural extension of the Office Connection concept. The project was born out of the need to create qualified spaces for debate and networking among architects, designers, developers, manufacturers, real estate professionals, facilities managers, and HR executives. Office Connection also offers various other formats in its portfolio, such as Office Summit, Happy Hour Connection, Talks, Lives, and Meetings.

Within this ecosystem, Arena Office has stood out by integrating strategic content into major industry fairs like ABIMAD — where it has just held its 11th edition — and by fostering discussions on innovation, organizational performance, corporate architecture, and workplace well-being.

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ABOUT SiiLA

Founded in 2015, SiiLA is the industry leading REsource for comprehensive commercial real estate market insights, news and events across Latin America. The SiiLA suite of innovative products drive greater accuracy, efficiency, and strategic advantages for top players in the commercial real estate industry.