It's no surprise an agile workspace has just been named the country's best office, as the latest research from Knight Frank reveals that the co-working trend has been adopted more widely in Australia (per capita) than anywhere else in the world.

The report, Activity Based Working, Co-Working, and Beyond details the trend ahead of Knight Frank's own plans to make their Sydney headquarters an activity-based workspace later this year.

The report cites Telsyte, who predict that by 2020, 66 percent of Australian workspaces will be a form of activity-based working, up from 28 percent today.

Activity-based working—where employees sit in different spots and use different computers each day—is not new, and was pioneered by Dutch Insurance company Interpolis in 1997.

Australian companies who have taken up the trend include Macquarie Bank (2007), Commonwealth Bank (2010), Fujitsu (2014), Rabobank (2015), as well as property companies Goodman, GPT and DEXUS.

This week, National Australia Bank's flexible workspace headquarters at 700 Bourke Street in Melbourne's Docklands was ranked as the country's best office space.

As defined by Knight Frank, activity-based workspaces involve multiple variations of workpoint styles, from the traditional workstation, to quiet spaces, casual spaces, breakout areas, formal meeting rooms and open collaborative areas, and spaces shared between employees and external clients/service providers.

The firm states this type of office is "here to stay," and will significantly impact on the commercial real estate sector as it allows companies to lease less floor space and dial up or down their workforce numbers "without any need for physical alteration nor leasing of additional space."

Related reading:

Four benefits of flexible workspaces

The future of offices: Why flexible workspaces for rent are becoming so popular