July 14, 2020
The expression “if these walls could talk” is taking on an entirely new meaning with the emerging opportunity to create digital twins for buildings. Across the entire lifecycle of structures such as office buildings, hospitals, airports and hotels, creating a digital twin can significantly reduce costs, improve efficiencies, speed construction delivery, as well as enhance performance and the user experience. More →
July 5, 2020
However much we know about the forces we expect to come into play in our time and however much we understand the various social, commercial, legislative, cultural and economic parameters we expect to direct them, most predictions of the future tend to come out as refractions or extrapolations of the present. This is a fact tacitly acknowledged by George Orwell’s title for 1984, written in 1948, and is always the pinch of salt we can apply to science fiction and most of the predictions we come across. More →
July 1, 2020
A new survey from Office Space in Town (OSiT) claims that the overwhelming majority of workers are looking forward to a return to the office. However, most also want to avoid the commute, have more control over their times and places of work and want new working environments that help them work better. They also have concerns that the return should be managed with their health and safety the priority. More →
June 29, 2020
The idea of diffusion of innovation has become so embedded in our culture, and most recently so associated with the adoption of new technology, that we might assume it happens in predictable ways. The steps between innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards seem intuitive and certain even when their peaks might be unsure. And yet history teaches us that sometimes new ideas can take years or even decades to take hold, even when they are potentially world-changing and relevant for the era in which they were formulated. More →
June 26, 2020
Between the 9th and 13th Centuries, the world’s intellectual centre and the source of much of its progress, discovery and achievement was Baghdad. This was the Muslim Golden Age and at its core was the House of Wisdom, established by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. At one point, this library housed the largest collection of books on Earth and drew the greatest minds in the world to share ideas, innovate and explore ancient sources of science and wisdom from Greek and Persian texts. Muslim, Jewish, Christian and atheist scholars worked together to advance human understanding until a slow decline culminated with a later Caliph declaring that its diversity of thought should bow to a literal interpretation of the Quran and Hadith.
June 25, 2020
Workplace design is – or should be – inextricably linked to both an organisation’s identity and its culture. The issue of workplace culture, and why it might succeed or fail, has become a matter of a great deal of study as the basis for work has moved on from the scientific management theories of the early to mid-20th Century. This aped the hierarchies, structures and forms of factories. It once prevailed but even now its vestiges remain, often in spite of the decades of research and a changing world of work that show us better ways of getting things done. More →
June 24, 2020
The BBC recently published a piece on its website to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Ridley Scott’s movie Alien and what it could tell us about office design and the workplace (of whatever sort). One of the interesting points raised in the piece was how the depiction of the conditions on board the spaceship Nostromo did away with the gloss and swish of previous visions of the future, replaced by grime, exposed services and strictly utilitarian interiors. The environment was one of the characters, a trick Ridley Scott later repeated in Bladerunner. More →
June 23, 2020
With millions of people now working from home or furloughed, they may be wondering when they will be asked to return to the office, perhaps imagining what their office will look like on their return and feeling a little anxious about going back to their work space. A TUC survey issued 27 April 2020 confirmed that 39 percent of workers returning to the office are concerned about safe distancing from their colleagues. More →
June 15, 2020
For years, forward-thinking employers have offered a choice of work spaces to match the varying levels of concentration and collaboration different tasks demand. And those spaces included employee’s homes. In March, all organisations were suddenly bounced by the COVID-19 restrictions into supporting homeworking for their office employees. It’s too early to say what lasting impact this will have on work patterns, though it’s a fair guess that the effective mass trial of remote working could trigger a cultural shift as more employers and employees see the benefits of using the home as an extension of the workplace, when it suits both parties. Research commissioned by BDG in April found that of 200 CEOs surveyed, almost one in four believes the long-term impact of COVID-19 will be “continued remote working”. More →
June 11, 2020
As the global community navigates the Coronavirus crisis, the nature of the workplace will be more important than ever. We have been working remotely on an unprecedented scale, and the benefits are clear – flexibility, time with family, and reduced commuting as a start. In some form, working from home is here to stay, even as returning to the physical office becomes possible. However, we have also discovered the limitations to remote working. While teams have been able to stay connected virtually, this cannot substitute for face-to-face collaboration, which is essential to fostering innovation. More →
June 10, 2020
The myth has it that John Lydon’s audition for the Sex Pistols consisted largely of wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt with the words I HATE scrawled above the prog rock group’s name. It appealed to the new band’s managers and its existing members at a time when they needed a singer with the right attitude as much as the right chops. Before Lydon’s involvement, bass guitarist Glen Matlock had taken to approaching anybody he saw of his age group with short hair to ask them if they could sing. This was a time when everybody had long hair.
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June 30, 2020
Cracking the issue of work after lockdown
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design