Shard and Galaxy Soho contend for design of the year

by • Architecture, News, Workplace design

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The Design Museum has announced the contenders for the sixth annual Designs of the Year. They include the best designs from around the world in the last 12 months across seven categories: Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport. Selected by a panel of distinguished nominators, the awards compile the most original and exciting designs, prototypes and designers in the world today – brought together in a Design Museum exhibition from 20 March – 7 July 2013. More →

Greenest commercial building in the world opens for business

by • Architecture, Environment, News, Workplace design

The Bullitt Center, proclaimed as the greenest, most energy efficient commercial building in the world, is opening in Seattle. The goal of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies. Tenant are now moving into the six-storey, 50,000 square-foot building located at the intersection of Capitol Hill and the Central District in Seattle, Washington. More →

Urban design ideas needed for Vauxhall missing link

by • Architecture, News, Workplace design

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RIBA has announced the launch of a new international design competition for Vauxhall on London’s South Bank. The Business Improvement District (BID) for Vauxhall is seeking ideas to improve and enhance the public realm, providing the ‘Missing Link’ between the New US Embassy Quarter and the South Bank’s cultural hub. The competition is open to architects, landscape designers, urban designers and students worldwide. As with the New York ‘High Line’ competition multi-disciplinary design teams are encouraged. More →

Why standing up in the office can help you lose weight

by • Furniture, News, Workplace design

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Office workers can burn an extra 144 calories per day by standing rather than sitting at their desk, says a leading expert on exercise and health. Applying his knowledge of human physiology, Dr John Buckley, from Chester University’s Department of Clinical Sciences and Nutrition, has calculated that working at a standing desk for three hours a day will burn eight pounds of human fat in the course of a year, with no change to your job or leisure time activities.  More →

Seeing stars, new guidance on reducing obtrusive lighting

by • Lighting, News, Workplace design

RSL_slideThe Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) part of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has published its new SLL Guide to Limiting Obtrusive Light, which looks at ways of controlling obtrusive light and the design implications for the planning, design and specification of exterior lighting schemes.
While outdoor lighting is important for people’s work, safety and leisure, it can cause issues of sky glow, light trespass or glare. Obtrusive light can affect health if sleep is disturbed, and affect the visibility of the stars and the behaviour of flora and fauna. More →

Show stomping change as Maze prison site plans approved

by • News, Property, Workplace design

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The notorious Maze Long Kesh prison site in Northern Ireland where the ‘H’ block hunger strikes took place is to be redeveloped into an international standard showground designed by London-based firm Studio Egret West.
The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) was granted planning permission to relocate the Balmoral Show, (Ireland’s largest Agricultural and Food Show) to the site of the former Maze prison, after the Balmoral show outgrew the Kings Hall site where it has been held for 100 years. More →

It pays to check the green credentials of manufacturers

by • Environment, Furniture, Workplace design

Generation from Knoll

Generation from Knoll

There is a theory that when companies talk about issues such as corporate social responsibility they are doing so because it helps them to achieve their business goals. This is the coldly rational thing to do according to people like free market guru Milton Friedman who argues that companies should not actively pursue altruistic ends unless that pursuit is ultimately in the interest of their shareholders. As Friedman puts it: ‘Hypocrisy is virtuous when it serves the bottom line. Moral virtue is immoral when it does not’.

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What does 2013 hold for the facilities sector in the UK?

by • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Property, Workplace design

FMJ MJE_0000Insight publisher Mark Eltringham offers some thoughts about what the coming year holds in the latest issue of Facilities Management Journal including the ongoing existential crisis of facilities management, why the commercial property sector needs to catch up with occupiers and designers as well as a plea for everybody to set ambitious goals and make realistic claims about their environmental impact.

Free briefing – key technology trends for 2013

by • Briefing, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

Insight Briefing - 2013 Technologies_0000The latest of our free Insight Briefings, sponsored by Condeco, is now available to view and download. It explores the major workplace technology trends for 2013, including unified communications, BIM, space utilisation, the Cloud and BYOD asking not only what the technologies are in and of themselves, but what their likely implications are for workplace designers and managers. Just click the image above to view or download the report. 

Free Unified Comms Briefing available

by • Briefing, Facilities management, Knowledge, Premium Content, Property, Technology, Workplace design

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The latest technology that will revolutionise the way we work is now upon us. It is called unified communications and it is a principle that strikes at the very heart of this new world of fragmented yet interconnected work. It is a comparatively straightforward idea intended to solve a complex challenge. As organisations have started to adapt to an economy that is always-on, global and without boundaries of time and space, they have looked for ways to integrate technology to deliver a better working experience for employees, reduce costs both for themselves and their clients and improve their competitiveness. The Briefing can be downloaded here.

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