November 5, 2020

Leadership in a new age of virtuality

by Andrew Mawson • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology, Workplace design

We are living through a fundamental transformation in the way we work. The pandemic has forced organisations to go virtual. New government guidelines, including a tiered alert system, suggest that this will be the norm for the foreseeable future. But step back from the noise and it is easy to see how the current crisis is simply accelerating the inevitable. A confluence of forces, including advancements in technology and infrastructure, increasing globalisation, shifting demographics and COVID-19, has enabled greater connectivity and mobility, making obvious to organisations, their leadership and individuals the wisdom of adopting flexible work models. More →

November 4, 2020

New Framework to drive a healthier and more equitable built environment

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News, Workplace design

After a multi-year global consultation, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) launches the Health & Wellbeing Framework — a comprehensive educational tool for a healthy and equitable built environment. With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the link between the built environment and human health into focus, the Framework’s six principles span indoor air quality, human rights in the supply chain, climate change resilience and more. More →

October 30, 2020

Organisations shift attitudes on meeting costs of home office setup

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

Eighty-two percent of US based employers now believe the organisation should absorb the cost of a home office setup for employees that work from home full-time. This is a dramatic increase over those who did so before COVID-19. These and other findings from The Future of Home Office Cost Sharing survey from Global Workplace Analytics and Design Public Group, will lead to profound changes in how companies procure and distribute technology and furniture, budget for workplaces, attract and retain talent, and manage safety risk, according to the report’s authors. More →

October 28, 2020

It`s not just businesses that need to wake up to changes in the way we work. Governments do too

by Jeremy Stein • Comment, Workplace design

We have come a long way since the government began encouraging home working in March, ahead of the national lockdown. It seems wildly naïve now to assume that we would all be back in the office two or three weeks later as if nothing had ever happened. After many months of mixed messages regarding ‘stay at home’ versus ‘go back to work’, many business owners and employees quite rightly feel that the whole process seems like one step forward, two steps back. And yet, one thing that has become clear for all office-based businesses is that working life has changed forever. More →

October 28, 2020

British Sugar HQ named best corporate office in England’s central region

by Jayne Smith • News, Workplace design

CPMG Architects is celebrating success after its designs for the British Sugar head office scooped the title of Corporate Office of the Year at the British Council for Offices (BCO) Midlands and Central England Awards last week. More →

October 26, 2020

Office design should embrace the new digital workplace

by John Comacchio • Comment, Workplace design

It almost goes without saying that how we work and interact with each other has changed dramatically over the past few months. We have come to rely on technology to replace in-person interactions, be it for a meeting, birthday party, or dinner with friends. Thankfully, most people are able to stay digitally connected through the “three screens of our lives”—a mobile device, a tablet, and a desktop or laptop computer. This would not have been possible in the very recent past and it has profound implications for office design. More →

October 23, 2020

Daylight levels affect our perceptions of temperature

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Here’s the perfect story for the day the clocks turn back in the UK. Our perceptions of temperature can be affected by the levels of daylight we experience. That is the core finding of a new study from researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne led by Giorgia Chinazzo. The study published in the journal Scientific Reports claims to show for the first time that low levels of daylight can make people feel colder. More →

October 23, 2020

KI helps transform RFIB headquarters in The Gherkin

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design

Insurers RFIB have transformed their workplace strategy to embrace both traditional and new ways of working at ’s the firm’s new global headquarters at 30 St Mary Axe in London. Located on the twelfth floor of this landmark building, the new offices feature panoramic views and generous natural light. Offering an enhanced user and visitor experience, they are bright, open, flexible and high quality. More →

October 20, 2020

BCO London Region Awards winners announced

by Neil Franklin • Company news, News, Property, Workplace design

Five businesses have been recognised in London at the annual British Council for Offices’ (BCO) regional awards. This year, the prestigious event was held virtually as part of the BCO’s Festival Awards Week, which recognises the highest quality developments in the UK and sets the standard for excellence in the regional and national office sector. More →

October 20, 2020

The changing office landscape: what tenants want from their workspace

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News, Workplace design

A new report, released by workplace design consultancy, Peldon Rose, takes a look at the changing needs of office users as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The Office of the Future” report, commissioned in conjunction with workplace strategy and employee engagement specialists, WKspace, examines the impact on the pandemic has had on the changing needs of tenants. More →

October 19, 2020

From the archive: Preparing ourselves for the coming era of the boundless office ⁰

by Kelvin Bromley • Briefing, Flexible working, Premium Content, Workplace design

Originally published in Feb 2016. Ever since people first started working in modern offices just over a century ago, we’ve grown accustomed to the idea of a constantly evolving workplace. Trends in office design have tracked those in management thinking, social attitudes, technology, demographics, architecture, the economy and legislation. Yet for most of that elongated century, there were some underlying principles that remained pretty constant. More →

October 16, 2020

Younger people most affected by disconnect of remote work

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace design

Over a third of younger office workers forced to work from home feel remote, unfocused and less committed to their employers, posing a real threat to businesses in the medium and long term, new research from Oktra claims. Of 1,500 people surveyed, who used to work in an office full time but have been working at home for the last six months, the experience has changed the way that 71 percent of them feel about their employer; 85 percent have struggled with the experience of remote work. More →