May 16, 2014

Facilities managers beaten to coveted place in boardroom by a piece of software

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Technology

Machines and boardrooms don’t mix well

It has always been the ambition of facilities managers to take their place in the boardroom. Yet, after thirty years of trying, with only the occasional cursory glimpse of the C-Suite, it appears they have been beaten to it by a piece of software. A venture capital firm called Deep Knowledge Ventures has appointed a computer algorithm to its board of directors. This is either the shape of things to come or a gimmick*, but the software will have a vote on whether the speculators will invest in a particular business or not. The software, called Vital, won’t be making judgements on gut instinct but will take the non-visceral route of chewing through huge amounts of data before coming to a conclusion.

*It’s a gimmick.

May 16, 2014

BCO office standards include guidance on provisions for cyclists for first time

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace design

The new edition to the British Council for Offices’ Guide to Specification, which provides guidance on industry standards for workplaces across the UK will contain guidance on provisions for cyclists for the first time. The new 2014 edition to the office standards guide due for publication later in the year, recommends one shower per ten cycle spaces and one cycle space per 100m2, reflecting the evolving face of travel to and from the office environment. Another significant change is to the recommended workplace density, which has been reviewed to take into account the ever more diverse way businesses are now using their workspaces; which includes the adoption of more flexible working patterns. The report states that: “Considering workplace density alone may overstate the demands placed on building infrastructure, or result in over provision if used as the basis for design.”

May 14, 2014

HR and Facilities Management bodies to collaborate on future of workplace

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Workplace

One of the main themes at the ThinkFM conference yesterday was the acknowledgement that facilities management and HR need to break down the silos that often exist between the two disciplines. This was the message of Chris Kane, CEO of BBC Commercial Properties, who explained that the British Institute of Facilities Management will be collaborating with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development on a number of projects to investigate how both communities of professionals are evolving and adapting to the changing workplace. It marked the end of a conference which began the day with a talk by Peter Cheese, the CEO of the CIPD, who remarked that both professions were in the business of getting the most of people in the working environment and why it is vital that those tasked with managing these key resources within organisations need to work together to maximise the value of its workforce. More →

May 14, 2014

World’s most energy efficient office retro-fit opens in Norway

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

What is claimed to be the world’s most energy efficient office building has been opened in Norway. Powerhouse Kjørbo in Oslo is Norway’s first energy-positive building and the, according to its developers, the first in the world to be retro-fitted to produce more energy than it consumes. The building is part of the Powerhouse project, a collaboration between a range of organisations with an interest in developing and promoting energy efficient office buildings. The Powerhouse consortium defines an energy-positive building as any building which generates more clean and renewable energy in its operational phase than was used in its construction and lifetime, including materials, operation and disposal.

May 13, 2014

Workplace design, Facebook likes and the need of companies to be your friend

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Companies put an awful lot of time and money into getting people to like them on social media these days. While it would be easy to see the like button on Facebook as the primary conduit for this corporate neediness, but it cuts across many aspects of the ways in which companies work, including their relationships with employees and the ways in which they develop new forms of workplace design and management. This is most evident in the tech palaces which are aimed at the same digital natives that firms habitually target with their online marketing, but the need to make customers and employees friends of the business cuts across a wide range of sectors. The workplace is yet another channel of communicating chumminess, and it offers many of the same challenges as social media.

May 9, 2014

British Land announces first letting at Marble Arch House in West End

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Just a month after its launch, Marble Arch House in London’s West End, which includes 61,200 sq ft of new office space over seven floors, has been let by British Land. Fulcrum Asset Management has signed a ten year lease at £78.50 per sq ft, and will move into the 9,000 sq ft fifth floor of the building in the summer. British Land entered into an agreement with The Portman Estate to purchase and redevelop Marble Arch House, located on Seymour Street in the Portman Village, in 2011. The scheme, designed by Bennetts Associates Architects, includes 6,400 sq ft of green roof space, designed to encourage wild grasses, as well as birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife. The office space features natural light from both east and west, with shading louvres that minimise glare and overheating, while maintaining views towards Hyde Park. More →

May 6, 2014

Walkie talkie lands two more tenants as demand for City space grows

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The ‘Walkie Talkie’ skyscraper, 20 Fenchurch EC3 – dubbed the ‘Walkie Scorchie’, after its unusual design was found to reflect and magnify the sun’s rays onto nearby parked cars – is now 87 per cent let, after securing a further two tenants. Insurance firm CNA and UK law firm DWF LLP are taking 35,000 sq ft and 43,000 sq ft respectively at the 38-storey building. The latest two lettings come after joint developers Canary Wharf and Land Securities achieved the building’s first completion milestone on 17 March, when they handed over possession of the first completed office floors to tenants. The rest of the office floors were completed as planned in April. The remaining space, the Sky Garden – a landscaped garden, dining and viewing area on the top three floors, which will be operated by rhubarb – remains on schedule for completion before the end of the year. More →

May 2, 2014

Unprecedented rise in demand for commercial property outstrips supply

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

There was a marked increase in demand for office space in the first quarter of this year. According to the latest RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) commercial property survey, tenant demand for commercial property rose at an unprecedented rate; with 52 per cent more surveyors polled reporting higher demand from clients for space. Proving that the recovery is no longer limited to the capital, this increased demand is being seen in all regions outside of London. However, demand for commercial property is fast outstripping supply, resulting in rising rents. Following four quarters of declining supply as suitable commercial space is snapped up – 30 per cent in this latest poll are reporting a further drop in the availability of office space, with expectations for rising rents at the highest level since before the financial crisis. More →

May 2, 2014

New report aims to guide future direction of facilities management

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Knowledge, News

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published a new report authored by Dr Matthew Tucker of Liverpool John Moores University which aims to help shape the future direction and policy of the facilities management sector in the UK. Balancing the performance scorecard: how to maximise customer feedback in Facilities Management develops a customer performance measurement framework for facilities management based on a range of critical themes which emerged from the vast amounts of qualitative data collected across 23 in-depth interviews with a diverse range of FM professionals. The interview subjects came from both an in-house and outsourced background and across a range of business sectors. The report claims to offer a key set of recommendations to enable facilities managers to maximise their ability to capture customer feedback to improve the provision of space and facilities.

April 30, 2014

CoreNet issues phase one of road-map to zero energy buildings

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

CoreNet Global and the Rocky Mountain Institute have issued new guidance that lays out a framework for corporations to better manage their energy usage. According to Next Generation Energy Management, corporations have made progress in energy management and performance since 2007 when CoreNet Global and RMI first collaborated on this topic. Over two-thirds of corporations now have a sustainability agenda and staff as well as energy management plans, and nearly half have dedicated energy managers, a position that was only just emerging in 2007. However, research indicates that in many cases, these efforts have plateaued, so the new report is designed as Phase One of a road map toward the goal of net-zero buildings, in which buildings use the same or less energy than they generate through the use of renewables such as solar and wind power. More →

April 30, 2014

BCO’s London workplace design and fit-out award winners revealed

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Yesterday the British Council for Offices announced what it considers London and the South East’s best recently completed workplaces at an awards dinner. The winners included One Eagle Place, BBC Broadcasting House and Brent Civic Centre, who will now go forward to the national awards which will be announced in October. Earlier this month, the regional finalists for Scotland, the Midlands and East Anglia were announced. Ceremonies will be held to announce the regional winners for the North of England and South West during May. Yesterdays’ event saw PwC’s One Embankment Place designed by t p bennett crowned as Refurbished/Recycled Workplace, Argent’s One Stable Street office win the small office category, while the award for Best Fit Out of a Workplace went to The Walbrook Building designed by Scott Brownrigg. The renovation of BBC Broadcasting House and Brent Civic Centre shared the award for Best Corporate Workplace.

April 25, 2014

Innovative public sector property scheme to be extended

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

One of the UK’s most innovative property strategies, the One Public Sector Estate programme is to be extended, the Government has announced. The initiative was established in June of last year in 12 pilot areas as a way for central and local government departments to share offices and other public sector property. The programme will now be extended to as many as 15 new authorities across the country with the Cabinet Office claiming that the pilot schemes have already saved around £21m in under a year and that the sale of property freed up by the scheme will raise an additional £88 million. The strategy is jointly managed by the property arm of the Cabinet Office who are responsible for similar initiatives in central government, and the Local Government Association.