May 1, 2024
The British Council for Offices Awards for London have gone to seven office buildings across the city. Held at the Park Plaza hotel, the BCO’s annual London Awards Lunch recognised projects that demonstrate best practice in office design, fit-out, operation and sustainability, setting the standard for excellence across the sector. More →
April 29, 2024
The 2024 RICS first quarter monitor for the UK commercial property market indicates tentative signs that the market is moving into a recovery phase, though there is still ample evidence that there remains a challenging backdrop. Higher borrowing rates are holding back investments along with other structural headwinds such as a weak economy, online shopping, working from home (WFH) and environmental concerns. More →
April 27, 2024
Dreams of a swift recovery in Europe’s commercial real estate market have been dashed as the first quarter of 2024 witnessed a continued slump, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of decline. That is according to data released by MSCI Real Assets which paints a concerning picture, with completed commercial property transactions reaching a mere €34.5 billion in the first three months – a 26 percent drop compared to the same period in 2023. This translates to the lowest transaction volume since the third quarter of 2010, with the number of companies buying and selling properties also hitting a 12-year low. More →
April 25, 2024
At a recent event, the Government Property Agency brought together Civil Service leaders to exchange ideas, debate trends and inform how the GPA delivers its property services. The GPA is leading one of the country’s biggest and most ambitious workplace renewal programmes for its clients – delivering a smaller, better connected, better quality, and greener property estate to support the work of Civil Service teams and bring them closer to the communities they serve. More →
April 25, 2024
Prime office rents in major cities around the world have risen 1.1 percent in the past year (Q1 2023 to Q1 2024) while tenants’ ‘all-in’ net effective costs (rent plus fit-out costs) have risen 2.4 percent, according to Savills, as the structural trend towards seeking high quality premium office space continues into 2024. More →
April 16, 2024
The new digital edition of IN Magazine is now available to read online. In this issue: reviews of both MIPIM and the Workspace Design Show; a reappraisal of scientific management; what the new generation of workplace apps tell us about how we work; a case study that prompts the question of why office designers don’t make more use of reused products; the road to hell is paved with bad information; Domino Risch on the workplace’s Kodak moment; why facilities managers are the goalkeepers of the workplace; the final word on self-awareness; and much more. More →
April 15, 2024
Leeds City Council has McLaren’s mixed use Wellington Square development of build-to-rent homes and commercial space in Leeds’ West End. The new neighbourhood, designed by Howells Architects, will transform a 2.47 acre site into a lively gateway to Leeds city centre with a landmark tower, high-quality new homes and innovative workspace in the city’s professional core and Innovation Arc, which establishes the area as a hub for research and innovation. More →
April 10, 2024
With an estimated 27,000 delegates from 90 countries, MIPIM is still a force to be reckoned with when it comes to opportunities to network and learn as delegates, with organisations using the week to deliver news, insights and thinking. The theme for MIPIM this year was The Global Urban Community; and it really did feel more international than previous years, the majority of attendees are still from France, Germany and the UK, but there were significant delegations from the United States, Canada, Oman, Egypt and Hong Kong, more from Asia generally and a show stopper from Saudi Arabia, more of which later. More →
April 9, 2024
Microsoft AI is opening a new AI hub in Central London. The firm claims that the new Paddington based centre, dubbed Microsoft AI London will ‘drive pioneering work to advance state-of-the-art language models and their supporting infrastructure, and to create world-class tooling for foundation models’, collaborating closely with AI teams across Microsoft and with its partners, including OpenAI. More →
April 3, 2024
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, is today launching an ambitious plan aimed at creating 150,000 high-quality, well-paid jobs by 2028. This initiative will be unveiled alongside the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Reeves will say that a Labour administration intends to reset the relationship between the national government and London, while Khan thinks what is good for London is good for the UK. More →
March 27, 2024
Following last year’s pilot, Urban Land Institute (ULI) Europe has launched a second edition of the PropTech Innovation Challenge (PIC), the Young Leaders-led initiative to foster innovation in the built environment and is calling for game changing solutions that meet the challenge of how to substantially reduce carbon emissions. The challenge, which reflects ULI’s mission priorities, and the urgent decarbonisation focus of ULI C Change, is focused specifically on the reduction of Scope 3 emissions for managers and investors and encompasses the indirect but critical emissions that occur throughout the value chain, and which are often overlooked. Indirect emissions arise from activities such as transportation and procurement. More →
April 4, 2024
When it comes to the carbon conundrum, real change will come from collaboration
by Roger Olsen • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Property, Wellbeing