Columnists
August 8, 2013
The war against environmental cynicism puts an onus on suppliers to be honest
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Environment, Furniture
Greenwash is one of those terms that has gone from needing an explanation to being in common usage in the space of a few years. The reason for that is quite simply that it is the perfect description of a particular form of marketing bullshit that we all recognise. However, while a degree of scepticism […]
August 6, 2013
Effective recycling is about good management as much as it is materials and design
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Environment, Furniture, Products
We all like to think we are discerning about what we will and won’t put in our trolleys at the supermarket. Not any old salty, fat-saturated gloop will make the cut these days. That’s why the producers of food like to proclaim its healthiness on packaging, regardless of the nature of the product within. ‘Lower […]
August 1, 2013
Predicting the future of the office means looking at what is happening now
by Charles Marks • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace, Workplace design
Futurology is notoriously a mug’s game. Especially when it comes to making predictions about technology. Just ask Ken Olson, the founder of DEC who in 1977 pronounced that ‘there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home’. Or Bill Gates himself who once claimed that Microsoft ‘will never make a 32 bit […]
July 19, 2013
Dual source lighting schemes illuminate the way ahead for office design
by Shane Cohen • Comment, Facilities management, Lighting, Workplace design
Too bright, too dull, too much glare – lighting (alongside air conditioning) is often one of the most contentious factors in a workplace. Office workers need illumination to read, write, type and interact. Yet many workplaces get it wrong and fail to consider the downsides of poor lighting, and as such staff will suffer from […]
July 18, 2013
Baltimore residents offered a “guns for laptops” exchange
by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Technology
Growing concerns regarding the incursion of connectivity devices into our everyday lives ignores the fact that many people have little or no access to these tools. Access to the Internet may have been ruled as a UN human right, but that doesn’t really help those who can’t afford devices that connect them to the web […]
July 17, 2013
What Graeme Obree, the Flying Scotsman, can teach us about workplace innovation
by Andrew Brown • Comment, Technology
Innovation is one of the over-used words in the UK built environment. In fact, it is used so much that its true meaning is being left behind by marketing teams and spin doctors. The real definition is about a new method, idea, product, i.e. some form of technological innovation. Think about the last time you […]
July 12, 2013
The challenge in Silicon Alley is providing the right quantity and quality of office space
by Charles Marks • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design
News emerges from BNP Paribas that the most dynamic occupiers in Western European property markets belong to the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector and that the most important market in the region is London. This comes as no surprise given the plans of Google to move to its new home in King’s Cross and […]
July 10, 2013
Design Museum sale paves way for resurrection of Commonwealth Institute
by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, News, Property, Workplace design
Deskheads of a certain vintage may have viewed the news that Zaha Hadid had bought the Design Museum’s London home for £10 million in a somewhat different light to much of the media that reported the sale. While journalists succumbed to the apparently irresistible pull of architectural headline magnet Zaha, to some of us the […]
July 9, 2013
BIFM partnership with DWP may prove an ill-advised and short-lived union
by Simon Heath • Comment, Facilities management
Rather like someone who collects friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter with the obsessiveness of the avid lepidopterist completist, news reaches us from the British Institute of Facilities Management concerning yet another partnership. Not content with the recently announced merger with Asset Skills, the Facilities Management Association and the Cleaning and Support Services Association, […]
July 5, 2013
Douglas Engelbart helped to define our relationship with technology and each other
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology
The obituaries of Douglas Engelbart, who died on Tuesday, invariably characterised him as ‘the inventor of the mouse’ which is downplaying the contribution he made to our ability to interact with computers. He had the foresight to see that our relationship with technology would become one of the defining characteristics of modern life and he […]
July 3, 2013
The world’s enduring love hate relationship with its tall buildings
by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Property
One day, news will emerge from Dubai of a new development that doesn’t break some record or other, or at least one that isn’t solely about the size of a building. The latest example of the Emirati obsession with scale is the plan by developers DMCC, the people who brought you the Jumeirah Lake Towers, […]
August 13, 2013
Worldwide space standards moving closer to UK norm, claims new report
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Property, Workplace design
Worldwide office space standards are now moving closer to the norm seen in the UK according to a new survey from CoreNet Global. According to the CoreNet survey of real estate managers, the average amount of space per office worker globally has dropped to 150 sq. ft (14 sq.m.) , from 225 sq. ft. (21 […]