Columnists
April 14, 2022
The lost art of office furniture peacocking
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design
When Donald Trump was pictured at the tail-end of his tenure as President, sitting uncomfortably at a table that looked like it had been retrieved from a skip, it provoked the sort of sneering commentary about office furniture choices previously seen when Dominic Cummings popped in to the Downing Street garden to deliver some self-serving blather […]
April 13, 2022
The cargo cult of modern office design
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design
The idea of the cargo cult derives from anthropological observations made about the behaviour of societies that encounter more technologically advanced societies. In particular it is rooted in those rituals and objects created by Pacific islanders in an attempt to attract modern goods and technology and generally earn favour with people who they thought […]
April 13, 2022
Experimentation is the name of the game
by Eugenia Anastassiou • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design
Uncertain times call for different measures and approaches, the old rules and playbooks are no longer applicable – so what are you going to do? Sit around, stagnate, hanker after old solutions trying to manipulate and squeeze them into new, unknowable, untried paradigms? No! One thing human beings are fairly good at is evolving and […]
April 12, 2022
The colour of magic in office design
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design
In the Discworld series of novels, the author Terry Pratchett introduces us to the colour of magic. He calls it octarine, a sort of greenish purple, described as ‘the undisputed pigment of the imagination’. It’s all fanciful but, in fact, such unseeable colours exist for the human eye. They are seemingly invisible to us most […]
April 12, 2022
Sustainable office design relies on everybody sharing knowledge
by Harsha Kotak • Comment, Environment, Workplace design
Back in 2018, I launched a group called Women in Office Design. I wanted to inspire and empower women involved in the profession of office design and creation. The opportunity to develop and enhance my skills and understanding was a fundamental reason why I formed WOD. Reading and research is beneficial but it’s important to […]
April 10, 2022
Facilities Managers should be seen as stewards of corporate culture
by Pierre Guelen • Comment, Facilities management
The pandemic has irrevocably changed the way we work. Once considered a place simply to do business, the office is fast becoming a ‘lifestyle choice’ among young people who value more than just a desk. Instead, they want an engaging, healthy, and resilient working environment where they can socialise, make friends, and build connections to […]
April 8, 2022
The Metaverse in the workplace: Meta’s wobble may affect how we use emerging technologies
by Neal Riley • Comment, Technology
There has been much talk over the past two years of the adoption of hybrid working for elephant-in-the-room reasons and it is now the case that the practice is being widely adopted by many organisations. Knocking at our office doors now is the next big talking point in terms of technology: the Metaverse. There has […]
April 6, 2022
Structural and cultural change are what we need to escape the wellbeing rut
by Simon O'Kane • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing
Wellbeing has been one of the largest challenges to the UK workforce over the last several years. A recent study by the Mental Health Foundation and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), states that mental health problems cost the UK economy at least £117.9 billion every year – around 5 percent of […]
March 29, 2022
MIPIM revival offers up a pale, stale imitation of life (but there’s hope)
by Freddie Steele • Comment, Property
If a week is a long time in politics, then two years in real estate is practically a lifetime. Time enough for an opportunity for MIPIM, the property world’s annual gathering in Cannes to reset itself post-pandemic. Unlike back in London where British Land had offered up space for Ukrainian care packages at its Paddington […]
March 28, 2022
Working from home means getting your priorities right
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing, Workplace design
It should come as no great surprise to learn that data from Leesman, the world’s leading workplace analyst, found that the chair was seen by remote working employees as the second most important feature in creating a productive working from home environment. Cited by 90 percent of people, it was narrowly beaten into second place only […]
March 28, 2022
Corporate jargon is damaging your business
by Michael Blazek • Business, Comment
Between the stressful daily commute, the awkward small talk by the coffee machine and the endless hours of face-to-face meetings, there are many things that are unfortunately slowly creeping back into our daily lives as we gradually start heading back to office life. One thing in particular that we have all been dreading is the […]
April 20, 2022
The effects of workplace change may not be the ones we expect
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing
There’s a scene in the 1986 horror movie The Fly in which Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) persuades the reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) to try two steaks, one of which Brundle has just sent between two teleportation pods in an effort to work out why the pods can’t process organic matter, including the organic matter […]