Search Results for: office environment

Birmingham BT HQ shows road ahead for its offices and the city

Birmingham BT HQ shows road ahead for its offices and the city

Birmingham BT HQIn January of 2020, shortly before that thing happened and before we knew much about the UK Government’s ‘levelling up’ programme, Birmingham was already a city on the rise. It had recently been announced that it was to host the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and was riding the crest of a number of high-profile developments and regeneration projects, not least those that arrived on the back of the controversial high speed rail station. (more…)

Young people should optimise the time they spend in the office

Young people should optimise the time they spend in the office

young people in the officeDuring the pandemic, around 100 million people in Europe switched to working from home – nearly half of them for the first time. This shift was rapid, with employees quickly noticing the benefits of remote work. These can include freedom from commuting, more time for personal wellbeing and increased productivity. As we move on from pandemic restrictions, we’ve seen a strong, global demand for more flexible forms of working, particularly to retain an element of remote work. While some employees want to work from home permanently, most want what’s coming to be regarded as the best of both worlds: hybrid working. Only a minority of workers now want to return to the office full time. (more…)

Office occupiers should invest in neurodiversity, report argues

Office occupiers should invest in neurodiversity, report argues

office occupiers neurodiversityA new report from the British Council for Offices urges landlords and office occupiers to invest in design for neurodiversity, as disabling workspaces continue to hinder wellbeing. The report examines how the neurodiverse community remains underserved and often unsupported in the current employment ecosystem, and in turn, outlines the considerations that built environment practitioners can take to make offices enabling environments, and the crucial role of more inclusive designs. (more…)

‘Return to office’ remains a divisive issue

‘Return to office’ remains a divisive issue

return to officeAccording to a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Citrix Systems, employees remain divided on how they want to work going forward. Based on the poll: the majority enjoy the flexibility they’ve been given to work from anywhere and are willing to leave jobs to maintain it. Of the 6,500 workers polled in ten countries, 57 percent prefer hybrid work, and 69 percent will ditch their current positions if it isn’t an option and they are asked to return to office based working. (more…)

London office market activity hits post-pandemic high … for smaller, better, greener offices

London office market activity hits post-pandemic high … for smaller, better, greener offices

london officeA study of the London office market from Gerald Eve suggests that there is now the highest number of lettings since before the pandemic with activity focused on smaller requirements and environmentally friendly buildings. Lettings between 10,000 and 20,000 sq ft made up a significant portion of demand with 713,000 sq ft (or 23 percent) of all activity, which totalled 3.1m sq ft in Q1. Tenants are now voting with their feet for best-in-class space, with sustainability at the forefront of decision making. Post-covid requirements continue to shape the criteria for office space as subjective business-linked or staff retention demands rank higher than overall cost in the search for office space. (more…)

Half of workers worried about the financial cost of the return to the office

Half of workers worried about the financial cost of the return to the office

commuters return to the officeSlack has released the results of a new poll which the firm claims reveals the current state of mental wellbeing among UK workers. Commissioned in partnership with NHS GP and TV Doctor, Dr Sara Kayat, and to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the survey sets out to examines the impact of the office on wellbeing, the effects of the return to the office after the pandemic and indicates how businesses can build healthier workplaces. (more…)

British Council for Offices honours the North’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

British Council for Offices honours the North’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

Six workplaces across the North of England and Northern Ireland have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) Regional Awards today. The Northern BCO Awards dinner returned in-person to the Kimpton Clocktower in Manchester, recognising the North’s highest quality developments and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. (more…)

British Council for Offices honour London’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

British Council for Offices honour London’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

Six London workplaces have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices’ (BCO) Regional Awards. The London Awards Lunch returned in-person to the London Hilton on Park Lane, recognising the highest quality developments in London and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. The winning workplaces include:  80 Charlotte Street (Commercial Workplace); Plumtree Court, 25 Shoe Lane (Corporate Workplace); Dojo, The Brunel Building, 2 Canalside Walk (Fit Out of Workplace); ASOS HQ, Greater London House, 180 Hampstead Road (Refurbished/Recycled Workplace); Pennybank , 33-35 St John’s Square (Projects up to 1,500m sq. ); 1 Triton, 1 Triton Square, Regent’s Place (Innovation) (more…)

Inflexible return to office strategies starting to damage workplace experience

Inflexible return to office strategies starting to damage workplace experience

commuters return to officeFuture Forum, a consortium launched by Slack with Boston Consulting GroupMillerKnoll and MLT to “help companies reimagine work in the new digital-first workplace”, has released the latest findings from its global Pulse study, which shows that employee experience scores are plummeting for knowledge workers who have been asked to return to the office full-time and for those who do not have the flexibility to set their own work schedules. More than a third of knowledge workers (34 percent) are now working from the office five days a week, the greatest share since Future Forum began surveying in June 2020. With this shift, employee sentiment has dropped to near-record lows, including 28 percent worse scores on work-related stress and anxiety and 17 percent worse scores on work-life balance (compared to last quarter). (more…)

Half of large office occupiers plan to rethink their property requirements

Half of large office occupiers plan to rethink their property requirements

PWC officeLarger office occupiers are getting to grips with the fallout following the pandemic and are now reassessing their office property needs, according to a new YouGov survey commissioned by law firm Irwin Mitchell. The survey of over 500 office property decision makers shows that nearly half (46 percent) of large businesses and (39 percent) of medium sized companies plan to rethink their office space- whether by upsizing, downsizing, or relocating. The survey shows that one in five large businesses plan to increase their existing office space, with the same proportion looking to reduce space and 5 percent to relocate. In addition, 11 percent are looking to reconfigure their existing space. While 37 percent plan to stay the same. (more…)

Sustainable office design relies on everybody sharing knowledge

Sustainable office design relies on everybody sharing knowledge

sustainable office designBack 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 take the time to reach out to others in the industry, especially on the most important issues of our day such as sustainable office design. (more…)

Research casts doubt on environmental benefits of hybrid working

Research casts doubt on environmental benefits of hybrid working

commuters and hybrid workingA permanent post-pandemic switch to hybrid working may do little to reduce carbon emissions as the majority of remote workers travel further each week than their office-based counterparts, new research from the University of Sussex Business School reveals. The newly published study finds that, prior to the pandemic, most remote workers in England travelled further each week than office-based workers – despite taking fewer trips. This was partly because remote workers tended to live further from their workplace than non-teleworkers, so had longer, if less frequent, commutes. In addition, remote workers engaged in more travel on the days when they worked from home – for example, by making extra trips to shops and cafes. (more…)