July 11, 2024

We still display status in office design, but in new and subtle ways

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

There was a time, not so long ago, that one of the most important factors to consider when designing an office was the corporate hierarchy. The office was once the embodiment of the corporate structure. In Joanna Eley and Alexi Marmot’s 1995 book Understanding Offices, quite a lot of space is dedicated to the idea of the ‘space pyramid’, which means simply that the higher up the organisation you were, the more space you were allocated. Even then, the idea of office design as a signifier of dominance was starting to wear thin, as the authors acknowledge. Ostentatious displays of status were already seen as somewhat gauche, but they were to be fatally undermined by the technological advances to come.

July 4, 2024

What’s so wrong with being slaves to the rhythm of the working week?

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Wellbeing

One of the most familiar ways we measure time has its roots in a famous instance of daydreaming. The story goes that in 1583 a young student at the University of Pisa called Galileo Galilei was daydreaming in the pews while his fellow students were dutifully reciting their prayers. He noticed that one of the altar lamps was swaying back and forth and even as its energy dissipated, the arc of each swing slowed so that each took the same amount of time as the last, measured against his own pulse. More →

July 3, 2024

Why AI is not getting the green light for sustainability

by Stephanie Fitzgerald • AI, Comment, Environment, SF, Technology

We might think of online and digital solutions such as AI as more sustainable and eco-friendly. We have email signatures reminding us to think before hitting print and are encouraged to send e-cards with seasonal greetings to save the trees. Our overall preference to switch to all things online means that we rarely question, or even consider, the environmental impact of our computers. It’s also how the truly enormous impact of AI has, thus far, stayed off our radar. More →

July 3, 2024

Greece goes against the flow by opting for a six day working week

by Marvin Gort • News, Workplace

While countries around the world are exploring the idea of shorter work weeks, Greece has taken what many people may think is a surprising step in the opposite direction. In an effort to boost productivity, the country has implemented a mandatory six-day workweek for certain employees. More →

July 1, 2024

A new renaissance in leading change at the most disruptive time in history

by Jennifer Bryan • Business, Comment, JB

Last January, we talked about the three biggest disrupters of our time: technology, UN sustainability goals, and societal shifts. These three disrupters have put us at a cultural crossroads we have not experienced for 100 years. As a result, we need to think differently when it comes to decisions about leading change. The world will not look, feel or be the same in 10 years time – we will not interact and live the same as we do now. The world will be very very different. According to Dex Hunter Torricke, “The next 10 years are going to be the most disruptive we have ever experienced.” More →

July 1, 2024

Ultrafabrics celebrates 25th anniversary with new and improved bio-based Volar Bio collection

by Jayne Smith • Company news

Ultrafabrics proudly commemorates its 25th anniversary of excellence in the industry with the reintroduction of its Volar Bio collection which now has a 66 percent mix of recycled, rapidly renewable and bio-based content – a remarkable achievement in sustainable innovation. More →

June 26, 2024

Save the Knowledge Worker – insights and strategies for remote-work success

by Neil Franklin • Features, Flexible working, Premium Content, Wellbeing

Undoubtedly, the remote work revolution is in full swing. But it’s messy. Kolekti’s new Save the Knowledge Worker report found a colossal 96 percent of workers desire some form of remote work, and one in three employees is willing to quit if forced to return to the office full-time. And yet, which business leader can say their organisation has perfected the strategy for remote work? Most are still experimenting, tinkering, and tweaking. Even the end destination may be unclear for some. More →

June 26, 2024

People are increasingly comfortable with – and scared of – AI

by Neil Franklin • AI, News

The sentiments of employees around the world about AI and GenAI are evolving significantly, but cautious optimism endures, with 42 percent reporting confidence about the technologies’ impact on their work, compared to 26 percent at around this time last year. However, anxiety about the technologies is also on the rise, by 5 percentage points, and 49 percent of regular users believe their job may disappear in the next ten years, a view shared by only 24 percent of workers who do not use them. More →

June 25, 2024

Are these the top ten emerging technologies for 2024?

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property, Technology

The World Economic Forum has published its annual Top 10 Emerging Technologies Report featuring technologies with the greatest potential to make a positive impact in the world in the next three to five years. Among the technologies mentioned in the report are AI (obv), immersive building tech, intelligent materials and microbes that can sequester carbon. More →

June 24, 2024

Sound and vision – Nigel Oseland makes himself heard for the IN magazine profile

by Mark Eltringham • Features, IN Magazine, Premium Content

Interviewing people involves trying to tease out a bit of personal colour. Sometimes I already know what that is or might be. That is certainly the case with Nigel Oseland who I have known for many years, know to be from Wolverhampton and who studied psychology and computer science at Keele University in my home town. He went on to focus on environmental psychology while working at the Building Research Establishment in Watford in the late 1980s and 1990s. More →

June 21, 2024

Visit NeoCon, but Chicago has become a tale of two venues

by John Sacks • Features, Workplace design

Chicago is a city which never fails to amaze whether you are visiting for NeoCon or for any other reason. It’s the epitome of extroversion, with its magnificent architecture, larger than life people, almost constant, ear-splitting commotion and frantic comings and goings. Annual visits to the city invariably present a profusion of elegant new skyscrapers of different shapes, styles and colours, which seem to be trying to outdo each other. It’s as if Chicago is constantly trying to outperform all other cities, as well as its own past. More →

June 21, 2024

Europe lacks skills in key technologies such as AI, quantum and space

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Technology

Critical gaps have formed across Europe’s technology sector, with skills, investment and innovation being stunted in vital areas such as AI, quantum computing and space technology, according to a report from DIGITALEUROPE. The study titled ‘The EU’s Critical Gap: Rethinking Economic Security to Put Europe Back on the Map,’ claims that Europe is significantly lagging in key technologies. Among 8 technologies that were analysed, Europe was shown to be lagging behind in 7, only leading in advanced connectivity, with major investments and profits in this sector are being led primarily by the US. More →