Search Results for: office design

May 9, 2014

British Land announces first letting at Marble Arch House in West End

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Just a month after its launch, Marble Arch House in London’s West End, which includes 61,200 sq ft of new office space over seven floors, has been let by British Land. Fulcrum Asset Management has signed a ten year lease at £78.50 per sq ft, and will move into the 9,000 sq ft fifth floor of the building in the summer. British Land entered into an agreement with The Portman Estate to purchase and redevelop Marble Arch House, located on Seymour Street in the Portman Village, in 2011. The scheme, designed by Bennetts Associates Architects, includes 6,400 sq ft of green roof space, designed to encourage wild grasses, as well as birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife. The office space features natural light from both east and west, with shading louvres that minimise glare and overheating, while maintaining views towards Hyde Park. More →

May 7, 2014

Green buildings may not enhance job satisfaction and performance, claims study

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Workplace, Workplace design

In March a report from the British Council for Offices appeared to show that people are happier and more productive when working in green buildings. But the idea that staff find greater job satisfaction when they work in environmentally friendly surroundings is challenged by a new study from researchers at the University of Nottingham and the Centre for the Built Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. It found that, contrary to other research, people working in LEED certified buildings appear no more satisfied with the quality of their interior design and fit-out and may enjoy no more overall level of job satisfaction than those working in less green buildings. The research was carried out by Stefano Schiavon at Berkeley and Sergio Altomonte of the University of Nottingham and published in the April edition of Building and Environment.

May 6, 2014

Walkie talkie lands two more tenants as demand for City space grows

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The ‘Walkie Talkie’ skyscraper, 20 Fenchurch EC3 – dubbed the ‘Walkie Scorchie’, after its unusual design was found to reflect and magnify the sun’s rays onto nearby parked cars – is now 87 per cent let, after securing a further two tenants. Insurance firm CNA and UK law firm DWF LLP are taking 35,000 sq ft and 43,000 sq ft respectively at the 38-storey building. The latest two lettings come after joint developers Canary Wharf and Land Securities achieved the building’s first completion milestone on 17 March, when they handed over possession of the first completed office floors to tenants. The rest of the office floors were completed as planned in April. The remaining space, the Sky Garden – a landscaped garden, dining and viewing area on the top three floors, which will be operated by rhubarb – remains on schedule for completion before the end of the year. More →

April 25, 2014

Innovative public sector property scheme to be extended

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector

One of the UK’s most innovative property strategies, the One Public Sector Estate programme is to be extended, the Government has announced. The initiative was established in June of last year in 12 pilot areas as a way for central and local government departments to share offices and other public sector property. The programme will now be extended to as many as 15 new authorities across the country with the Cabinet Office claiming that the pilot schemes have already saved around £21m in under a year and that the sale of property freed up by the scheme will raise an additional £88 million. The strategy is jointly managed by the property arm of the Cabinet Office who are responsible for similar initiatives in central government, and the Local Government Association.

April 18, 2014

The latest issue of Insight is now available to view online

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, Newsletter, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

In the latest Insight newsletter, available to view online; read (and watch) a list of some of the greatest songs to deal with the arcane subject of office furniture and discover the six dimensions of wellbeing that can be impacted by the design of the physical environment. Details of the first free and publicly available resource for building professionals to access detailed comparative data on carbon in buildings; and research that shows moderate stress levels can actually help a manager’s performance. Mark Eltringham suggests the real reasons why so many employers champion the open plan office layout and argues the design of trains [pictured] is almost as great an indicator of workplace thinking as the office itself. Finally, our regular contributor Simon Heath defends the much maligned HR function. To automatically receive our weekly newsletter, simply add your email address to the box on the home page.

April 15, 2014

The six most important dimensions of wellbeing in the workplace

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Designing an office environment using six key elements of wellbeing will benefit both employers and their staff, leading to a healthier, more productive workplace finds a new report. Steelcase’s WorkSpace Futures global research team, which included a psychologist, a designer and an ergonomist conducted an in depth study on existing wellbeing research, surveys, indicators and theories and found that the key to physical and mental wellbeing is the emotional experience, which can be influenced by a person’s surroundings, actions, and way of perceiving the world. The six dimensions of wellbeing that can be impacted by the design of the physical environment are; optimism, mindfulness, authenticity, belonging, meaning and vitality. Together these create what Steelcase refers to as an “interconnected workplace,” that offers employees choice and control over where and how they work. More →

April 10, 2014

A rail network carrying people on blurred lines into the future of work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

The UK rail industry has a somewhat ambiguous relationship with the idea of remote working. While the business case for the controversial HS2 rail line was until recently predicated on the remarkable assumption that people don’t work on trains (now replaced by another set of assumptions to get to the numbers it needs for politicians to go along with it all), the number of journeys people make on trains has been increasing steadily for some time, regardless of the potential for technology to make many of those journeys unnecessary. So while we’re already into uncharted territory in our ability to forecast the impact of new technology and working practices on the need for physical presence, the train and the rail network does offer us a touchstone for thinking about it. And what we find in that respect is a blurring of the lines between several worlds, as we do in pretty much every aspect of our lives.

April 7, 2014

RICS’ operational headquarters to relocate to Coventry Friargate Development

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, News, Property

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has announced that it will be relocating its Coventry operational headquarters to a new building in the 37 acre sustainable, mixed-use Friargate development in the city. From 2017, RICS plans to lease 36,000 sq. ft. of space in the second building on the site, adjacent to Coventry railway station. The district will showcase cutting edge low carbon building design and regeneration policies by using local businesses throughout the construction phase to provide improved public transport links, affordable housing and public parks. RICS claims that ‘through a connection to an ultra-efficient combined heat and power generator, Friargate will be at the forefront of sustainable commercial accommodation, reducing both RICS’ carbon footprint and operating costs and offering RICS employees a much better work environment and surrounding area than they currently have.’

March 26, 2014

The enduring need to put a bit more of the M into facilities management

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace design

Shutterstock’s new offices, Empire State Building

It may well be a statement of the obvious, but it’s worth reminding ourselves sometimes that the term facilities management consists of two words. There is often a bit too much emphasis on the facilities and a bit too little on the management and sometimes we look for design and product solutions to problems that would be better managed in some way. You can put this down to a number of things but to some extent at least it’s down the idea that when you are determined to use a hammer, every job looks like a nail. Obviously the media takes some of the blame for this mindset because it often earns income from businesses who want to sell their stuff to solve particular problems rather than focus on the idea that many of them can be addressed either as a management issue or in combination with products and design.

March 18, 2014

Morgan Lovell to research impact of the workplace on wellbeing

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Workplace, Workplace design

One of the latest pieces of research to explore the possible links between the workplace and individual wellbeing is to be carried out by office fit-out firm Morgan Lovell in conjunction with the British Council for Offices (BCO) and workplace analytics tool HATCH. The firm hopes to create an original piece of research that will help to quantify the impact the workplace has on wellbeing and identify the causal links. The firms says it hopes to use this to create a business case for occupiers who would like to invest in designing offices in a way that fosters wellness and productivity and is inviting interested people and firms to take part. The firm says the survey takes less than 10 minutes and can be found here. To say thank you to respondents to the survey for their time, Morgan Lovell will donate £1 to Comic Relief for every person that completes the questionnaire. The findings will be published in April.

March 17, 2014

The latest issue of Insight is now available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Newsletter, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight newsletter, available to view online; Workplace Insight confirms a partnership agreement with Europe’s largest commercial interior design event, Clerkenwell Design Week [pictured]; evidence that employees who use treadmill workstations as they work not only receive physical benefits but also are more productive; and research finds that our brains are adapting to the changing demands placed on them by technology. Simon Heath presents part two of his field guide to workplace terminology and Demitri Maldonado explains why FM has to embrace its softer side, focus on people skills and develop them to ensure success. We also present a gallery of stunning images showcasing Google’s new offices in Kuala Lumpur. To automatically receive our weekly newsletter, simply add your email address to the box on the home page.