Search Results for: office design

October 29, 2013

Looking forward to Workplace Week; productivity and the connected organisation

‘High Street’ at Network Rail’s Milton Keynes base

There’s not much time to go before Workplace Week, which takes place from the 4th to 8th November. The annual workplace conference and fundraiser for Children in Need will include more than a dozen visits to offices in London and around the UK, a one-day convention and events staged by Kinnarps, ASOS, KPMG, Herman Miller and Colebrook Bosson Saunders. Site visits include to the public sector’s new generation of landmark buildings, Network Rail, RBS and Innocent Drinks. The theme of this year’s convention on the 5th November is Driving Productivity Through The Connected Organisation which will take place at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ offices. Speakers includes Keith Saxton, director of financial services at IBM Research; Johnny Dunford, global director of commercial property at RICS; and Liz Nottingham, Regional HR Director for Western Europe at Starcom MediaVest group.

October 24, 2013

Yahoo and HP “seeing success” by taking a stand against flexible working

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

Yahoo has had some successes since curtailing its work from home policies, global corporate real estate leaders were told at this week’s CoreNet Global Summit in Las Vegas. Continuing the industry conversation around balancing an organisation’s need to foster work and collaboration in person (aka: presenteeism) against the needs of employees to work off site, the discussion centred on how employees can “be present” in an increasingly virtual world, and where should leaders in corporate real estate place their focus? Julie Ford-Tempesta, Senior Director, Real Estate & Workplace at Yahoo said despite predictions of “epic policy failure” following the announcement that all employees must work in the office; employee engagement is up, product launches have increased significantly, and teams are thriving. More →

October 23, 2013

Mixed use scheme’s sustainable power supply gets vice-presidential seal of approval

by Sara Bean • Company news, Environment, Property

The Quadrant 3 redevelopment of offices, retail, residential, restaurant and hotel space in the Regent Street Quadrant in London has become the first in the UK to install an efficient and sustainable fuel cell that draws its power from the same technology used to provide energy to space shuttles during flights. It’s so impressed former US Vice President Al Gore he’s headquartered his sustainable investment firm, Generation Investment Management at Quadrant 3. The building’s sustainable design was an important factor in the firm’s decision to move to the scheme with Mr Gore commenting that the developer, The Crown Estate demonstrated a “sophisticated commitment to sustainability”. More →

October 22, 2013

Germans prove that long hours and productivity are often two completely different things

by John Sacks • Comment, Workplace

Earlier this year, Insight published the results of a survey which showed that the World’s hardest workers, contrary to what Jeremy Clarkson might say, are Mexican. But that poll told half the story because it only measured the number of hours people work. When it comes to productivity measured by output against time spent working, it turns out that it’s the Germans who are the undisputed champions according to research from the PEW Trust. This won’t come as a surprise if you believe the Teutonic stereotype, as many people assuredly do. The survey also found that, when asked which nation had the most productive workers, respondents in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany itself all believe that Germans are Europe’s hardest workers.

October 21, 2013

Co-op’s One Angel Square in Manchester wins RICS’ Project of the Year

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, News, Property

One Angel Square in Manchester has been awarded Project of the Year in the RICS Awards that celebrate the built and natural environment. More than 600 building projects entered the awards which also saw category awards presented for building conservation, community benefit, design and innovation, and regeneration. The overall winning project – a £100 million new headquarters for The Co-operative Group – is the largest commercial office building in Manchester and has also achieved the highest scoring BREEAM ‘outstanding’ office rating in the country, setting a new national benchmark in sustainable design in the commercial sector. RICS judges said every aspect of the building has been constructed with sustainability at heart. More →

October 16, 2013

Workplace Week announces details of visits to London Government buildings

by Mark Eltringham • Events, Facilities management, Flexible working, Public Sector

DfE London HQ

For the first time, Workplace Week includes visits to two Government offices, the Department for Education at Sanctuary Buildings in Great Smith Street (pictured) and the Department for International Development on Whitehall. The DfE is just a stone’s throw from the Houses of Parliament and boasts outstanding views of several major landmarks. The building is home to some 2,000 staff who work in a flexible environment with 7 desks for 10 people. The Department for International Development moved to its new London HQ, the oldest purpose-built office in London, at the beginning of the year. The DfID has created a modern, flexible environment which encourages collaborative working, whilst being sympathetic to the historic nature of the building.

October 14, 2013

AHMM chosen for new Met Police headquarters project

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Company news, Facilities management, Workplace design

Courtesy of Simon Heath

The firm of architects chosen for Google’s enormous new North London headquarters project as well as the redevelopment of the BBC’s Television Centre has been chosen to design the new home of the Metropolitan Police in Whitehall. The decision to award the job to Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) was announced by the Mayor of London, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) is selling New Scotland Yard, and moving to modern offices at the iconic Curtis Green building on the Victoria Embankment in 2015. This new building will then revert to being called Scotland Yard.

October 9, 2013

Planning approval granted for major new South Bank development

by Sara Bean • News, Property

A 1.4 million sq ft mixed used development scheme next to Blackfriars Bridge at London’s South Bank has been granted approval by Southwark Council’s planning committee. Nine buildings, including a 48 storey tower are being planned to include 450,000 sq ft of office space, which it is promised, will almost double the number of permanent jobs in the area to over 3,700. The scheme, which also comprises 25,000 sq ft of retail space, nearly 500 residential apartments and the creation of 35,000 sq ft of new pubic open spaces, is being delivered by asset management firm Carlyle. Two existing buildings on the site, which were acquired by Carlyle along with four other nearby buildings for £671m in 2010, will be demolished according to the designs drawn up by PLP Architecture. More →

September 30, 2013

Don’t let the sofas fool you; work can still be red in tooth and claw

by Twyla Howse • Comment, Flexible working, Furniture

Herbert James Draper: Ulysses and the sirens

We keep filling our workplaces with sofas, coffee shops and other lifestyle touches while our homes are being slowly eroded by the trappings of work. First it was the fax machine. Then the mobile phone. Then working from home. The places available for us to work is seemingly more diverse than ever. But does this acknowledged trend towards domesticity make the workplace a kinder, gentler place? Maybe on the surface but beware to those who dare succumb to the siren song of these things. Using them could mean the end of your career.A recent conversation I had with an executive highlighted the problems inherent in the mixed messages this “softening” of the work environment brings.

September 28, 2013

Two major new London fit-out contracts for ISG

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Workplace design

Multinational fit-out and construction firm ISG has won a contract for the fit-out of clothing retailer Arcadia’s UK headquarters near Oxford Street in London and is believed to have won a £50 million contract to fit out the ‘Baby Shard’ at London Bridge for Rupert Murdoch’s News UK. The £32 million Arcadia project for the reinvention of Colegreave House, designed by Sheppard Robson, involves the fit-out of four storeys and 155,000 sq. ft. of the existing building. Staff at the firm responsible for High Street brands such as Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop and Burton will remain in situ for the duration of the phased project which includes the installation of glazed roofs over the atria at the heart of the building to provide new community areas for staff.

September 24, 2013

Seminar programme for workplace ergonomics and productivity event unveiled

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Furniture, News

Paying attention to ergonomics in design; MSDs in the office – a demographic challenge; and boomers and Millennials and the changing workplace; are just some of the topics being covered in a series of seminars dedicated to workplace ergonomics and productivity taking place over two days next week. The Workplace Ergonomics & Productivity exhibition and seminar event is organised by the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, to showcase the latest products, services, research and ideas about how ergonomics can benefit workers, managers and their businesses. Visitors will have the opportunity to examine products at exhibition stands, listen to speakers on a range of topics and gain an understanding of how ergonomics and productivity are related. For more information on the event – Ibis Earls Court, London (1 – 2 Oct), click here.