Design Museum sale paves way for resurrection of Commonwealth Institute

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, News, Property, Workplace design

Deskheads of a certain vintage may have viewed the news that Zaha Hadid had bought the Design Museum’s London home for £10 million in a somewhat different light to much of the media that reported the sale. While journalists succumbed to the apparently irresistible pull of architectural headline magnet Zaha, to some of us the interesting part of the story was that the sale finally freed the Design Museum to move to the long empty Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington. The building is one of the most architecturally important modern buildings in London and has a long association not only with The Commonwealth Institute educational charity but as a venue for cultural events and exhibitions of design, not least the now defunct Prima and Spectrum exhibitions which did so much to promote commercial interior design in the UK.

June 14, 2013

Only one commercial office building in RIBA National and EU Awards

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Workplace design

Just one commercial office building – Quadrant 3 on Regent Street in London [pictured] by Dixon Jones with Donald Insall Associates – has received a prize in the 2013 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) National Awards. Many of the winners for the most rigorously-judged awards for architectural excellence are publicly, charity or foundation funded, with fewer medium-scale projects amongst the winners, both public and commercial. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the 52 RIBA National and EU Award winners (43 buildings in the UK and nine buildings elsewhere in the EU).

May 23, 2013

Guidance on designing in accessibility for disabled workers

by Pam Loch • Comment, Facilities management, Knowledge, Legal news, Workplace design

The government launches a campaign today using TV celebrities and disabled groups to help promote positive role models for disabled people. It’s aimed at building on the latest stats that show 81 per cent of people thought the Paralympics had a positive impact on the way disabled people are perceived. Currently they’re not well represented in the workplace, as according to DTI figures half of all disabled people are unable to find work. This is why the Equality Act 2010 plays such a vital role in promoting diversity in the workplace. Put into practice, understanding and adhering to the Equality Act 2010 requires employers to take positive action to remove certain disadvantages to disabled people posed by working practices and the physical features of premises. More →

February 1, 2013

Ban team building exercises for a feel good Friday

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

workplace relationships

Anyone who hates team building exercises will welcome a survey published by Samaritans and Simplyhealth today, which reveals that at 4%, the least popular option for making people feel good at work is team activities, including away days. When asked to select their top two factors, 42% of workers felt that positive relationships helped them to feel good at work, compared with a mere 14% for hitting their targets. The poll of more than 1,400 workers found having a good work-life balance was the second (40%) most common reason for feeling good at work followed by receiving praise (26%).