Search Results for: office design

The office needs to take on the characteristics of the city. Despina Katsikakis IN conversation

The office needs to take on the characteristics of the city. Despina Katsikakis IN conversation

Despina Katsikakis, the new President of the BCO has been shaping the way we think about offices for four decades

One of the unintended consequences of the era of online meetings is a chance to gain an insight into people’s actual lives. So it is that as Despina Katsikakis and I are talking, she spots my whippet Luna wandering into shot in the background and lets out an exclamation. She too has a whippet by her feet. And as a result, this abnormal, formal situation becomes a lot more normal and relaxed.   More →

Entry is Open for Design Guild Mark Awards 2024

Entry is Open for Design Guild Mark Awards 2024

Design Guild Mark has opened the 2024 awards, inviting designers entries in three categories: Furniture; Lighting; Interior Design ElementsThe Design Guild Mark has opened their entries for the 2024 awards, inviting designers and companies to submit entries for three categories: Furniture; Lighting; Interior Design Elements. Entry is open to British designers working in the UK or abroad, and designers with UK based design practices. Submissions can be for an individual product or a collection of products that are currently in production, that were designed for, and are manufactured by, an industrial design process. The designs can be intended for domestic, office, hospitality, educational or corporate use, and for both interior and exterior environments, and there is no restriction on when the design was launched. More →

Amsterdam gears up for Workspace Design Show next week

Amsterdam gears up for Workspace Design Show next week

The Workspace Design Show, an event dedicated to the future of workspaces, is taking place for the first time in less than a week from Wednesday 11 October to Thursday 12 October 2023, at the RAI Amsterdam. The event already has a successful London show. This two-day event promises to bring together industry leaders, experts, and innovators to explore the latest trends, insights, and strategies in workplace design and management. Here is a deep dive into the agenda that will be explored in detail at the conference stages next week. All of the panel discussions are free-to-attend; register here for a complimentary visitor pass. More →

BCO Awards dominated by South East offices yet again but Glasgow office takes top spot

BCO Awards dominated by South East offices yet again but Glasgow office takes top spot

Barclays’ Glasgow campus was celebrated as the Best of the Best at the British Council for Offices BCO AwardsBarclays’ Glasgow campus (pictured) was celebrated as the Best of the Best at the British Council for Offices (BCO) National Awards last night, also taking home the prize for Corporate Workplace. Seven further winners of BCO Awards were recognised as leading examples of excellence in workplace design in the UK. There were no winners in any category in the Midlands or North of England, Northern Ireland or Wales, although two offices in Manchester and Widnes were commended and the President’s Award went to HMRC for its ongoing national estate management programme. More →

Poor workplace design means a quarter of people may consider quitting job

Poor workplace design means a quarter of people may consider quitting job

A new poll claims that over a quarter (27 percent) of workers would consider leaving their job due to poor workplace designA new poll claims that over a quarter (27 percent) of workers would consider leaving their job due to poor workplace design, as an increasing number of companies phase out remote working.  Commissioned by design and architecture studio MoreySmith, the survey of 2,000 UK adults by Yonder asked the public about the importance of the office environment for their wellbeing at work. Half of those that responded said that the amenities of a workplace would impact their decision on whether to work for a company, rising to 57 percent of 25-34 year olds. More →

Is the workplace experience shaped more by maintenance or by design?

Is the workplace experience shaped more by maintenance or by design?

The workplace experienceWhat has resilience got to do with the workplace experience? It is a word that has been used a lot recently as the great British public has demonstrated massive amounts of resilience in coping with Covid-19, fuel shortages, worries about food availability and a massive shift in how we work. So what is it? The dictionary gives two meanings: firstly the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, i.e. toughness. And then secondly, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity – like nylon for example.   More →

The challenge for office acoustics is to make people feel at home

The challenge for office acoustics is to make people feel at home

The need for quiet work remains wherever we work, and so our approach to office acoustics should shift in particular waysA number of apparent truisms about work and workplaces entered mainstream consciousness in the wake of the pandemic, and the shift to more flexible and hybrid working cultures. One of them is that people are better off carrying out focussed, quiet work at home, and creative and collaborative work in the office. And that this might suggest our approach to office acoustics would shift in particular ways. More →

Firms look to consolidate office space in response to persistence of hybrid working

Firms look to consolidate office space in response to persistence of hybrid working

Many firms are taking the opportunity to consolidate office space presented to them by the persistence of hybrid workingWorkers able to work remotely are still only coming into an office for an average of 1.75 days a week, a study of 119 workplaces in 22 countries by workplace consultancy AWA claims. The responses, collated in April-May 2023 and representing organisations employing close to 155,000 people, saw a slight increase on AWA’s study a year ago, indicating that office attendance has reached a more or less steady state and that hybrid working is still a favoured solution. More →

First look at Sustainable Design China Summit taking place in Beijing this September

First look at Sustainable Design China Summit taking place in Beijing this September

Following on from its successful launch last year, the Sustainable Design China Summit returns for 2023.Following on from its successful launch last year, the Sustainable Design China Summit returns for 2023. The event, an evolution of Design China Beijing, is held at the Beijing Exhibition Center from 21-23 September 2023 and is a must-visit for designers, architects, developers, and decision makers looking to design a sustainable future. More →

What the office of the future will really look like is the office of today

What the office of the future will really look like is the office of today

If you set aside the Jetson-y outside views, the office of the future is very like the office of the presentIt’s a banality to point out that futurism is nowism plus either a robot butler or blasted landscape. So, I was taken with a press release we had last week from Studio Alliance which shows an AI’s depiction of the office of the future at various points over the next quarter of a century. What is most striking to me, if you set aside the Jetson-y outside views, is how much like the office of the present each is. More →

Government scales back plans for regional office hubs as more people work from home

Government scales back plans for regional office hubs as more people work from home

work from home settingThe UK government has announced it will be scaling back plans for thirty office ‘hubs’ outside of London by 25 percent and letting out surplus floor space to other departments as more civil service workers are choosing to work from home. In 2022 the government’s property strategy highlighted plans to relocate 22,000 posts out of London by 2030, creating 30 new regional ‘government hubs’ as it closes its older offices across the UK. However, currently just over half of that figure have been relocated. More →

Sedus office cube solutions: a symbiosis of proximity and distance

Sedus office cube solutions: a symbiosis of proximity and distance

The office cube solution is one way of insulating people from interruptions and unwelcome noise. As an enclosed cubicle and thanks to its acoustically effective components, se:cube from Sedus can minimise acoustic and visual disruption.Open space concepts, flexibility and new working styles will continue to be defining characteristics of the office of the future. They offer a number of advantages by eroding entrenched structures and supporting collaboration and communication. When people work in close proximity, with flexible meetings and spontaneous exchanges, they are able to determine the shape of each working day. Employees are increasingly deciding for themselves where and how they can best manage their tasks. Concentrated individual work shifts seamlessly into collaborative work and teamwork precedes periods of retreat or relaxation. For certain tasks, focus, silence and a sense of distance from the outside environment are essential. The office cube solution is one way of insulating people from interruptions and unwelcome noise. As an enclosed cubicle and thanks to its acoustically effective components, se:cube from Sedus can minimise acoustic and visual disruption. More →