Search Results for: technology

January 31, 2014

Urban designers must take the lead to ensure healthier cities says RIBA

Birmingham had the least physically active adults

The link between design, urbanism, and public health is under renewed scrutiny. Last year, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) launched a collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Advanced Urbanism (CAU) and the Clinton Global Initiative to look at ways urban design can address US public health challenges. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has now published exclusive research which reveals the clear link between land use and public health in English cities. ‘City Health Check – How Design Can Save Lives and Money’ compared the nine most populated cities in England – Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – and Birmingham and Liverpool were found to be the worst cities for health. More →

January 31, 2014

Economic recovery may be constrained by lack of skills and office space

by Mark Eltringham • Property, Technology, Workplace

There are signs that the nascent recovery in the UK economy is already starting to put pressure on the availability of skilled employees and appropriate commercial property for the most rapidly growing sectors. While the Government has announced that the UK’s economy has been growing at its fastest rate since 2007, a new survey published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES ) has claimed that nearly a quarter of vacancies in the UK have gone unfilled because of a shortage of much-needed skills. At the same time, claims a new report from DTZ, demand for commercial property is strengthening with take-up growing across the country while the availability of Grade A office space is declining rapidly.

January 27, 2014

Latest generation Y survey reflects characteristically idealistic thinking of youth

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace

Maybe it’s the cynicism of middle age, but the most recent exploration of arguably, the most over-analysed cohort of workers in history – Generation Y – seems to reflect the archetypal idealistic thinking of youth. For example, while most Millennials (74%) believe business is having a positive impact on society by generating jobs (48%) and increasing prosperity (71%), they think it can do much more to address society’s challenges in the areas of most concern: resource scarcity (68%), climate change (65%) and income equality (64%). And quelle surprise, 50 per cent of Millennials surveyed wanted to work for a business with ethical practices. You have to wonder wouldn’t an examination of the hopes and aspirations of the last couple of generations of younger workers reveal similar ideologies, albeit without the benefit of their digital sophistication? More →

January 16, 2014

BIM learning opportunities expand in new RICS and Salford University agreement

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

A distance learning version of a Certificate in BIM Implementation and Management, available online to professionals across the world is being offered by the University of Salford’s School of the Built Environment. The Certificate is designed to offer those working within the built environment the fundamental knowledge and understanding of BIM principles, terminologies, tools and techniques, including the technology, process and people needs for the successful adoption of BIM on construction projects. A range of new Continuous Professional Development programmes have been agreed with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which includes a one-day Introduction to BIM Implementation and Management and a five-day Certificate in BIM Implementation and Management. More →

January 15, 2014

New study claims vast majority of builders now enjoying advantages of BIM

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

A new report from McGraw Hill Construction claims that contractors in nine of the world’s top construction markets who use Building Information Modelling (BIM) believe that the technology helps them to improve productivity, efficiency, quality and safety on their projects, as well as their own competitiveness. The Business Value of BIM for Construction in Major Global Markets SmartMarket Report reveals that contractors in markets with well-established BIM use, such as Canada, France, Germany, the UK and US, as well as those in markets that are still in the initial stages of BIM adoption, such as Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea, are seeing a positive return on their investments in BIM, from project benefits like reduced errors and omissions, to process improvements like the ability to enhance collaboration, and internal business benefits such as enhancing their company’s image.

January 12, 2014

Latest issue of the Insight newsletter available to view online

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Facilities management, Newsletter, Workplace, Workplace design

The latest issue of our weekly newsletter is now available to view online. If you don’t already subscribe, please do so. Just submit your email address in the Subscription section on the right of this page and we’ll keep you up to date each week with a digest of the best news and views on the design and management of workplaces, the people who work in them and the technology they use. This week, we offer a timely warning of the perils of predictions while hypocritically predicting what we’ll spend most of 2014 talking about, ponder why wellness programmes are so popular given that they don’t appear to do all they claim, ask why so many UK employees are so keen on moving jobs, question the thinking behind the idea of creating a cycle lane in the sky in London and highlight the ongoing resurgence in the takeup of commercial property in the UK.

January 6, 2014

The nine enduring workplace tensions to keep an eye on in the year ahead

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace

There were a number of workplace issues that wouldn’t go away during 2013. And there’s no reason to believe we will resolve many of them during 2014 either. We can try to explain the recalcitrance of such things by referring to the enveloping fog that emanates from the commercial interests who promote problems to their customers so they can provide the solutions, but many are more deep-rooted. Technology and its constant radicalising effects is almost invariably the major driver of change, but it is only one thread in a complex web of social, professional, demographic, cultural and commercial changes. So here, in no particular order, are the issues we expect to spend the most time talking about on Insight over the next year. More →

January 2, 2014

Take up of office space in Central London at highest level in six years

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Take-up of office space in Central London was almost 11m sq ft in 2013, way above the 2012 figure of 7.3m sq ft and an increase of more than 50 per cent year-on-year. According to the latest figures from Cushman & Wakefield, leasing activity to December increased across all Central London markets, with transaction volumes 22 per cent above the five-year average. It says that the number of transactions over 50,000 sq ft was a major driver of leasing volumes, with 30 deals signed during 2013 – the highest number since 2007. The Media and Technology sector saw most activity across Central London, accounting for 36 per cent of all letting volumes in 2013, up from 23 per cent in the preceding two years. More →

January 2, 2014

Why we should be wary of expert predictions for 2014

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

As ever the first day back at work coincides with a flood of forecasts about what will happen in the world in the year ahead. But predictions are often more interesting in retrospect than they are in their own time. For example, each year The Economist produces its one-off ‘The World in…’ publication which asks well-informed academics and writers to tackle an issue that relates to their own specialism. This year these relate to issues such as Scottish independence (it’s a ‘no’, by the way), the rise of African economies and a potential customer backlash against technology businesses and the rich geeks who own them. Interesting though it is to read all of this, The Economist is at least honest in publishing a list of its hits and misses, whereas most people appear to just pretend the misses never happened.

December 29, 2013

The most read stories on Insight in 2013

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

It’s been one year since Insight first hit the digital streets and it’s been fascinating to see what people have been most interested in. One of the great things about online publishing is you cannot escape from what people think. Printed trade magazines can tell you they send out 12,000 copies or whatever, but they can’t tell you whether the recipients are interested enough to read them or share their contents. Online, that is all made transparent. So it’s been great to start a publication that after just a few months was demonstrably the UK’s most widely read title covering workplace design and management issues. We even know what people like the most. So here, in no particular order, are our most widely read stories from 2013, ranging from the technical to the esoteric, news stories, case studies, the bursting of bubbles and the challenges to received wisdom.

December 20, 2013

Google is a better source of information than HR team, say line managers

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The image of the cosy Personnel Manager, part mentor part counsellor, has little in common with the reality of the modern Human Resources professional, steering the organisation through the upheavals of a prolonged recession and engaged in strategic thinking, such as big data. In many ways the professionalisation of HR, which (unlike FM) has achieved Chartered Status, is an encouraging sign that organisations understand the importance of their most important assets – the people. However, the rise of the HR professional has also created barriers between them and line managers. A lack of openness and slow response to queries from HR is driving line managers to Google the answers rather than wait for their increasingly preoccupied HR colleagues to respond. More →