January 31, 2013

Lights off as France announces new energy saving law

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Legal news, Lighting, News, Workplace design

The French Environment Ministry has announced that a new law will come into effect in July that requires non-residential buildings to turn off interior and window display lights each night. Under the new legislation lights in shop windows will need to be turned off at 1am and lights in office and other commercial buildings switched off an hour after the last employee leaves. The new law is planned to save around 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year as well as enough energy to power 750,000 French households. The ministry believes the law will change attitudes and help the country become a pioneer in reducing light pollution and energy use.

January 30, 2013

Guide argues positive green message for sustainable gains

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, Knowledge, News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

sustainia-world

Fear, despair and resignation do not motivate people to change their practices; they should instead be inspired by the positive messages of sustainable living. In Guide to Sustainia international sustainability initiative Sustainia argues innovation has made such impressive leaps over the last decade it’s now possible to break with the perception of a sustainable society as one of limitations. With cities and developers already assembling the nuts, bolts and designs of a more sustainable future, the guide presents a compilation of real initiatives and technologies from around the world, in a blueprint for a sustainable future. More →

January 29, 2013

Plans to convert offices may undermine innovation and growth

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Legal news, Property, Public Sector, Workplace design

Whatever they might think, Governments don’t have a natural propensity for joined up thinking. Nor do they have a natural affinity with small businesses, especially those that emerge in non-traditional sectors. Governments may like to claim they can display both of these noble values, but experience tells us different. One thing they are prone to, however, is a frequent ability to fall victim to unfortunate juxtapositions of complex events that throw their inherent weaknesses into sharp relief.

January 26, 2013

Tech and media firms drive demand for London offices

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology, Workplace design

The UK’s thriving technology and media sectors are driving demand for office space in London, creating hotspots of businesses and talent according to a new report published yesterday by property services provider Colliers International. However a shortage of supply means that not only are tech and media firms driving up rents and supplanting traditional businesses, many are adopting more ‘institutional-style’ office spaces then using design and refurbishment to put their own stamp on them.

January 25, 2013

Mixed response to Government office conversion plans

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Property, Public Sector

As predicted earlier this week, the government has confirmed new measures that will allow office space to be converted into homes without the need for planning permission. Further reforms are also intended to help boost rural communities and create jobs by allowing agricultural buildings to be converted for other business use, such as shops, offices, restaurants or leisure facilities without the need for planning permission. But the scheme has met with a decidedly mixed response from organisations as diverse as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and local authority chiefs. More →

January 24, 2013

Happiness levels in UK workplaces growing, says Government.

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Public Sector, Workplace

The general level of satisfaction in the UK’s workplaces has increased significantly in spite of ongoing economic uncertainty according to a report from the Government published yesterday. The study of more than 21,000 employees, found that job satisfaction levels actually increased in 2012 with a fifth (20 per cent) of employees either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with all aspects of their job, compared to just 16 per cent in 2004 when the survey last appeared. The report also showed that levels of commitment to individual employers had also increased over the same period, with the proportion of employees who said they shared the values of their organisation up from 55 per cent to 65 per cent. More →

January 24, 2013

New developer ‘to create 50 per cent cheaper offices’

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

Peter Rogers, left and Stuart Lipton

The high-profile new venture between two of the most prominent developers in London will focus on creating large scale office buildings that are half as cheap as current standard designs. Lipton Rogers has been formed by Stuart Lipton, formerly of Chelsfield Partners and Peter Rogers, the former technical director of Stanhope who stepped down last year. The new business will look to put into practice the results of research commissioned in 2011 by Lipton which found that new buildings could be created far more cheaply than is currently the case. More →

January 24, 2013

‘Visionary’ Zaha Hadid receives creative leadership award

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Technology, Workplace design

Architect Zaha Hadid has received the Aenne Burda Award for Creative Leadership at the international DLD Conference in Munich. The award honours female digital entrepreneurs for their visionary and successful ideas. Delivering the address on Zaha Hadid, Rhode Island School of Design President John Maeda said: “Leaders are needed when times are changing, creative leaders change times themselves. They make things – like Zaha. She’s unafraid to disrupt, she’s very optimistic. Today we celebrate her incredible optimism.” More →

January 23, 2013

Global Gen Y survey highlights national differences

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Knowledge, News, Workplace

Never has a generation of humans been so much talked about as Generation Y. As this millennial army marches into the world’s workplaces and takes the reins of power (or at least control) for the first time, there has been a lot of agonising about how to manage a whole generation of people who are the first to have been nurtured in a digital world. Now a new report from Deloitte into the attitudes of millennials from around the world has confirmed that this is a complex generation of individuals with many universal ideals but with regional characteristics too. More →

January 23, 2013

Designing for productivity means creating space for us to be alone

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

On the face of it, the case for working in open plan offices is clear cut. Not only are they more conducive to collaborative work and less bound by ideas of that great no-no that we used to call ‘status’, the economic case is seemingly open and shut. Open plan workstations not only take up around half the space of cellular offices, the fit-out costs are typically 25 per cent lower. And yet there are clear signs of a backlash, at least to the idea of them fostering collaborative work.

January 23, 2013

Global FM announces strategic vision & FM award winners

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News

Global FM

Global FM, (Global Facility Management Association) has formalised changes to its strategic plan. It follows the recommendations of a special Taskforce set up last year to evaluate the structure, objectives and activities of the association, a worldwide federation of member-centric organisations representing the facilities management profession. The Association explains the taskforce was: “In agreement that a more simplified structure would allow a better use of resources focussing on activities that create added value for the association and its members and avoiding any duplication of the outcomes of the national FM associations.”