Search Results for: office

May 21, 2013

Worldwide competition launched by RIBA to design a new Scotland Yard

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

Courtesy of Simon Heath

A worldwide competition to design a new Metropolitan Police HQ has been launched by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The force is moving from its landmark New Scotland Yard site in Westminster, central London as part of cost cutting measures. The project on behalf of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) will involve the redevelopment of the existing and currently unoccupied Curtis Green MPS building located on the Victoria Embankment, London, SW1. Roger Harding MPS – Director of Real Estate Development said: “The opportunity to create a modern efficient working environment for the Met’s future headquarters, with world-class architecture that provides value for money and is alive to the history of the building provides a wonderful challenge.” More →

May 17, 2013

CBRE WorkShop concept is interesting, but is it workable?

by Simon Heath • Comment, Property, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

I’d like to deal in this article with the arrival yesterday of the long-awaited white paper from CBRE’s thought leadership exercise, The CBRE Workshop. However, I should declare an interest for the sake of transparency. Until June 2012 I was employed by CBRE and reported directly to a couple of the people who are heavily involved in The Workshop idea. I would reassure readers that I am not a disgruntled former employee. I have a huge amount of respect and warm regard towards my erstwhile colleagues and nobody will be happier than me to see them do well.

May 17, 2013

Survey into UK culture of overwork highlights need for better worklife balance

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

A new study is published today which reveals how the UK’s long hour-culture is damaging family life, causing high stress levels, cutting time spent with loved ones and creating an inability to switch off from work. A survey of more than 1,000 working parents throughout the UK, commissioned by health cash plan provider Medicash, found that 83 per cent of working parents feel guilty about the amount of time they spend working, with 50 per cent saying it has a negative impact on relationships with their children, and almost half (45.9%), saying it caused problems in their relationship with their partner and caused them to neglect friends (25%).

May 16, 2013

Working on daily commute is on the increase survey finds

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Workplace

As argued on this site today, many people prefer to work while commuting and research published today supports this view. A survey of over 2,000 British workers by recruiter Randstad reveals the number of employees who work while they commute rose from 4.8 per cent in 2008 to 7.5 per cent in 2013. There’s also been a big rise in the number of “extreme commuters” – those travelling more than 90 minutes each way – which has increased by 50 per cent, from just over one in twenty (6 per cent), to almost one in ten (9 per cent). However, while 18 per cent of British workers feel that the development of smartphones and tablets has made it easier for them to work while they travel, – one in ten (9.2 per cent) say that new technology has increased the pressure on them to get work done on their journey to and from work. More →

May 14, 2013

Majority of workers prefer sick colleagues to stay home

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

As we reported last week, the UK workforce is suffering from a bad case of presenteeism, but unfortunately for those valiant employees who drag themselves into the office despite being genuinely sick, it seems the majority of their workmates would prefer they didn’t bother. According to the latest research on the issue, this time from Capita Employee Benefits, over three in four (78 per cent) recognise that colleagues who are genuinely sick should stay at home until they get better for the benefit of both themselves and those around them.

May 14, 2013

How ingrained assumptions about the workplace are eroding

by Ros Pomeroy • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Ad agency RKCR © Jefferson Smith

The first day at a new job used to mean getting the answer to that all important question: “so which is my office?” In today’s mostly open plan environments, the same psychological attachment has been transferred to the desk – ‘my’ desk. However the current trend for flexible approaches to where people work means that even the concept of having one’s own desk is now under attack. So how much does having your own desk matter to the UK office workforce these days? We have been asking employees how they feel about having their own desk. The results seem to be that more than half, on average 56% (of a total of 2,653 employees surveyed at 5 recent client projects), think that it is ‘very important’ and a further 25% think it is ‘quite important’.

May 13, 2013

Green responsibilities of the built environment highlighted by CIBSE

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News

We’ve already focused today on the role individuals can play in supporting the green agenda of their employers, but for those working within the built environment they may have particular responsibility when it comes to helping to reduce energy consumption and provide for the adaptation of buildings that respond to the challenges of climate change. This is the message from incoming CIBSE President, George Adams Engineering Director for Spie Matthew Hall, in his Presidential address, “Whole Life Thinking” where he stresses the need for a new energy engineering conscience and calls for an increased pace of action to improve the industry and reduce its environmental impact.

May 13, 2013

Employment rates set to grow but applicants must battle for jobs

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Employment growth is set to continue in the second quarter of this year, but the jobs market remains a ‘battleground’, particularly for low-skilled workers. According to the Spring 2013 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)/Success Factors Labour Market Outlook (LMO), the net employment balance – which measures the difference between the proportion of employers who expect to increase staffing levels and those who intend to reduce staffing levels, has increased to +9 from +5 for the previous quarter, the fifth consecutive quarter of projected growth. However, the median number of applicants employers receive for medium-skilled roles is 29, highly-skilled vacancies typically receive 10 applicants and pay rates continue to be squeezed.

May 8, 2013

Planning consent given for Tower Bridge Business Complex

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Workspace Group has announced that it has received planning consent for the mixed–use redevelopment of its property at the Tower Bridge Business Complex in South East London. The final development will offer 270,000 sq ft of existing business space and 60,000 sq ft of new business accommodation as well as 800 new residential units and a public park. Jamie Hopkins, chief executive officer said: “There is strong demand for tailored business space in the area and it is our firm intention to increase the number of jobs on site in order to benefit the local community. The development also provides a significant boost to both the capital value and rental income of the site.”

May 7, 2013

Over 90 percent of UK staff afflicted with bad case of presenteeism

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Workplace

We’ve always known that many of us have a tendency to come into work when ill even though we would be better off staying at home, but the problem of people turfing up in the office when they should be in bed or a GP’s queue is worsening according to a new report from insurance company Canada Life. Knocking into a cocked hat all the various surveys which detail the UK’s ‘working days lost’ due to stress?snow/The World Cup/hangovers and idleness, the survey claims that as many as 93 per cent of UK employees have hauled their diseased carcass into the workplace when they really shouldn’t, threatening their own health and the wellbeing of those around them.

May 2, 2013

UK facilities management trade associations announce plans to merge

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News

We’ll react to this later but here is the press release announcing the proposed merger of all of the UK’s major facilities management and support services trade associations: “The British Institute of Facilities Management, Asset Skills, the Facilities Management Association and the Cleaning and Support Services Association have agreed to the concept of forming one single and united body to represent facilities management and support services. As the facilities management and support services profession and industry have matured and evolved, so too must the bodies representing and leading them. This proposed merger recognises the growing demand for a stronger, unified and collective voice that represents and promotes what is a fundamental component of our economy and day to day businesses.

May 1, 2013

Video: “sitting is the smoking of our generation”

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace, Workplace design

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In which a businesswoman rejoicing in the name Nilofer Merchant argues that one of the major causes of ill health in the world today is our sedentary lifestyle, and suggests a small idea that just might have a big impact on your life and health: Next time you have a one-on-one meeting, make it into a “walking meeting”. She is arguing the increasingly well established principle that good ergonomics is not about posture but about movement. This point has been argued before on Office Insight, including here, but the point cannot be made often enough. It’s true that the best chair designs encourage movement for those times when we cannot avoid sitting but, as ever, this is as much an issue of management as it is design.