September 21, 2022

Poor acoustics hamper productivity and deter people from spending more time in the office

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Noisy offices are lowering productivity, with 60 percent of office workers unable to concentrate and delivering poor quality work due to loud workspaces, is deterring people from returning to offices more often, and can even lead to violence. Those are the key findings of a new poll of 2,000 workers from Oscar Acoustics. The survey [registration] suggests that just 8 percent of people feel they work in a quiet office, with only a quarter of office workers working in a space that has well designed acoustics for their job. More →

September 20, 2022

Teknion Routes wins Gold at the 2022 International Design Excellence Awards

by Freddie Steele • Workplace design, Works Magazine

Teknion has announced that Routes, designed by Pearson Lloyd, has received the Gold award in the Office & Accessories category at the 2022 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Teknion Routes is unlike any other contract furniture system, as it eschews conventional thinking to offer an alternative, flexible solution that evolves with the workplace. It is designed to allow teams to create flexible, practical, and engaging workspaces quickly and efficiently. Utilising the collection, teams can easily define their ideal ‘route’ to completion for any given task, increasing the office’s overall efficiency. More →

September 19, 2022

BDG architecture + design and FUTURE Designs, showcase AERO313 at London Design Festival

by Freddie Steele • Works Magazine

BDG architecture + design and FUTURE Designs will display the only AERO313 luminaire in the country, at Borough Yards, London Bridge, as part of this year’s London Design Festival which runs from 17-25 September 2022. FUTURE Designs was appointed by BDG architecture + design in 2020 to create this innovative custom light fixture that is a centrepiece of the latest WPP campus project in Detroit, USA. Faced with transatlantic logistics and regulations, the sheer scale of the product, as well as a global pandemic, the team involved tackled unprecedented challenges in order to deliver this ground-breaking luminaire to practical completion for a client on time and to budget. More →

September 15, 2022

Surface Design Show announces its 2023 theme of ‘Shaping Communities’

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The Surface Design Show has announced the theme of its 2023 edition as ‘Shaping Communities’; with an ambition to improve the surroundings for all, through collaboration and meaningful design solutions. The Show once again takes place at London’s Business Design Centre from 7-9 February 2023 allowing architects, designers and specifiers to discover the best in material design for the built environment. More →

September 14, 2022

How to add colour to your office when working from home

by Freddie Steele • Company news

Working from home (WFH) is no mean feat. For maximum productivity, the number one rule is to create an environment that works for you day in, day out. While a well-designed desk and chair will get you off to a good start, practical storage should also be a top priority; whether they be functional multi-drawer cabinets to keep clutter at bay, or simple desktop tidies to make daily tasks a little easier. More →

September 12, 2022

Workspace Design Show sets out plans for 2023 event

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design

After a hugely successful debut edition, Workspace Design Show returns to London’s Business Design Centre on 27-28 February and will once again be the venue where creatives from the UK’s workplace industry gather to discover the latest design innovations in work space design. With the theme of this year’s show being ‘Destination Workplace’ there will be over 3,000 workplace professionals looking to source the latest furniture, lighting, acoustics, surfaces, storage, materials, tech and biophilic products and solutions to transform their office interiors. More →

September 9, 2022

Hybrid work may be ‘here to stay’, but the office remains essential for many businesses

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

As businesses continue to evolve their workplaces to best meet the needs of their employees, JLL’s global Future of Work Survey claims that 72 percent of decision makers believe the office is critical to doing business. The research shows that over the next several years companies anticipate hybrid work to become the dominant model and will be looking across their real estate portfolios to re-think their office spaces, invest in new technology, including virtual offices, and prioritise sustainability. More →

September 7, 2022

Remote work and the things we have learned about it

by Sara Whitman and Isabel Conrad • Comment, Flexible working

Two plus years after the onset of the pandemic and many employees are continuing to work remotely, either full or part-time. We know that the ability to work remotely increases employee happiness by as much as 20 percent, but employees will tend to work longer hours and are more likely to experience burnout. The debate over whether remote work is “better” than being in an office is reductive and misses critical nuances around hybrid work models. More →

September 6, 2022

Data centre design is entering a new era

by Helen Parton • Environment, Features, Technology

A new exhibition has shone a light on the often overlooked building typology of the data centre. The show, entitled Power House running to 28 February and curated by design journalist Clare Dowdy looks at the architecture of data centres, showcasing proposals and existing designs by architecture practices around the globe, from vast complexes in remote locations, to retrofitted buildings in urban centres. More →

September 6, 2022

Digital infrastructure is the key to achieving net zero

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Technology

A net zero future hinges on the creation of the right digital infrastructure, although doubts remain about our preparedness, claims a new report from Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and Worley. The report, From Ambition to Reality: Measuring change in the race to deliver net zero is part of a series that the firm claims examines the infrastructure delivery challenge of reaching mid-century net-zero. More →

September 6, 2022

Two-thirds of European SMEs are unprepared for hybrid working

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Flexible working, Technology

A new poll from Dynabook Europe claims that many European small and medium sized enterprises are still grappling with the challenges of hybrid working, with two-thirds (67 percent) yet to fully optimise their IT solutions for this. The study, commissioned by Dynabook in partnership with Walnut Unlimited, surveyed 1,202 IT decision-makers at SMEs across the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. More →

September 5, 2022

Remote working is still largely regulated at company level in Europe

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Access to telework and other remote working arrangements are still largely determined at company level in most EU Member States, with just France, Lithuania and Portugal currently enshrining the right to request telework in legislation. While some common ground exists, there are varying standards and practices in place with regards to telework in the EU, which can be regulated through legislation or collective agreements. These can relate to important issues such as health and safety, working time, and compensation. Although the right to disconnect has recently been expanded in several countries, it is not extensive throughout the EU and differs in implementation across the Member States. More →