Search Results for: wellness

MillerKnoll’s top office fit out trends for 2024

MillerKnoll’s top office fit out trends for 2024

The last few years have seen a major shift in how businesses approach their office spaces. With more emphasis on aesthetics, functionality, and employee wellbeing, 2024 will showcase some of the most exciting trends for future-ready workplaces centred on connection, wellbeing and change. As a leader in workplace design, MillerKnoll talks about the top six emerging trends shaping office spaces this year. Based on decades of expertise, MillerKnoll identifies shifting priorities that empower companies embracing conscious design attuned to modern needs. More →

FAANGs for the memories: how tech palaces lost their lustre

FAANGs for the memories: how tech palaces lost their lustre

With the downfall of wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried and the demise of his Bahamas HQ, does this mean that instead of being heralded as inspiration, tech palaces have instead become dated and toothlessI was alerted by the great Jack Pringle during a presentation course he was giving to an unforgettable YouTube clip of Steve Jobs speaking to the local council as part of a planning application for his Apple Park in California, one of the great tech palaces that sprang up in the wake of the digital revolution. Jobs, in familiar black polo neck jumper and wire-rimmed spectacles, took the officials of Cupertino City Council on a journey of opportunity, awe and inspiration. More →

We need to talk about loneliness

We need to talk about loneliness

From a business perspective, loneliness can be something that is often overlooked, particularly with the growing trend of hybrid workingLast year the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that loneliness is a pressing global health threat. Research has shown that it poses the same health risk as 15 cigarettes a day. According to the ONS, between January and February 2024, one in four adults in the UK reported feeling lonely. The government estimates the cost of severe loneliness per person is roughly £10,000 per year as a result of its impact on wellbeing, health and productivity. From a business perspective, this issue can be something that is often overlooked, particularly with the growing trend of hybrid working. In a connected workplace, employees feel valued, supported, and motivated to contribute their best. More →

Thoughts of hybrid working should now turn to productivity and trust

Thoughts of hybrid working should now turn to productivity and trust

The impact of hybrid working models on productivity and employee wellbeing, especially in light of last year's unprecedented spike in sick days, is an important issueBusinesses now face the huge challenge of managing office returns and addressing the underlying generational divides and mistrust that have surfaced as a result of the pandemic years. With the Office for National Statistics (ONS) having released new data on UK productivity levels that show productivity remains sluggish, the impact of hybrid working models on productivity and employee well-being, especially in light of last year’s unprecedented spike in sick days, is an important issue. More →

Work-life balance trumps pay in list of employee wants

Work-life balance trumps pay in list of employee wants

The majority of UK workers would choose better work-life balance over higher pay (61 percent vs. 39 percent) in both their current and future jobsThe majority of UK workers would choose better work-life balance over higher pay (61 percent vs. 39 percent) in both their current and future jobs, according to the latest Amex Trendex report which claims to reveal consumer trends and priorities for 2024. According to the report, based on a survey of adults from the UK, Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Mexico, and the United States, personal wellness, work-life balance and the environment are seen as priorities for this year. More →

ARCHITECT@WORK set to welcome architects and designers to its March show

ARCHITECT@WORK set to welcome architects and designers to its March show

On 20th and 21st March ARCHITECT@WORK London will open its doors at the Truman Brewery and the team are ready to welcome the architecture and design community from London and everywhere else on both daysOn 20th and 21st March ARCHITECT@WORK London will open its doors at the Truman Brewery and the team are ready to welcome the architecture and design community from London and everywhere else on both days. Discover over 200 carefully selected product innovations brought to you by a selection of high-end brands. Register online and get your visitor badge. Admission is free for all trade visitors. More →

The final word on workplace wellbeing

The final word on workplace wellbeing

The final word? Of course not. Five years ago this month, we published an article that described how the quest for productivity had been supplanted almost entirely by a new emphasis on workplace wellbeingThe final word? Of course not. Nearly six years ago, we published an article that described how the quest for productivity had been supplanted almost entirely by a new emphasis on workplace wellbeing. It was the final nail in the coffin of scientific management and its central notion of the office as a factory, subject to rigid times and places of work and manufacturing’s culture of process, efficiency and productivity. The office a splice of factory and panopticon. More →

Woven Image adds five new colours to its acoustic offering

Woven Image adds five new colours to its acoustic offering

The allure of the natural world is the inspiration for Woven Image’s extended colour palette with 5 new coloursThe allure of the natural world is the inspiration for Woven Image’s extended colour palette with 5 new colours: dusk, mint, butter, cayenne and nutmeg. By embracing the ongoing evolution of colour and textural finishes in the built environment, these portfolio refreshments from Woven Image support interior designers and architects to deliver sustainable, acoustic solutions that evoke moods of relaxation and happiness through clever function and aesthetics. More →

Technology is stealing your time in ways you may not realise

Technology is stealing your time in ways you may not realise

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Smart phones provide a palm-size window to the world, enabling us to do almost anything at the touch of a button. Smart homes look after themselves, and virtual meetings mean that for many, time spent commuting is a thing of the past. So we should have more free time. Time which is now spent sleeping, relaxing or simply doing nothing – right? More →

Time to put down the devices if you really want things to look up

Time to put down the devices if you really want things to look up

Mental health. It’s time to put the devices down. It’s time for us to look up, and it’s time to reset.In 2022, data from Statisica revealed UK users spent an average of 4.25 hours per day using their mobile devices. A different Statistica survey found that 31 percent of UK social media users aged between 16 and 24 years reported spending between 1-2 hours per day using TikTok, while 25 percent reported spending between 3-4 hours per day on the social video app. More →

We are not blank slates and we don’t adapt to change in predictable ways

We are not blank slates and we don’t adapt to change in predictable ways

An idea that has never really gone away, but which seems to be enjoying a new lease of life is the tabula rasa. The conception of people as a blank slate is something that has crept back into mainstream political and social thought for a variety of reasons. Arguably, it is also behind many of the most misleading notions about work and workplace design, perhaps most importantly that a change to some single element or characteristic of a working environment will lead to a specific outcome in the behaviour of people. More →

A bit of alien thinking on coffee and some other BS

A bit of alien thinking on coffee and some other BS

I’ve sometimes highlighted how our perceptions of the workplace are subject to an apex fallacy. The daily consumption of narratives about campuses, tech palaces and ‘cool’ design can obscure the fact that most people don’t experience this stuff in their daily lives. They work in adequate or possibly nice offices. Some in shabby offices or horrible offices. Many travel into work at the same time each day and sit with roughly the same people and do roughly the same things. They may work from home more frequently now, but they have a routine there too. Most will work in a mundane or nice home that mirrors the mundane office that awaits at the other end of the commute. More →