September 17, 2014
Avanta Serviced Office Group to open Shoreditch business centre at heart of ‘Tech City’
![serviced office](https://workplaceinsight.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/image007-179x200.png)
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Paris Design Week,
Paris
05 September 2024
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Facility Management Conference and Exhibition Africa,
Gaborone, Botswana
10 September 2024
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CoreNet Global Summit EMEA,
Berlin
10 September 2024
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RETROFIT 2024,
London
11 September 2024
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CREi SUMMIT 2024,
Atlanta
11 September 2024
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Designer's Saturday - Oslo,
Oslo
12 September 2024
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MillerKnoll London Design Festival Events: Design with Impact and Tour of MillerKnoll’s new flagship,
London
17 September 2024
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Gartner Reimagine HR Conference,
London
17 September 2024
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September 17, 2014
by Mark Eltringham • News, Property
September 17, 2014
by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News
Increased pressure on London rents are being predicted as the latest figures by DTZ show the availability of office space in central London is now 20 per cent lower than the same period in 2013, and 30 per cent below the 10 year average. While London office take up rose by 17 per cent over the same period in 2013, all Central London markets, except the South East fringe, are seeing year-on-year decreases in supply of at least 15 per cent. The North West fringe, the Docklands and the West End have seen the biggest falls in availability over the past 12 months (down 53%, 36% and 30% respectively) with availability in the City falling by 17 per cent over the same time period. A significant development has been the availability of second hand space falling by a third (33%) to 5.6 million sq ft over the past 12 months – 47 per cent below the ten year average. More →
September 4, 2014
by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design
London offers the best returns on office refurbishment of any city in the world, according to a new report from ARCACDIS. The firm’s survey of buildings more than 20 years old in thirteen cities found that returns on capital invested in major refurbs (which extend the life of the office by up to 20 years) in London were nearly ten percent, significantly higher than second placed Warsaw (7.5%) and Milan (6%). However, London was only ranked second for return on investment in minor office refurbishment, defined as a refurbs that aims to extend the life of the building by up to 5 years. Top place in this instance went to Madrid (9.6%), followed by London (8.5%) and Shanghai (7.9%). The least attractive market for office refurbishment was found to be Dubai, which the report claims is due to the large supply of new office space.
September 3, 2014
by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design
Office workers now spend up to six hours a day working on mobile devices rather than using desk computers; with men generally working with three or more mobile devices while women choose to work with a maximum of two. This is according to the intermediate results of a Global Posture Study carried out by Steelcase to identify which type of work environment fits different workers best. It reveals that the Millennial generation, born between 1979 and 2000, change posture during the course of the day more than any other age group. Female workers tend to choose postures where they can withdraw from the environment, while men prefer open seating postures where they can lean back. The results of the posture study underlines the fact that employers must take an increasingly innovative approach to creating working environment which supports the various ways of working of the employees to guarantee their wellbeing and productivity. More →
September 2, 2014
by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design
Claims by office designers and suppliers that office planting has wider health benefits for occupiers than just making the place look more attractive have been given a boost in a new academic study which provides some empirical evidence. In the first field study of its kind, researchers found enriching a ‘lean’ office with plants could increase productivity by as much as 15 per cent. The study, which involved academics from the University of Exeter; the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, and the University of Queensland, Australia examined the impact of ‘lean’ and ‘green’ offices on staff’s perceptions of air quality, concentration, and workplace satisfaction, and monitored productivity levels over subsequent months in two large commercial offices in the UK and The Netherlands. It concludes that ‘green’ offices with plants make staff happier and more productive than ‘lean’ designs stripped of greenery. More →
August 11, 2014
by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, Lighting, News, Workplace design
The importance of exposure to natural light to employee health and the priority architectural designs of office environments should place on natural daylight exposure for workers has been highlighted in a new study. According to researchers from Northwestern Medicine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign office workers with more light exposure at the office had longer sleep duration, better sleep quality, more physical activity and better quality of life compared to office workers with less light exposure in the workplace. Employees with windows in the workplace received 173 per cent more white light exposure during work hours and slept an average of 46 minutes more per night than employees who did not have the natural light exposure in the workplace. There also was a trend for workers in offices with windows to have more physical activity than those without windows. More →
August 11, 2014
by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector
The UK government has announced that it is to extend its groundbreaking One Public Estate scheme to a further twenty local authorities. The programme aims to divest and consolidate government-owned land and property to cut public sector spending and boost economic growth and regeneration. The government believes the initial phase will save £21m in running costs and £88m in capital receipts, generate around £40m for local economies and create an estimated 5,500 jobs and 7,500 homes over the next five years. The Cabinet Office is now looking to build on this with the extension of the schemes to councils including Liverpool and Birmingham city centres as well as six from Greater Manchester and Cornwall, Southampton and Plymouth. The Government Property Unit will provide funding and training to the participating authorities.
July 23, 2014
by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property
Plans for the new Astra Zeneca facility in Cambridge by Herzog & de Meuron
Three of the most talked about UK office developments have been given the go ahead within the space of a few days. The Government has finally announced that the new construction headquarters for HS2 will be in Birmingham, rather than London. Meanwhile, following all of the wrangling about its proposed takeover by Pfizer, Astra Zeneca has announced that the controversial move of its research facility from Cheshire to a new base in Cambridge will involve the creation of a new £330 million complex designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. Finally, planning consent has been granted for the 4.9 million sq ft Wood Wharf development in docklands including nearly 2 million sq ft of office space which the developer claims will be aimed at the thriving London technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector.
July 22, 2014
by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace design
The challenge for the typical office is that it is meant to satisfy a broad range of individuals and a variety of working practices; which means what some may describe as a distracting open-plan layout, others would view as a busy collaborative workspace. These conflicts are highlighted in a new study by the British Council for Offices (BCO), Morgan Lovell and Hatch, which surveyed 2,000 UK office workers’ working conditions, attitudes and expectations. For example while over two thirds were critical of the distractions of the open-plan office, nine out of ten employees believe that support from colleagues enhances their wellbeing. Putting aside the open-plan debate, the study espouses the continued importance of the office as the best place to do business and comes up with three key starting points to help employers create a culture of wellbeing: care; control and collaboration. More →
July 17, 2014
The development of new workplaces, shopping centres and industrial facilities is playing an increasingly important role in the UK’s economic recovery, according to the inaugural Commercial Construction Index by JLL and Glenigan. But the report raises concerns that the development of commercial space is still lagging behind the UK’s booming economy. Although the quarterly index reveals that work began on £22.7bn of commercial projects over the 12 months to June 2014, an increase of 6.6 per cent on the previous 12 months, Jon Neale, Head of JLL’s UK Research team warns that: “despite these positive trends, the volume of commercial space being started has not risen substantially since the recession and is still significantly behind the position before the crisis. There is evidence of an increasing supply shortage, particularly in the office market, and the amount of development needs to accelerate if this is not to hamper longer term recovery.” More →
July 16, 2014
by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property
Office occupier take up in Edinburgh continues to show strong demand, with total occupier take up over 470,000 sq ft, significantly ahead of the same period last year (301,000 sq ft) according to new research by JLL. Over 225,000 sq ft was transacted in Q2 (April – June), slightly less than the Q1’s figure of 245,000 sq ft. However JLL anticipates a slow down over the summer period in the run up to the Scottish referendum, a result of the holiday period and companies delaying decisions until the outcome is clear. Despite this, JLL predicts that year end take up will remain above the five and 10 year average. Activity was characterised by a greater number of smaller deals, with only 4 transactions over 10,000 sq ft. Enquiries continue to focus on offices which are well connected into the public transport network and offer good facilities for staff.
July 28, 2014
A vision of office design that is the exact opposite of all it claims to be
by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Workplace design
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