March 2, 2016
Why WELL rather than green is the new black in building design 0
Businesses that seek to occupy premium or grade A office accommodation are traditionally seduced by the next big thing. What was once a bespoke architectural design, then became an icon, a taller building, one made of glass and finally the inevitable iconic, tall, glass tower. Now it seems a good number of those businesses have moved on to green buildings as a must have upgrade to the skyscrapers of glass and steel. Green, it appears, is the new black. But is that really the next big thing or is being green merely the last big thing? Even worse, does going green in terms of building design actually deliver the types of benefits that an occupier or landlord was anticipating, beyond the significance of branding and an alignment with grade A quality office space? The green building narrative is a particularly powerful one and the growth of LEED and BREEAM rated buildings over the last decade is proof of that power.
March 3, 2016
Open plan offices linked to low engagement and workplace satisfaction levels 0
by Sara Bean • Comment, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace design
As we’ve pointed out before, while open plan working can bring cultural benefits such as improved communication and collaboration; the continuing popularity of the open plan office is largely down to cost. The reason the UK has more than twice as many open plan workers as the global average is primarily due to high real estate costs. Now a new report from Steelcase suggests that space and cost-saving strategies such as open plan offices and hot-desking could be impacting workplace satisfaction and engagement. UK employees are falling below the global average for almost all workplace satisfaction metrics, reporting a lack of control over their work environment (59 percent), difficulties concentrating (43 percent) and an inability to work without being interrupted (50 percent). These three factors were found to be central to fostering an engaged and satisfied workforce. Only 29 percent of UK workers are engaged, compared to 34 percent globally.
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