Search Results for: commercial

June 25, 2015

Long distance commuting, agile working and dinosaur extinction in the UAE

by Douglas Langmead • Cities, Comment, Flexible working, Property

In Dubai, there are no suburban dinosaurs; those large-scale, single purpose office buildings that ignore the agile realities of modern working life. In the western world, these giants evolved on business parks, driven by the perceived benefits of having office workers agglomerated in order to achieve efficiency of communication and dissemination. The business practices and technologies that underpinned these buildings have evolved and improved and many are in the process of being re-purposed. Things happen on a grander scale in the Middle East where the mantra is “if the land-use doesn’t fit the land, make more land.” Here, the patterns of work and place have evolved differently from the west, and at a much faster pace with creeping tides of development spreading rapidly out from the small centres of traditional trade and commerce to vast tracts of new development.

June 23, 2015

A gallery of the workplace winners of this year’s RIBA Awards

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Workplace design

The full list of regional winners of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Awards for 2015 has been finalised. The list of 37 winners will now go on to compete for the Stirling Prize in October. This year’s list is dominated by London projects, as is often the case, but also by homes whereas last year they were dominated by large scale projects, especially The Shard. We’ve rounded up a gallery of the major workplace projects in the list for England and Wales with some notes extracted from RIBA’s own commentaries (so don’t blame us). Each entry is hyperlinked for you to discover more about the project. Unfortunately, the regional winners for Scotland and Northern Ireland are not well served by their respective websites, which is a particular shame given the success Scotland in particular has in terms of the number and apparent quality of its winning projects.

June 19, 2015

RICS case studies focus on business impact of strategic facilities management

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

Six case studies, which outline how businesses can make the most of strategic facilities management to enhance their performance are being launched today (19 June), at the NEC in Birmingham. Developed by International Workplace for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the latest set of case studies in the series, provides examples of best practice as outlined in RICS’ Strategic Facilities Management (FM) Guidance Note. The case studies, which can be downloaded from RICS’ website, cover a range of strategic FM issues including procurement, innovation, technology, sustainability, talent management and health and safety. Key themes include a professional understanding of the impact of FM to a company’s reputation, brand and performance, engagement with staff and the supply chain, the importance of measuring impact and outcomes and communication.

June 12, 2015

‘Trailblazing’ firm wins Gold Award for sustainable buildings

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Environmental engineers Max Fordham have been named Gold Award winners in the 2015 Ashden Awards which champion sustainable buildings. The firm, which was the recipient of the Ashden Award for Sustainable Buildings, works with architects to minimise the energy requirements of new buildings. This results in buildings that can meet many of their own lighting, heating and air conditioning needs through measures such as harnessing natural light and ventilation. Its work on new buildings – such as the Hive [pictured] can cut carbon emissions by up to 50 percent. Demand Logic, a clean tech company that helps large buildings make big savings on their energy bills, won the 2015 Impax Ashden Award for Energy Innovation for a cloud-based system which plugs into the management system of commercial buildings and detects what it calls ‘energy insanities’ where, for example, energy sapping systems such as boilers are left on when not needed.

June 10, 2015

Facilities management shown to play role in productivity and wellbeing

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

The role of facilities management in increasing productivity and wellbeing is highlighted in a new survey by Sodexo and RICS of their facilities management professional members and contacts to mark World FM Day. Over half of those questioned (61%) said that improvements to workplace environments and services have a positive effect on employees and that employee wellbeing would have a high impact on their organisation over the next two years. The report claims that FM is helping to enhance areas such as social interactions among colleagues (30%), ease of efficiency in day to day tasks (22%) and employees’ health and wellbeing (22%). It builds on the recent Sodexo – Harris Interactive survey, “How Leaders Value Quality of Life,” which revealed 66 percent of managers are convinced that improving quality of life is a strategic priority for their institutions.

June 3, 2015

Plans unveiled for England’s tallest office tower outside London

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property

Plans for what is billed as the tallest office building outside of London have been submitted to Birmingham City Council for approval. The proposed 26 storey tower at 103 Colmore Row is planned to stand 346ft (105m) and house some 2,000 office workers. Birmingham is bound to find the scheme attractive as it vies with Manchester for the crown of England’s second city. Up to now, tall buildings have not enjoyed the same appeal in regional cities as much as they have in London. The new building is planned to replace the former NatWest tower which has lain empty on the development site since 2003 and is set to be demolished once plans are finalised for its replacement. If given a green light, the new scheme will incorporate a rooftop restaurant, green roof, terraces, street level shops and cafes and a winter garden.

May 27, 2015

Sheppard Robson release details of new mixed-use scheme in Clerkenwell

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property

Architects Sheppard Robson have released more details of their design for a major mixed-use project in the Clerkenwell district of London. The site is currently occupied by a multi-story car park and the new scheme, developed alongside Endurance Land will include a 3,900 sq m office development aimed predominantly at SMEs, particularly those in the media, technology and creative industries for which the area is known. The scheme includes a hotel and retail spaces at ground level. Sheppard Robson claims that ‘all elements of the development in-keeping with the vibrancy of Clerkenwell and nearby Exmouth Market, whilst also acknowledging the history of the site which is adjacent to two conservation areas’. The hotel will be operated by Premier Inn, and include a touchdown cafe open to guests and the public.

May 25, 2015

This year’s ICFF furniture show in New York marked a spirited revival

by Rob Kirkbride • Comment, Events, Furniture, Workplace design

The last time I attended ICFF in New York, the show was weak, eclipsed by myriad design events around the city and not quite sure of where it fit in. That was a few years ago. This year, it was bigger and better in many ways. ICFF is very much alive, thriving in fact. The show has exploded in importance, size and scope in a few short years. Many in the office furniture industry who gave up on ICFF need to return. Others are seeing the value of the show and the surrounding events (which continue to grow as well) for the first time. Still, for the office furniture world, ICFF is more about art, design and ideas such as chairs from Fritz Hansen (above). Don’t come to rub elbows with your contract furniture colleagues. Instead, come to be inspired by what is possible – even though some of it is more bespoke that this industry is used to.

May 24, 2015

More intensive space use is helping to drive down office costs worldwide

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Workplace design

Office costs are falling worldwide, in part because occupiers are using space more intensively, according to the latest Office Thermometer report from commercial property firm DTZ. The report found that the West End of London has comfortably retained its position as the world’s most expensive location. The average annual cost of a workstation in the area is $29,000 (about £19,000), fully a third higher than second placed New York. The report found that office costs continue to fall significantly in most regions, nearly 4 percent overall on average, although there were increases in fast growing local markets, especially in the Middle East. According to the study, more intensive use of office space by occupiers, an appreciating US dollar, weak economic growth in Europe and significant new supply in emerging markets have combined to cut costs worldwide.

May 23, 2015

The latest edition of Insight Weekly is available to view online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Newsletter, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; Charles Marks on how the changing way we work presents challenges for the development of commercial property; Kati Barklund says management is needed to encourage people to use sit stand workstations properly and Peter Ames argues it is the flexibility of shared offices which allows SMEs to mould a space to their brand and make it feel like home. We learn that the European workforce is optimistic about the impact of new and emerging workplace technology, why women of over 55 make the best business strategists and Mark Eltringham agrees that the workplace is changing but the death of the office is a myth. The complete Work&Place archive is now available for you online and sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss this and other stories.

May 17, 2015

The complete Work&Place archive is now available for you online

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Facilities management, Premium Content, Property, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

The complete Work&Place archive is now available for you online, with each issue in two formats. PDF and digital editions offer you a choice of how to access the thoughts of some of the world’s greatest practitioners and writers on workplaces, commercial property, urbanisation, technology and all of the key forces driving developments in the built environment. Each of the issues so far also offers you an international perspective which means not only do they offer an insight into the forces that shape workplace thinking worldwide, they also create a unique perspective on how national approaches are shaped by local forces related to legislation, the economy, environment, culture and business practice. Work&Place is now published quarterly with the next issue set for July 2015. It will continue to create an era defining body of work about the rapidly changing world of work and workplaces.

May 5, 2015

Election uncertainly blamed for slowdown across the UK construction sector

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The UK construction market experienced a slowdown in April, with output and new orders expanding at the slowest rates since June 2013, according to the latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction survey. Although the growth of commercial work was the least marked since August 2013, many survey respondents suggested that underlying conditions remained favourable, but some clients had delayed decisions ahead of the general election. Looking ahead, confidence regarding the 12-month outlook dipped from the nine-year high seen in March, but remained stronger than its long run average. A number of firms cited optimism that underlying demand would continue to improve, while others suggested that the removal of election related uncertainty would help support new business gains.