Search Results for: coworking

August 25, 2015

Flexible working and coworking are disrupting property markets worldwide ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property

Coworking space and the growth of flexible are already having a major disruptive effect on commercial property markets worldwide, according to a study from real estate trade association CoreNet Global. The survey of members representing a diverse range of sectors found that the two most disruptive trends in the market over the short to medium term are flexible working environments (64 percent) and new technology (64 percent). The report, which has been issued to CoreNet members ahead of the organisation’s 2015 EMEA Summit which will take place in London in September, claims that coworking spaces are capitalising on these trends to have a major disruptive effect on local property markets and are particularly attractive to occupiers from specific sectors such as those working in financial technology.

August 10, 2015

London is leading the way in the global coworking revolution ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

Changing attitudes amongst occupiers towards office space and the explosion in the numbers of freelance workers and microbusinesses are driving an upsurge in coworking and other flexible working environments worldwide. That is the key conclusion of a new report from DTZ which claims that the number of dedicated flexible working locations worldwide is likely to hit 50,000 over the next three years, with parts of London leading the way. We reported recently how coworking pioneer WeWork has already announced its plans to dominate London’s commercial property scene in the same way it already does Manhattan’s. Now, the How You Work report from DTZ suggests that this is the shape of things to come for many cities, with London leading the way alongside a tranche of global tech and creative centres such as New York, Berlin and Shanghai.

July 27, 2015

Coworking juggernaut WeWork announces plans to dominate London

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

Earlier this month, US based coworking juggernaut WeWork announced that it had opened the UK’s largest space of its kind in Moorgate in East London. Now, according to a report in the journal CoStar, the firm is looking to become a major tenant in the commercial property market in London in the same way that it has come to dominate Manhattan. According to the report, WeWork is looking to acquire over 1 million sq. ft. of space in the capital over the next 18 months as it seeks to provide coworking space for its growing customer base of young creative and technology businesses and other start ups. If it succeeds in finding the space it wants, the firm will have quadrupled the commercial property it occupies in London to 1.5 million sq. ft. WeWork is already Manhattan’s largest tenant and is now valued at $10 billion, having started in 2010.

June 15, 2015

‘Tree office’ coworking space opens in an East London Square

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace design

A new kind of workplace has been opened in London…an office built around a tree. The pop-up office designed as a coworking space is based in Hoxton Square in the first initiative from the Park Hack project, led by Groundwork London and Hackney Council, set up to test new innovative models that sustain and enhance public open spaces. It is designed to operate as a working office and will be available to hire over the next seven months for businesses, creative workers and community groups. It is equipped with a power supply and WiFi and has the capability to also host small meetings or intimate events. Those who hire the space will be directly supporting the local environment, with income generated being reinvested into Hackney’s parks and green spaces. TREExOFFICE is also featured in the London Festival of Architecture that is taking place this month.

April 30, 2025

Co-working spaces bring a whole range of benefits for employees and communities

by Mariachiara Barzotto • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design

When you think of co-working spaces – where workers from different industries come together to share a convenient workplace – you might picture a group of young freelancers hunched over laptops. But today’s co-working spaces have evolved into something more powerful – particularly in a world still reshuffling office work practices in the wake of the COVID pandemic. As workplaces adapt to new ways of operating, from hybrid to “digital nomadism”, co-working spaces can do more than simply offer flexibility. They can support workers’ wellbeing and work–life balance by enhancing a sense of community, building trust and new friendships, and encouraging continuous learning. More →

March 31, 2025

Flexible workspace, cognitive dissonance and lessons learnt from The Shining

by John Williams • Comment, Flexible working, Property

At the start of the Shining, the seminal horror film of the 1970s, the fantastically unsettling orchestral score provides the clue that this happy family of the opening scene is going to end very, very badly. But the key element of the film is the casting of Jack Nicholson in a kind, smiling role as a writer and loving parent – from the minute the camera settles on that jarring smile, it is obvious that something is off. And this is cognitive dissonance – Jack is being portrayed as a loving husband to Shelley Duvall with your nerves jangling and telling you that he is everything but that…… More →

December 4, 2024

Search begins for Britain’s best office dog

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Bath-based workplace design firm Interaction is inviting dog owners across the UK to nominate their canine colleagues and share a photo of their pets at work. The aim of the competition to find Britain’s best office dog is to highlight the important role that dogs play in workplace wellbeing. In the UK, households bought 3.2 million pets during lockdown – that’s a lot of new dogs for employees to consider. By supporting dog-friendly policies, the firm believes businesses can encourage these employees back into the office, whilst also reducing stress and improving engagement. More →

July 23, 2024

Accelerating the rise of the adaptable office

by Adil Sheikh • Company news, Workplace design

The introduction of the Flexible Working Act is another sign that the concept of the ‘workplace’ has undergone a significant transformation. These shifts in work patterns, office usage and approach are all having dramatic knock-on impacts when it comes to the future of the physical infrastructure of the nation’s office environments, and the investor communities behind them. The growth of the adaptable office is one of the most obvious responses to the growing appetite for flexible working and agile property strategies. More →

July 19, 2024

Book review: Workspace Made Easy

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Workplace design

There’s a dog-eared, yellowing paperback on my bookshelf called Understanding Offices. Written by Joanna Eley and Alexi Marmot, it dates from 1995. It is a handbook for everybody who needed to know how to develop a workplace strategy during the infant phase of the digital and cultural revolution of the late 20th Century. I used to refer to it all the time, but now it serves mainly as a reminder of how much has changed over the past thirty years, and also how little. More →

July 18, 2024

The city and the office have much to teach each other

by Marian Evans • Cities, Features, Workplace design

Whatever you might hear, these times are far from unprecedented. History has lessons for us both in terms of how we view the events of 2020 and how we might respond to them, including how we progress as a species and make our lives and the world a better place. In 1832, there was an epidemic of cholera in the UK’s towns and cities. In those with a population of 100,000 or more life expectancy was just 26 years. The reasons for this were picked up on by a government official called Edwin Chadwick as a member of the Poor Law Commission. More →

June 24, 2024

Sound and vision – Nigel Oseland makes himself heard for the IN magazine profile

by Mark Eltringham • Features, IN Magazine, Premium Content

Interviewing people involves trying to tease out a bit of personal colour. Sometimes I already know what that is or might be. That is certainly the case with Nigel Oseland who I have known for many years, know to be from Wolverhampton and who studied psychology and computer science at Keele University in my home town. He went on to focus on environmental psychology while working at the Building Research Establishment in Watford in the late 1980s and 1990s. More →

June 17, 2024

People say hybrid working has reduced their risk of burnout

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property, Wellbeing

A new poll claims that the vast majority of workers who have shifted to a hybrid working model say that it has helped them to greatly reduce burnout in their working lives. The survey of more than 1,000 people, undertaken by hybrid working firm International Workplace Group, suggests that three quarters (75 percent) reported a dramatic reduction in burnout symptoms, defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplaces stress, since moving to a hybrid model. More →