May 19, 2021
The Furniture Makers’ Company announces Design Guild Mark 2021 holders
Innovation of materials and creativity remain at the forefront of British design as 27 outstanding submissions from three categories are to be awarded the coveted Design Guild Mark in 2021. The Design Guild Mark is awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, to drive excellence and raise the profile of British design and innovation. It recognises the highest standards in the design of furnishings in volume production across three categories – Furniture, 2D Design and, new for the 2020/2021 intake, Lighting Design. The award is open to designers working in Britain or British designers working abroad. More →
The workspace innovator 
The productivity benefits of homeworking appear to have increased during the pandemic, with employers now more likely to say that the shift to homeworking has boosted productivity (33 percent) than they were in June 2020 (28 percent). This is according to new research by the 
Most businesses were ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic and muddled though the challenges stemming from it, according to new report 
As lockdown restrictions are eased and employees head back to the office a new report is calling for businesses to reinvent the world of work. The Human Organisation report highlights how the current workplace model is based on bureaucracy and hierarchy, which stifles employee empowerment and creativity. 
If I were to suggest that organisations were designing their processes, policies and relationships with unkindness at the core, you would probably reject it as an illogical proposition, it just doesn’t make business sense. It goes against the grain and against the values that are plastered on the walls of so many organisations. But as counterintuitive as it may seem, in my opinion, many organisations have done just that, designed unkindness into the things they do, albeit inadvertently. But if they can do that, they can also design kindness in too. 
Temporary moves boost creativity according to new research from 
Looking back, who could possibly have predicted 2020? It’s been such a difficult pandemic year for so many individuals and companies. Yet it’s also been a transformative time, which has seen dramatic shifts in the way we work. So, with some trepidation, here’s my forecast for the near future. This year will see the office bounce back, but not as we remember it. The office of the future will have an important new role as the physical embodiment of a changing corporate culture. 
May 11, 2021
Organisations are finally getting their heads around what the office is really good at
by Gill Parker • Comment, Workplace design