September 14, 2023
We may not always know exactly what the future of work holds, but we can design spaces that are ready for it. The ability to respond to change is one of the most important facets of an effective design in the era of widespread hybrid working, alongside the ability to tailor a solution that meets the diverse needs of individuals for the best possible working environment at any one time. More →
September 14, 2023
Efforts by some businesses to promote their environmental and social impact on society are pushing some customers away and risk damaging their reputations, according to a poll conducted by public relations agency, Clearly PR. Of the 2,072 business leaders, entrepreneurs, and marketing professionals polled, 31 percent said they were “put off” a business that talks a lot about their ESG initiatives in the media and on social media. More →
September 13, 2023
Most workers are concerned about poor indoor air quality and close to half think its damaging their health, according to a new survey conducted by Opinium for Spiralite. According to the poll, British workers are mostly concerned about the impact of air-quality on their health (64 percent concerned compared to 36 percent not concerned). More →
September 11, 2023
What has resilience got to do with the workplace experience? It is a word that has been used a lot recently as the great British public has demonstrated massive amounts of resilience in coping with Covid-19, fuel shortages, worries about food availability and a massive shift in how we work. So what is it? The dictionary gives two meanings: firstly the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, i.e. toughness. And then secondly, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity – like nylon for example. More →
September 8, 2023
We are prone to borrow nuanced words from other languages to express ideas that otherwise need some explaining in English. This includes the way we talk about work, and especially the way we talk about wellbeing and happiness. Perhaps most famously, there was a lot of talk about hygge a couple of years ago. A straight dictionary translation of hygge would be something like cosiness, but the word also embodies an emotion and an approach to life that embraces a certain degree of slowness and an enjoyment of the present moment. It’s no coincidence that it became modish in a distracted and hurried world. Although the concept is usually referred to as Danish, the word itself is shared with Norwegian, which also offers us the word koselig, which means cosiness but also hints at it being best enjoyed at a fireside. More →
September 8, 2023
brandx, a global team shaping the standard for innovative wayfinding strategies, signage systems, and brand experiences, is pleased to announce its official launch as a specialty partner of international architecture and design firm HLW. In a world where individuals are exposed to thousands of visual messages every day, brandx cuts through the clutter by creating intuitive connections that redefine how users safely and efficiently interact with brands, as well as their physical surroundings. More →
September 5, 2023
You might quite rightly be thinking about the relevance of such a ‘hippy, dippy’ soundbite on the hard-hitting world of work and the workplace, especially in this climate of uncertainty with a myriad of challenges facing business, the workforce and commercial real estate globally. I first heard the phrase ‘going from ego to eco’ at a series of presentations cum incubator events EverythingOmni ran with participants of all ages/backgrounds/career levels representing 18 countries on the Uncertainty of Work.
August 30, 2023
BW: Workplace Experts has been appointed by Queen Mary University of London as refurbishment contractor for the 15,000 sq m refurbishment of the Grade II listed Queens’ Building, to create a new contemporary, social heart for Queen Mary’s Mile End campus. More →
August 29, 2023
In 2013, two Australian academics set out to discover the answer to a deceptively simple question. Why is there such a thing as colour psychology, but not shape, line or texture psychology? The answers they come up with are complex, arcane and wide-ranging but they manage to sum them up to some extent in the conclusion to the paper they published. “No other visual attribute shares such diverse representations”, they wrote. “Study into shape, line, and texture hardly competes. For this reason, there are no proportion-shape-line-texture prediction agencies, and chromotherapy is not challenged by proportion-shape-line-texture therapies. Colour remains special and, given its rich and complex heritage, is likely to remain so.” More →
August 24, 2023
Putting people and the planet above profits may not appear at first glance to be a recipe for financial success for a company like Wellworking, but becoming a Certified B Corporation company is proving good for business and something that the furniture industry can play a big role in. You may have seen the B Corp logo on a shop door or the back of a van and wondered what exactly it means. Well if I could sum that up after a certification process that has been rigorous, challenging and above all, rewarding, I would say that it’s about putting people and the planet first. More →
August 18, 2023
A number of apparent truisms about work and workplaces entered mainstream consciousness in the wake of the pandemic, and the shift to more flexible and hybrid working cultures. One of them is that people are better off carrying out focussed, quiet work at home, and creative and collaborative work in the office. And that this might suggest our approach to office acoustics would shift in particular ways. More →
September 14, 2023
Is the Flexible Working Bill a game changer or paper tiger?
by Sam Ross • Comment, Flexible working