February 12, 2024

Workspace Design Show reveals a raft of thought-provoking features for 2024

by Mick Jordan • Company news, Events, Workplace design

This year’s edition of the Workspace Design Show (27-28 February 2024, Business Design Centre, London) will once again present an impressive array of features, ranging from an immersive forest stage to an interactive lighting installation, which bring together some of the industry’s leading designers, architects and built environment partners. We’ve been given an exclusive early look at what we can expect to see at this year’s design extravaganza. More →

February 12, 2024

Winners of the 2024 Surface Design Awards announced

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The winners of the Surface Design Awards have been announced at this year’s Surface Design Show, with The Tarang Pavilion in Gandhinagar, India by The Grid Architects taking the Supreme Winner prize (main image). An impressive number of projects, totalling over 160 entries across an unprecedented 20 countries, were entered into this year’s Surface Design Awards, which are a celebration of innovation material usage in architectural design projects around the world. More →

February 1, 2024

Underutilised office space? I just can’t be bothered with it

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

A while ago, Antony Slumbers asked me why I thought firms had never done anything much about the underutilisation of their offices. This was in the first throes of lockdown-driven remote work hysteria, prompted by one of those headlines about how offices being half empty was some signifier of hatred for them.

January 30, 2024

Workplace design and the corrective force of rediscovery

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

It has become something of a preoccupation of mine to consider why so many of the conversations we hold about workplace design are largely about the rediscovery of old ideas. It may be because there are constants about how people interact with their surroundings and each other and the truisms underlying those interactions. Although these are often reframed by the amount of data we now have to support them, some things never change. More →

January 25, 2024

BCO’s new research agenda sets out a new vision for the office

by Jayne Smith • Facilities management, News, Property

The British Council for Offices has unveiled its new research agenda, which will it says will aim to guide and inspire the office sector amid disruption. The BCO says the agenda is a direct response to the current and ongoing dynamics in the office sector. The publication aims to lay the groundwork for a new vision of the office as an economically productive, occupier-first, technologically enabled and sustainable part of our built environment. More →

January 24, 2024

ARCHITECT@WORK set to welcome architects and designers to its March show

by Freddie Steele • Architecture, Company news, Events, Workplace design

On 20th and 21st March ARCHITECT@WORK London will open its doors at the Truman Brewery and the team are ready to welcome the architecture and design community from London and everywhere else on both days. Discover over 200 carefully selected product innovations brought to you by a selection of high-end brands. Register online and get your visitor badge. Admission is free for all trade visitors. More →

January 23, 2024

Salford’s record breaking sustainable office building reaches completion

by Freddie Steele • Environment, News, Property

The City of Salford is now home to Eden, one of the UK’s most sustainable office buildings, containing Europe’s largest living wall. From the site of a derelict surface car park with no benefits to the people of Salford, English Cities Fund (ECF) has created a 115,000 sq ft development that will transform this neglected urban area into a diverse mixed-use destination and form a key part of ECF’s £1bn regeneration of the Salford Central area. More →

January 18, 2024

Entries now open for the Sustainable Design Collective Annual Awards

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Environment, Furniture

The Sustainable Design Collective (SDC) – a think tank of leading design professionals working in the office workplace sector – has opened entries for its annual awards. The announcement follows confirmation of the dates for the second SD Forum to be held on 25th April at the Crypt on the Green in Clerkenwell, London. Free to enter, the Awards are designed to champion ‘best practice’ and highlight innovations leading to greater sustainability within the office workplace. There are three categories: New build and retrofit projects; New products and materials; Innovation including new services or IT solutions as well as collaborations with not-for-profit organisations. More →

January 10, 2024

Distinctive yet simply designed: meet KI-nk

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

Named for its distinctive kinked leg bracket, KI’s new product, ‘KI-nk’, is the perfect addition to your office space. It’s available as part of a table system or as a bench and desk collection. The KI-nk Table System is available in a range of sizes and 3 different shapes – circular, square, and rectangular – so it’s easier to choose the right style for the area you want to fit out, whether that’s a meeting room, a breakout space, executive office, reception, or a café area. Worktops can be specified with either a square or chamfered edge. More →

January 8, 2024

Interface helps designers go minimal with new LVT collection, Northern Grain

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Flooring

Interface has launched its latest Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT), Northern Grain. This latest collection from Interface is clean and uncomplicated, designed to brighten spaces across a range of applications, including corporate office, education, and hospitality. With pale shades and clean neutrals, Northern Grain invites and enhances natural light with airy off-white, beige, and cream woods while also setting a quieter foundation with its deeper soft browns and greys, supporting the ‘relaxed minimalism’ trend seen across interior design this year. More →

December 5, 2023

Flexible workplace provider creates ‘first ever’ metaverse office

by Freddie Steele • Company news

The flexible workplace provider Clockwise has opened what the firm claims is the first office space in the metaverse, the Clockwise Campus. According to Microsoft, 51 percent of Gen Z expects to be working in the metaverse in some capacity by 2024. The firms say the space is heavily influenced by Clockwise’s physical offices and provides a digital platform for its members and the public to connect, collaborate and interact in various spaces including; meeting rooms, dedicated desks, breakout spaces, call zones and a contemplation room. More →

November 29, 2023

Creating the epicentre: unlocking the untold benefits of next-generation office spaces

by Nathan Thomas • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Technology

Many associate the notion of futuristic office spaces, filled with equipment like sleep pods and beer taps, with companies that have a young workforce or challenger brand identity. The association is often linked to tech giants like Google, which created quite a stir when it originally revealed its indoor slides. Whilst the inclusion of playground furniture in the office is not right for every business, the assumption that unconventional workspaces should be limited to unconventional companies simply isn’t true. More →