Search Results for: office

Are Japanese firms using banishment rooms to get rid of unwanted employees?

by • Facilities management, Home, Legal news

Earlier in the year, it was reported that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare was investigating a number of the country’s most prominent companies including Panasonic, NEC, Sony and Sharp for the morally dubious practice of setting up euphemistic business units with the primary purpose of creating an office where they could send unwanted or poorly performing employees to demoralise them and drive them ultimately to resign. Last week the Japan Daily Press blog published more information about these so-called banishment rooms or oidashi-beya, claiming that  workers are forced to spend ten hours a day performing tedious and menial tasks until they decide to leave.

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The answer to poor ergonomics isn’t buying different stuff for people to sit on

by • Furniture, Legal news, Workplace design

A new survey from Fellowes suggests that poorly equipped workstations and a lack of training and risk assessments by employers contribute to the range of ergonomic problems that cost the UK economy an annual £7 billion. Their PR people have done a good job on this survey because they’ve managed to get the Daily Mail stirred up, amongst others. This will be a short comment because we’ve covered the matter so extensively in a number of ways before here, here, here, here, here and here. The primary answer to the problems associated with sitting at work is to stop sitting, not merely to sit on different things. We need a working culture that gives people the right chairs then encourages them to stop using them them at the first opportunity. Ergonomics is about the relationship between people and stuff, so we should change the relationship and not just the stuff.

First non-UK BREEAM outstanding award redraws the green building battle lines

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

The jostling for position in the field of environmental accreditations for buildings has taken a new turn with the announcement that a project in the Czech republic is the first commercial building outside the UK to achieve a BREEAM outstanding rating.  The Tower at the Spielberk development in Brno designed by architects Studio Acht is, according to the Building Research Establishment (BRE), a true demonstration of good design, reducing CO2 emissions by over 50 percent compared to a typical building, built to Czech regulations.  BRE Director Martin Townsend awarded the BREEAM outstanding certificate to Stefan de Goeij, Head of Property Management at CTP, for the office building which is located in the centre of the Czech Republic’s emerging high-tech city of Brno.

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Whitehall savings boosted by property and procurement efficiencies

by • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Public Sector

The joint Cabinet Office and Treasury initiative the Efficiency and Reform Group has exceeded the Government’s savings target by 25 per cent to make an overall saving of £10 billion, Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude announced today. The savings made include; £1.1 billion made by boosting online services and selling empty buildings and exiting expensive rentals in sought-after locations; £1.7 billion by reviewing large scale projects including construction, and stripping out inefficiencies; and a further £3.8 billion was saved in procurement, by linking together departments to buy goods and services.

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Infographic: how work related social media use varies by country, gender and sector

by • Knowledge, Technology, Workplace

A new survey from Microsoft has highlighted a widespread mismatch in the use of social media in a business context across regions and between gender and age groups. It also claims that firms should be more open to social media use and that their unwillingness to adopt them more openly is hampering personal productivity. In the survey conducted in conjunction with Ipsos, nearly half of employees report that social tools at work help increase their productivity, but more than 30 percent of companies underestimate the value of these tools and often restrict their use. An infographic of the survey’s main results can be found here.

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BIFM workplace debate focuses on links between FM and design

by • Facilities management, Workplace design

Clerkenwell_Design_WeekClerkenwell Design Week was the appropriate setting for the inaugural event staged by the newly formed Workplace Special Interest Group (SIG) of the British Institute of Facilities Management. The event was staged at the showroom of office furniture giant Haworth on the 22 May, during Europe’s largest exhibition of workplace products and services. It saw a panel of industry experts debate in lively fashion the deliberately provocative proposition : Form or Function? Do you need office designers to create a great workplace environment? 

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UK public sector leading the way in procurement and sustainable building

by • Comment, Facilities management, Public Sector, Technology

Nottingham City Council's Loxley Building

Nottingham City Council’s Loxley Building

Over the last few years, the UK Government has grown increasingly interested in finding ways of making its £30 billion property portfolio more efficient. Both the last Labour government and the current Coalition administration have been driven by the opportunities offered them with the advent of new technology, new ways of working and new procurement models. They’ve pursued these issues to cut costs by reducing and changing the way property is designed and managed but have also found how that can also help to establish best practice in sustainable building. What is increasingly apparent, especially given recent news from the Major Projects Authority about cost savings in procurement is that the public sector is now leading the way as models of good practice.

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Mayor confirms £1billion China gateway business district in London

by • News, Property

Royal DocksLondon mayor Boris Johnson has confirmed the details of a £1bn investment in a new business district that will transform the Royal Docks into a 35 acre gateway project aimed primarily at firms from China and Asia looking to establish a business foothold in the UK and Europe. The site is intended to deliver more than 2.5m sq ft of office as well as retail and leisure facilities under the plans. Chinese owned developer ABP will work with Stanhope and architects Farrells with the first firms taking up occupancy in 2017. The Greater London Authority said the proposed development would create 20,000 full-time jobs, and inject £6bn into the UK economy, with £23m in business rates generated annually. No tenants are confirmed at this stage although the developers claim interest from Chinese banks is said to be high.

Crowds brave the grey weather to enjoy Clerkenwell Design Week

by • Comment, Flooring, Furniture, Products, Workplace design

Clerkenwell_Design_WeekIn contrast to last year when the sun shone and temperatures were giddily high, Clerkenwell in late May was distinctly chilly, with a constant stiff breeze, on and off rain, and even a hailstorm. The weather may have been unseasonably cold but that didn’t stop the crowds flocking to the most popular venues and showrooms, and several of the evening parties were so crowded they had to close their doors. The signs had been good, even before the show opened. Advance registrations were over 46,000, compared with last year’s 22,000 visitors and by the end of the show, total registrations had reached 55,000.

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Crown Estate in £320m joint venture to redevelop area around Regent Street

by • Company news, News, Property

St James Market architect's impression-2

The Crown Estate, which manages the Queen’s property portfolio has announced a joint 50/50 – £320 million venture with Canadian real estate company, Oxford Properties. The Crown Estate, which will retain the freehold and take the lead role in the development says the St James’s scheme will provide 210,000 ft2 of prime office and 50,000 ft2 of flagship retail and restaurant space in two blocks located between London’s Regent Street and Haymarket. The project forms part of the Crown Estate’s ten-year investment strategy for St James’s and will transform a run-down back street service yard and taxi ‘rat-run’ with: “a fantastic new amenity for St James’s, revitalising half and acre of public realm and creating a new 10,000 ft2 pedestrian square for world-class business, shopping and dining.” (more…)

Are these the world’s most spectacular corporate buildings?

by • Architecture, Comment

BMW Welt

BMW Welt

Building data provider Emporis has issued a list of 16 of what it calls the World’s Most Spectacular Corporate Buildings. The list is intended to show how firms use architecture to convey their identity and to impress anybody viewing their supposedly imposing  corporate edifices. The Germany based firm claims the list was compiled by a jury of buildings experts from around the world who considered a range of factors and included buildings from all kinds of industries. Even so, the list is far from subtle with not even an attempt at lip service paid to the esoteric or surprising. It is dominated instead by glamorous blue chip businesses and buildings that are tall, designed by renowned architects or literal reflections of each company’s business. (more…)

Why facilities managers deserve a seat at the design table

by • Comment, Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace design

Co-op

For a long time there has been a distant relationship between facilities management (FM) and design, with FM treated as a post occupancy issue rather than a valuable consideration during the design process. The truth is that effective collaboration between facilities managers and designers can yield innovation and even better product design, be that in relation to a new head office building, or the systems and furniture that are housed within it. The compartmentalised view that design occurs and then facilities managers come along to operate and maintain is inaccurate and outdated.

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