Search Results for: office

Office design goes to the movies. Part 4 – Ikiru

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Akira Kurosawa’s film typifies the way that office life is usually portrayed in movies. The crushing bureaucracy that the protagonist Kanji Watanabe is part of – and ultimately rebels against – is symbolised by the towering piles of paper that surround him and his colleagues. Even when he’s walking around, he seems to be carrying them with him, stooped and distant. Many offices may have freed themselves of the sheer bulk of paper these days, but we can still find ourselves weighed down by hierarchy, rules, customs and information. Ultimately we also have freedom to decide for ourselves what is truly important.

Office design goes to the movies. Part 3 – Being John Malkovich

by • Architecture, Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

 

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In which John Cusack plays an unemployed puppeteer who takes a mundane office clerk’s job in the low-ceilinged offices on Floor 7½ of the Mertin Flemmer Building in New York. When he asks his boss why the ceilings are so low, he is told ‘low overhead my boy’.  Bad pun, great commentary on how it’s always possible to fit a little bit more into the building, especially if you ignore the bothersome problem of the people who work inside and their physical constraints.

Why office furniture leasing is not necessarily a great option

by • Comment, Furniture

leaseIt seems like a perfect idea. The business needs new desks, chairs and cupboards and that refurbishment is long overdue. Or perhaps it’s time to move and the old furniture won’t make it in one piece. The furniture supplier wants to make the sale. Business has been slow and it’s the end of the month and sales targets need to be met. The company is making profits and the order book is pretty full, but cash is tight and the Finance Director begrudges every penny spent. So why not arrange for the furniture to be leased? It’s a question people in the office furniture supply business have now been asking for a number of years.

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Office design goes to the movies. Part 2 – 24 Hour Party People

by • Furniture, Products, Workplace design

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Warning: contains strong language.  Factory Records’ Rob Gretton disagrees somewhat with Tony Wilson’s purchase of an expensive table for the firm’s new offices in Michael Winterbottom’s wonderful take on the Madchester scene of the 1980s. But what really sets him off is the word ‘London’. Particular disdain is reserved for the fact the table is made of MDF. Deskheads will recognise the unmistakable application of a CNC machine in its manufacture and the inevitable iconic seating. And the morals are these – involve everybody in purchasing decisions and don’t fall into the trap of believing what they do in London is cool.

Office design goes to the movies. Part 1 – Zoolander

by • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design

MugatuZoolander may not be a great film but it has its moments and does come alive every time the Mugatu character arrives to eat up the scenery. Of course, as an unreconstructed deskhead, I am always tempted to  look over the shoulders of the characters in a film to see what they are sitting on. Mugatu sits on an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair. It’s over 50 years old but screams DESIGNER, hence its place under his backside. It provides an easy shorthand and so is widely recognised, but its ubiquity including as a way for places like McDonald’s to flag up a new approach to their interiors with a mixture of fakes and originals means it can feel overused.

Gone est Lumiere: Leeds approves new city centre office blocks

by • Architecture, News, Property

Leeds Central Sqaure plansPlans for two buildings on the site of the failed Lumiere mixed use skyscraper project in Leeds have won planning approval. The new Central Square scheme in the city centre  will deliver 262,000 sq.ft. of office space in two new buildings, one consisting of 89,000 sq.ft. over eight floors and a larger 11 storey building with 173,000 sq.ft of space. The new plans replace those for the landmark Lumiere tower  Lumiere originally intended to be completed in 2010 but put on hold in 2008 and finally cancelled two years later. The new scheme has been designed by Aedas. (Forgive the Franglais in the title.)

Communal workspace model making inroads in US offices

by • Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Technology, Workplace design

Costar

There is a growing trend in the United States to downsize office space, particularly amongst larger public firms, as they increasingly adopt policies for sharing non-dedicated offices and implement technology to support their employees’ ability to work anywhere and anytime. In a webinar presented to subscribers of commercial real estate intelligence group CoStar, Norm G. Miller, PhD, a professor at the University of San Diego, Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate examined what would happen if office tenants used 20 per cent less of the US’ current office space, which has a total valuation of $1.25 trillion.

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London’s West End office market shifting boundaries

by • Facilities management, News, Property

C4G1T6

Shifting occupier dynamics, a limited supply pool, and a flurry of west to east relocations is redefining the boundaries of London’s West End office market. Sue Foxley, head of research, Cluttons, explained: “Corporate occupiers recognise the importance of securing high quality space within key markets in order to attract and retain the best possible staff, however, it is inevitable that the increasingly restricted supply pool is continuing to hamper relocation options. Businesses, regardless of sector, certainly are not looking for ‘budget’ rental options, but they are becoming increasingly aware that opportunities to secure quality space is scarce and not limited to prime areas.”

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Portland House is London’s latest major offices to homes conversion

by • Architecture, Products, Property, Technology

Portland HouseLand Securities is the latest developer to announce a major office to flats conversion in the wake of the Government’s change to the relevant parts of the planning system that make it easier to change the use of buildings. The firm has submitted plans to convert the 29 floors of Portland House in Victoria into 206 flats along with ground floor retail units. Land Securities is one of the first firms to take advantage of the new planning rules which have been the subject of much criticism by organisations such as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) as well as local authorities throughout London who have almost unanimously sought exemptions.

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Using the office treadmill to fight the flab

by • Comment, Furniture, Knowledge, Workplace

Office treadmill

While shopping recently for a new arm chair, I noticed the prevalence of “snuggle chairs”, marketed as wider than average chairs in which two people can sit cosily together. However, judging by some of the customers checking them out, they appeared much more suitable for use by individuals with a wider girth. You don’t have to people-watch in a furniture store or visit the town of Tamworth, which this weekend the Daily Mail branded ‘”the fattest town in Britain” to notice people are getting fatter. Could a new “office treadmill” help address the obesity problem?

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Google and Yahoo office strategies teach us the value of the velvet glove

by • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Velvet gloveIt’s a week now since the whole Yahoo-ha kicked off and since that time everybody has had their say on the matter including – refreshingly – those in the mainstream media. The story has followed its own narrative arc, from the initial gasps of horror at Yahoo’s audacious challenge to a cherished piece of contemporary received wisdom (coupled with the reminder that Yahoo still exists) to something more thoughtful and circumspect as we learned more about the thinking behind the decision.What has become apparent is that Yahoo’s actions were based on a tacit understanding that people work better on certain tasks when they are together.

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Updated: nearly all London boroughs seek exemption from office conversion plan

by • Architecture, News, Property, Public Sector

City-of-London

Earlier, we reported that London’s Mayor Boris Johnson openly believes that London’s key business districts should be exempt from proposals to allow offices to be turned into homes without planning permission. Now a report emerges from CBRE that all but a handful of London’s boroughs are to seek to make themselves exempt from the rules.  According to the research, only Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Croydon and Kingston are unlikely to seek an exemption. Four other boroughs are discussing plans with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the remaining 25 are set to apply to make themselves exempt.

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