Search Results for: office

New developer ‘to create 50 per cent cheaper offices’

Lipton Rogers

Peter Rogers, left and Stuart Lipton

The high-profile new venture between two of the most prominent developers in London will focus on creating large scale office buildings that are half as cheap as current standard designs. Lipton Rogers has been formed by Stuart Lipton, formerly of Chelsfield Partners and Peter Rogers, the former technical director of Stanhope who stepped down last year. The new business will look  to put into practice the results of research commissioned in 2011 by Lipton which found that new buildings could be created far more cheaply than is currently the case.  (more…)

A more decentralised office inevitable for world’s workers

The changing nature of work and the workforce continues to transform offices around the world. And nowhere more so than in the United States  According to a recent report from McKinsey – called Preparing for a New Era of Knowledge Work – not only are we seeing the final stages of the transition to a knowledge economy with all that entails, demographic inertia means that there may be a huge shortfall in the number of skilled graduate workers needed to service it. This pattern will be evident around the world, especially in rapidly developing economies such as China and India.  (more…)

Reversal of usual state of affairs as offices turn into homes

After years in which we have gradually seen technology and flexible working practices transform our homes into offices, the UK Government has reversed this apparently natural order of things by introducing legislative changes to the planning system that will allow developers to convert office buildings into blocks of flats without asking councils for planning permission.  The intention is to address the UK’s housing shortage and stimulate the economy. It’s also a sign that many offices are empty as both a consequence of  the downturn and changes in the way they are designed and used. (more…)

Mayfair office plan gets green light

hanover-sq-4018Westminster Council has granted Legal and General Property (LGP) planning consent for a new West End office in London’s Hanover Square, expected to become one of Mayfair’s most sought after squares following the completion of Crossrail. The redevelopment will comprise a 56,000 sq ft high office-based scheme, arranged over two basements, ground and seven upper floors. The office element will provide typical floors of 8,200 sq ft, whilst there will also be two retail/restaurant units on the ground floor, totalling 9,300 sq ft and fronting Hanover Square.

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Record global temperatures still a threat say Met Office

Global warming

Following media reports that “global warming has stalled” – despite the fact that Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology is predicting temperatures there could reach a record 52C – the Met Office has warned we will continue to see near-record levels of global warming over the next few years. The publication this week of an experimental decadal global temperature prediction showing global temperatures over the next five years are likely to be a little lower than those forecasted in December 2011 was widely reported as “reopening the climate change debate”. (more…)

Why standing up in the office can help you lose weight

large_the_work_table

Office workers can burn an extra 144 calories per day by standing rather than sitting at their desk, says a leading expert on exercise and health. Applying his knowledge of human physiology, Dr John Buckley, from Chester University’s Department of Clinical Sciences and Nutrition, has calculated that working at a standing desk for three hours a day will burn eight pounds of human fat in the course of a year, with no change to your job or leisure time activities.  (more…)

It’s essential to design flexibility into an office

The design of offices and the furniture that fills them matters because of what it tells us about how we work, how organisations function and even what is happening in the economy. If you want to know what’s going on, take a look at the places we work and the things with which we surround ourselves and how they change over time.

Because the way we work changes so quickly, buildings need to have flexibility built into them so that they meet our needs today but anticipate what we will need tomorrow. In his book How Buildings Learn, Stewart Brand outlines the process whereby buildings evolve over time to meet the changing needs of their occupants. He describes each building as consisting of six layers, each of which functions on a different timescale. These range from the site itself which has a life cycle measured in centuries, through to the building (decades), interior fit out (years), technology (months), to stuff (days). The effectiveness of a workplace design will depend on how well it resolves the tensions that exist between these layers of the building.

In terms of our workplaces, the ability to respond to change is perhaps the most important facet of an effective design. Creating this level of responsiveness is described in the Facilities Design and Management Handbook by its author Eric Teichholz as ‘the basic driver of the facilities management workload.’

While the nature of work has already changed in many ways, the pace of change has increased even more dramatically over recent years. So the challenge for designers and facilities managers is how best to manage change, keep costs down and provide a flexible home for the organisation. Successful management of change is a good thing, an agent of growth and commercial success. Change handled badly can hamstring an organisation.

The standard answer to the challenge is to build flexibility into the building. At the property management level, this may mean a change in contractual terms, notably in the length of leases, and the provision of lease breaks.

Varying levels of flexibility must also be apparent through the rest of the building in terms of its design and management. If we take an idealised view of the modern office as a flexible, social space for a peripatetic, democratised and technologically literate workforce, the solution lies in an increased use of desk sharing, drop in zones, break out space and other forms of multi-functional workspaces. In many offices, individual workspace is already being rapidly replaced by other types of space, quiet rooms and collaborative areas.

Flexibility must be hardwired into the building at a macro-level. Not only must floorplates be capable of accepting a wide range of work styles and planning models, servicing must be appropriate and anticipate change. That doesn’t mean just in terms of technology and telecoms but also basic human needs such as having enough toilets to deal with changing occupational densities. It also means having a HVAC specification that can deal with the changing needs associated with different numbers of people and different types of equipment.

Elements of the interior that were once considered static are also having to offer far larger degrees of flexibility including, furniture, lighting, storage and partitions. This issue of flexibility has become more important within interior design. Interior elements should now define space, portray corporate identity, comply with legislation and act as an aid in wayfinding. They must do all this and be able to adapt as the organisation changes.

We may not always know exactly what the future holds, but we can work today to be ready for it.

Global office market to stabilise during 2013

JakartaA new report from consultants Cushman and Wakefield has predicted that the global commercial real estate market will stabilise over the next twelve months and, in some areas of the world, may enjoy a degree of growth.  While acknowledging wide regional variations, the report claims that there are some clear global themes that can be identified, not least in the ongoing growth of markets in Asia. Significant growth is not expected in the majority of regions until 2014 and beyond.

Amsterdam’s Workspace Design Show Unveils Sensory-Driven Feature Spaces

Amsterdam’s Workspace Design Show Unveils Sensory-Driven Feature Spaces

The Workspace Design Show showcases the latest transformative workplace interiors products, from furniture, seating, lighting, acoustics, surfaces, biophilia, tech and moreThis November, Workspace Design Show (Wednesday 5th to Thursday 6th November 2025, RAI Amsterdam) doesn’t just ask what the workplace should be; it lets you feel the answer. Five of the Netherlands’ most creative design studios have turned conversation into atmosphere, theory into tactility, and workplace talk into spaces you can smell, hear, shift and claim as your own. (more…)

There’s a simpler, more natural and diverse approach we can take to workplace design

There’s a simpler, more natural and diverse approach we can take to workplace design

A different approach to workplace design, one that values clarity, quiet and coherence, is being driven more by carbon reductions and overall user experienceOur buildings do more than house activity. They shape our states of mind. Yet many contemporary spaces, whether offices, schools or public buildings, are full of visual noise, synthetic finishes and unnecessary complexity. These elements are often justified in the name of expression or efficiency. But they can leave people disoriented, distracted or exhausted. A different approach to workplace design, one that values clarity, quiet and coherence, is being driven more by carbon reductions and overall user experience than by neurodiversity alone. Through seeking simpler, more durable ways to build: an architecture grounded in natural materials, minimal finishes and thoughtful restraint. (more…)

New (biggest and best ever) digital edition of Works magazine is now available to read free

New (biggest and best ever) digital edition of Works magazine is now available to read free

The new issue of Works magazine sets out as always to highlight the ideas, projects, products and thinking that are shaping the way we live, think and work.The new issue of Works magazine sets out as always to highlight the ideas, projects, products and thinking that are shaping the way we live, think and work. Provocative, lively and wide-ranging, it’s our biggest issue yet, and we think the best. There’s plenty of new products to get your teeth into and while we are on that particular subject, we explore a new generation of showrooms in which big ideas matter as much as products. Our case studies span Munich, Portland, Harrogate and London, showing how occupiers are rethinking the office in very different ways, saunas and nap pods included. (more…)

The evolving workplace in the hybrid working era

The evolving workplace in the hybrid working era

A little over five years ago, most knowledge workers went home — and dialed into the office remotely. The pandemic triggered a massive uptick in the “virtual workforce,” and organizations raced to provide technology to make connectivity possible. The limitations of those early “quick and dirty” solutions became apparent as the majority of the workforce settled into a hybrid model. (According to Gallup, 51 percent of US workers with remote-capable jobs follow a hybrid schedule while 28 percent are fully remote.) (more…)