March 5, 2024

Best of NeoCon Awards are now open for entries

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Events

NeoCon has announced that it is now accepting submissions for the prestigious Best of NeoCon competition, the show’s official awards program that recognizes exceptional new products from show exhibitors. Since its establishment in 1990, the program has been a beacon of innovation, garnering a diverse array of entries across various commercial sectors, including workplace, healthcare, hospitality, and education. The program will bestow Gold and Silver awards alongside honours in Innovation, Sustainability, and Business Impact in 55 categories showcasing a comprehensive look at the diverse product offerings. (more…)

February 28, 2024

The hybrid working office: ushering in a new era for the workspace

by Jeni Taylor • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

Life after COVID has led to a significant change in the way that people view a workplace. Working from home on a regular basis has become typical, not ad hoc or as required. Commuting five days a week to attend an office is no longer the norm and on the whole is no longer demanded – rather, we have seen organisations adopt hybrid working. This has meant the rationale for a physical office workspace has come under considerable scrutiny. Some organisations have gone as far as being completely remote and have released all office real estate. (more…)

February 23, 2024

Less than a week to go before the Workspace Design Show opens its doors

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace design

In just a few days the eagerly-awaited Workspace Design Show, the trade show that brings together the UK workplace interiors community, will open its doors. Held at London’s Business Design Centre, handily placed in the heart of Islington, from 27-28 February 2024, the event offers attendees the chance to explore the latest industry trends, see the latest products, and find inspiration in the thought-provoking talks programmes. (more…)

February 22, 2024

Cities worldwide are grappling with the delicate balance between nighttime charm and sustainability

by Helen Parton • Cities, Environment, Features, Lighting

As well as the delights of daytime, cities around the world have long been defined by how their iconic landmarks come to life at night. Think of London’s illuminated riverside or Amsterdam’s canals lit up after dark. These vistas almost come to be synonymous with these places’ very identities. Aston Woodward, co-founder of asset management firm Oxygen also brings one of Australia’s best-known destinations into the mix. “Well-lit buildings at night in any city are attractive. Sydney is a good example and at night is dramatic. Many tourists as well as residents sit and admire a variety of size and colour and interactions generated from the buildings’ lighting.” (more…)

February 15, 2024

MuteBox brings Scandinavian modular office furniture to the UK

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

MuteBox, a Danish design company providing affordable but high-quality, modular furniture including meeting rooms and phone booths for open office spaces, today announces its expansion into the UK and Ireland. MuteBox designs, manufactures, and sells sustainable, flexible and modular solutions, with a focus on affordability, high-end design and employee satisfaction. MuteBox One, the company’s flagship offering, starts at £4,495. (more…)

February 15, 2024

Helsinki announces plans for new Museum of Architecture and Design

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, News, Workplace design

Helsinki City Council has voted to provide a donation of 60 million euros to the foundation responsible for establishing the new national museum of architecture and design. The Finnish state will match this funding, with an additional 30 million euros to be raised from private donations. With these commitments in place, an international design competition for the new museum building will be launched in April. The new museum will sit at the heart of a new pedestrian-friendly district in Helsinki’s South Harbour. (more…)

February 14, 2024

Changing shape of workplace is creating new opportunities for property market

by Jayne Smith • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

After a challenging environment for commercial real estate in 2023, its fallout provides investors, developers and corporate occupiers with significant opportunities for value creation and transformational organisational change in 2024, says leading property management and investment firm, Colliers (EMEA) in its new market commentary: ‘Engage, activate and accelerate performance: next generation real estate strategies’ [registration]. The report claims that new approaches to the workplace will create new opportunities for the quickest and smartest to adapt. (more…)

February 13, 2024

Raising the bar (and hell) with Antony Slumbers

by Neil Franklin • News, Podcasts, Premium Content, Workplace Cocktail Hour

Over a well-earned but unseasonable G&T, Antony Slumbers and Mark Eltringham discuss what makes work and workplaces great, and why bosses aren’t doing all they can to make them so. They also riff on the origins and wisdom of determining how much time people should spend in an office and how we escape the interminable binary loop of headlines about whether the home or the office is a better place to work. Antony talks about the role of AI in the future of work and property and what people should focus on in their changing lives. (more…)

February 7, 2024

Attendance registration opens for 55th NeoCon

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Events

Plans are taking shape for the 55th edition of NeoCon (held June 10-12 at THE MART, Chicago), the world’s leading platform for commercial space design, as show management announces a power-list of thought-provoking speakers, dynamic activations, best-in-class brands, and the newest movers and shakers impacting the built environment. The three-day event offers unparalleled opportunities to connect, learn, and experience the latest trends and innovations across verticals, from office to healthcare. (more…)

January 22, 2024

London’s office market is reshaping the city and the way people experience the workplace

by Sam Mardon • Comment, Property

London’s office market continues to adapt to evolving workforce demands. The normalisation of hybrid and flexible working since the pandemic remains the biggest cultural shift that the office sector has witnessed in decades. In addition to the rise in demand for quality-as-a-must in 2023, collaboration, culture, and connectivity will lead the charge for office space trends in the year ahead. (more…)

January 11, 2024

Workspace Design Show reveals all-encompassing speaker programme

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Events

The speaker programme at Workspace Design Show (27-28 February 2024, Business Design Centre, London) has been an integral part since the event’s inception in 2021 and this year is no exception with over 120 speakers featuring across four key elements of discourse. The Workspace Design Talks programme, which will take place in a dedicated space, the Design Talks Lounge (bottom), designed by global design and architecture firm Gensler, will feature inspiring sessions from leading industry professionals over the event’s two days. (more…)

January 3, 2024

One wish for 2024. A more sophisticated approach to the workplace and hybrid working

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

We know, and have for a long time, that the workplace is in a state of near constant flux. The meteor strike of lockdown was an accelerant, not a deviation. It also laid bare -yet again – the faulty assumption that there is some sort of general evolution towards an idealised version of the office or conversely the universal adoption of remote or hybrid working, whatever it is. That is why we see so many people routinely willing to suspend their critical facilities to make extravagant and even absurd predictions about the office of the future or even the death of the office.