Search Results for: real estate

Firms should focus on people in the drive for long term growth

Firms should focus on people in the drive for long term growth

A new report by Economist Impact, sponsored by Kyocera Document Solutions, claims that human-centric strategies are needed for businesses to drive sustainable business growth, focusing on three pillars: productivity and infrastructure, employee engagement and culture. The Magnetic Workplace Barometer claims to gauge confidence both today and in five years’ time across  what the report terms the three main pillars of productivity and infrastructure; employee engagement; and culture. The barometer scores are scaled from 1 to 7, 7 being the most confident. More →

Workspace Design Show announces inspiring speaker line-up for 2023

Workspace Design Show announces inspiring speaker line-up for 2023

A photo from the 2021 Workspace Design Show conferenceThe Workspace Design Show returns for the second time, unveiling an exciting speaker line-up as part of its 2023 edition. Taking place once again at London’s Business Design Centre, the show brings together the UK’s workplace interiors community to explore the experience of tomorrow’s workspaces. The show will take place from 27- 28 February 2023, with the theme being Destination Workplace: Places Where People Want To Be. One of the highlights from the inaugural 2022 edition was the Show’s talks programme, which was well received by the workplace design community. More →

Retrofitting buildings essential to reduce energy costs and combat the global energy crisis

Retrofitting buildings essential to reduce energy costs and combat the global energy crisis

A tree lined street to illustrate the green benefits of retrofitting buildingsA new report from JLL claims that rising energy costs are expediting the move toward more efficient buildings. JLL’s Retrofitting Buildings to be Future-Fit research suggests that net-zero carbon (NZC) intervention measures directly impact a building’s bottom line and that failing to decarbonise leads to significant financial risk. For many buildings, meeting 2050 decarbonization targets put forward in the Paris Climate Agreement is grounded in retrofitting current spaces, which can also garner higher rents, reduce financial risk and generate higher occupancy rates and tenant satisfaction. More →

Hybrid working driving demand for areas with easier commutes

Hybrid working driving demand for areas with easier commutes

An office cafe to illustrate the new wave of hybrid workingA report from Unispace claims that employees’ new preference for hybrid working has created an immediate need for firms to re-think their real estate footprint. Today, with over 60 percent of office-based employees preferring to work remotely or in a more flexible way, rather than commute to city centres five days a week, employers are considering the greater use or addition of satellite offices to their portfolio. According to the study of 3,000 office workers across Europe, 79 percent of the workforce would be happier to return to the office if it was just five to 10 minutes away from their home, suggesting that satellite offices could be a solution to boost collaboration, socialisation, engagement and staff retention. More →

Zero carbon tech for building materials gets $12 billion commitment at COP27

Zero carbon tech for building materials gets $12 billion commitment at COP27

An aluminium clad building facade to illustrate the importance of zero carbon tech in buildingsThe World Economic Forum and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate announced today at COP27, the expansion of a coalition of global companies, to commit $12 billion in 2030 purchase commitments for zero carbon and green technologies to decarbonise the cement and concrete industry and other hard-to-abate sectors. The latest expansion of the First Movers Coalition – made up of 65 companies with a collective market value of approximately $8 trillion – focuses on cleaning up one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industry sectors through purchasing commitments for low-carbon technology. From construction and engineering to real estate and developers, newly announced First Mover companies have committed to purchasing at least 10 percent near-zero cement and concrete per year by 2030.  More →

WELL certification may boost occupant satisfaction, perceived wellbeing and productivity

WELL certification may boost occupant satisfaction, perceived wellbeing and productivity

An illustration of three people celebrating to illustrate their wellbeing A new study claims that WELL certification appears to boost levels of satisfaction and perceptions of health, wellbeing and productivity in people. The study claims to show an increase in occupant satisfaction by nearly 30 percent, as well as occupant perceived well-being scores by 26 percent, mental health by 10 percent and productivity by 10 median points in WELL Certified buildings. More →

The underlying problems with the way we think about work

The underlying problems with the way we think about work

people and workAn idea that has never really gone away, but which seems to be enjoying a new lease of life is the tabula rasa. The conception of people as a blank slate is something a that has crept back into mainstream political and social thought for a variety of reasons. Arguably, it is also behind many of the most misleading notions about work and workplace design, perhaps most importantly that a change to some single element or characteristic of a working environment will lead to a specific outcome in the behaviour of people. More →

Office fit out and rent rises will hit occupiers worldwide this year

Office fit out and rent rises will hit occupiers worldwide this year

commercial property and office fit outOccupiers around the world are facing a 10 percent increase in office fit out costs with rental rises also squeezing budgets for those in EMEA, according to a new report from Savills. The firm’s Prime Office Costs (SPOC) analysis for Q3 2022 suggests that fit-out costs in key office markets around the world have continued to climb with inflation, rising an average of 10%, with increased rents in many markets also contributing to higher total net effective costs for office occupiers. Overall, the markets which have seen the largest increases in net effective costs (including fit-out costs, rents and other costs) over the quarter are largely clustered in the EMEA region, including Dublin (+7%), London City (+5%), Dubai (+3%), and Berlin (+3%). More →

Demand for sustainable commercial property rises modestly, but supply side still falls short

Demand for sustainable commercial property rises modestly, but supply side still falls short

sustainable commercial propertyProgress is being seen in some aspects of the built environment on the drive to be more sustainable, according to the latest annual sustainability report produced by RICS, however the rate of advancement needs to accelerate significantly and become more widespread. The 2022 RICS Sustainability Report, which collated sentiment from almost 4,000 chartered surveyor contributors, around 1200 of which are from the UK, across commercial and construction sectors globally, shows that some improvement in the push for sustainability has been made in the past year, notably in the commercial real estate sector as demand for sustainable commercial property continues to rise. More →

EDGE Valley set to transform Amsterdam business district

EDGE Valley set to transform Amsterdam business district

EDGE ValleyReal estate developer EDGE has announced the official opening of Valley, the high-rise designed by MVRDV, which was recently declared the world’s best new skyscraper by the Emporis Awards. The firm claims that the addition to Amsterdam’s business district will mark a shift in thinking for urban development as a whole, transforming the Zuidas district into a vibrant and lively urban quarter. The fully leased 75.000-square-meter development, was officially opened in the presence of Reinier van Dantzig, Alderman for Housing and Urban Development, Municipality of Amsterdam, the Board of RJB Group of Companies, Winy Maas, Founding Partner at MVRDV, Coen van Oostrom, Founder & CEO of EDGE and all parties involved in the project. More →

Hybrid work may be ‘here to stay’, but the office remains essential for many businesses

Hybrid work may be ‘here to stay’, but the office remains essential for many businesses

hybrid workingAs businesses continue to evolve their workplaces to best meet the needs of their employees, JLL’s global Future of Work Survey claims that 72 percent of decision makers believe the office is critical to doing business. The research shows that over the next several years companies anticipate hybrid work to become the dominant model and will be looking across their real estate portfolios to re-think their office spaces, invest in new technology, including virtual offices, and prioritise sustainability. More →

Mindspace opens new Berlin flex office in renovated department store

Mindspace opens new Berlin flex office in renovated department store

MIndspace BerlinMindspace is set to open its sixth Berlin flex office, by renovating a former department store in the heart of the city into a new space. Located at Münzstraße 12 / Max-Beer-Straße 2-4 in Berlin, near Alexanderplatz, the global flex office provider’s newest location Mindspace Münzstraße is being built across 4,100 m² and will cover over 700 workstations spanning five floors. Scheduled to open in spring 2023, the building has been part of the WertInvest Group portfolio since 2014 and combines the best inner-city location with an architecture steeped in history. More →