October 3, 2019

The art of arranging the world so we do not have to experience it

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace

If you’re a man, each morning as you leave the house you probably perform the bleary-eyed pocket patting ritual that, after a shower, shave and a cup of tea is your sole reassurance that you are in any way prepared for the day ahead. The thinking is that if you’re clean, caffeinated, your flies are up and you’ve got your keys, wallet and phone, you can take pretty much anything the world can throw at you. (more…)

September 26, 2019

The office of the future should be circular

by Phil Oram • Comment, Environment, Workplace design

Minimising the impact of business on the wider environment is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a business imperative. Pressure is coming from all stakeholders including employees, investors, customers and clients, government and the media. According to the Leadership in Corporate Sustainability – European Report 2018, three quarters of European business leaders believe that ignoring sustainability will affect their company’s ability to create long-term value. (more…)

September 13, 2019

There is still time to avoid the regrexit of Brexit

by Anthony Brown • Business, Comment

Several months ago when we invited Jonty Bloom, one of the media’s most respected journalists to come and speak to our guest audience, we knew it would be informed, relevant and fascinating. What we didn’t know was that the day before (4th September 2019) Boris Johnson would deliver a stunningly inelegant performance at his inaugural Prime Minister’s Question time, the day after losing his first vote in parliament to prevent a further delay in delivering Brexit. (more…)

September 5, 2019

The role of gamification in workplace creativity

by Agnessa Spanellis • Features, Working culture

Coming up with a good creative idea is hard. We do not fully understand how this process works, but there are certain techniques that have proved successful in fostering creativity, such as mind-mapping, brainstorming or creating conditions for free experimentation. Many big companies (such as design agencies) embrace these practices in the way they work. (more…)

August 23, 2019

A grey tsunami, three goldfish, the red pill of coworking and some other colourful stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Property, Wellbeing, Working lives

A right leaning think tank’s suggestion that the UK should set a new retirement age of 75 and introduce a range of measures to extend people’s working lives to boost the economy and improve people’s wellbeing sparked an inevitable paroxysm of rage. Immediately followed by an equally inevitable and furious level of what passes for debate these days. A stramash the Scottish would call it. (more…)

July 29, 2019

The tipping point for flexible working arrives

by James Geekie • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

Although people have been talking about flexible working in one way or another for decades – the economist John Maynard Keynes declared in 1930 that technological advances would lead to a 15-hour working week – we may now be at the tipping point where work takes on an entirely different character. (more…)

July 24, 2019

Commercial property sector shifts focus to wellbeing in response to tenant demands

by Mark Eltringham • News

A new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI), claims that the wave of interest in wellbeing in the UK is expected to translate into significant investment from the commercial property sector over the next three years. The report, Picture of health: the growing role of wellbeing in commercial real estate investment decision-making, has been published by the ULI UK Sustainability Forum to highlight the rise of wellbeing investment in commercial buildings. The report from ULI UK was sponsored by E.ON and addresses questions about the investment case for incorporating wellbeing into buildings and how to measure its impact. (more…)

July 23, 2019

Office design should take account of the quality of interactions as well as quantity

by Jonathan Hindle • Comment, Workplace design

Ever since technology first made it possible for people to work remotely from their colleagues, there has been speculation not only that office design should change but even that the physical office could be dispensed with entirely, and with it the idea that people should come together to work in the same place at the same time to achieve common goals and to share in a common identity.

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July 18, 2019

Construction sector loses patience with Brexit indecision

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Activity in the construction sector rose in the second quarter of the year, despite concerns that political uncertainty surrounding Brexit was holding back investment. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors claims that the market has lost patience with the lack of clarity over Brexit and that clients were beginning to push ahead with projects, albeit tentatively. In its construction and infrastructure survey, a balance of 16 per cent of respondents reported an increase in work, up from 9 per cent in the previous quarter. (more…)

July 12, 2019

A life after carbon for the built environment

by Peter Plastrik and John Cleveland • Cities, Environment, Features, Technology

A new urban model is emerging worldwide – transforming the way cities design and use physical space, generate economic wealth, consume and dispose of resources, exploit and sustain the natural ecosystems they need, and prepare for the future. This emerging new urban paradigm has profound implications for players who care about and depend on the design of a city’s built infrastructure – including architects, engineers, builders, real estate developers, and office building tenants. (more…)

July 9, 2019

Fifth of people do not last a year in self-employment

by Neil Franklin • News

One-fifth of sole traders in self-employment don’t survive one year, and the majority don’t survive five, according to a new study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The analysis of HMRC tax records by researchers at the IFS was funded by the Office for National Statistics through the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) and the Economic and Social Research Council. (more…)

July 1, 2019

The biggest problem with open plan offices is how they are used

by Prof Dr Alexander Brem • Features, Workplace design

For decades the trend among workplaces has seen employees moving out of individual offices and into open plan spaces. This has not always been successful, with the open-plan approach receiving significant criticism. The key issues are distraction and noise, which apparently leads to uncooperative behaviour, distrust and negative personal relationships, and the lack of privacy and sense of being universally observed. Now that the internet connectivity is available almost everywhere and thus allows much more flexible working, the question arises: What might the set-up of an ideal workplace environment look like today? (more…)