October 11, 2019

How the Dutch pioneered agile working, wellbeing and smart buildings

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

Many of the challenges we face in selecting the right office design models became apparent during the 1960s as the world adjusted to the first signs of the technological revolution. At the same time, people across Europe were pressing for changes in the way organisations and the economy worked. 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 19, 2019

Employee privacy issue explored at CoreNet Global Summit

by Freddie Steele • News, Property, Technology, Working culture

Employee acceptance of new technology was a recurring theme of the CoreNet Global Summit in Amsterdam last week. The business value of monitoring software was largely accepted during the three days of the Summit; however, the individual’s perspective – that the benefits that might be traded for loss of employee privacy – was widely acknowledged as a pressing issue. More →

September 13, 2019

Final line up for Workplace Week announced

by Jo Sutherland • Company news, Events

Marking its ninth consecutive year, Workplace Week London 2019 – brainchild of Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) – will take place the week commencing 11 November 2019. 30 organisations, a third of which are debutants, have confirmed their support for the philanthropic week, which has so far raised over £100,000 for BBC Children in Need. More →

September 9, 2019

Aping our robot overlords, Instagrammable buildings and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Features, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

What happens to people when their skills become obsolete? If you’re not asking yourself this question already, you probably should. A new study from researchers at MIT and Wharton is the basis for this piece in Quartz at Work which considers the implications for what looks like a small technological change and its consequences for a large number of people who had to reset what they offered employers. More →

September 5, 2019

Workplace experience to be main theme of CoreNet Global

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Events, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Optimising the human workplace experience to achieve greater productivity and creativity will be explored in depth at the CoreNet Global Summit in Amsterdam this September. Over a dozen diverse sessions will examine multidisciplinary approaches to achieving gains in health, productivity and creativity alongside both academic and commercial research showing measurable benefits. More →

September 3, 2019

Governments should respond to needs of older workers

by Mark Eltringham • News, Working lives, Workplace design

While firms are already being asked to do more to support their older workers by organisations like The Centre for Ageing Better, a new OECD report is arguing that it is an issue that Governments are not addressing as well as they might. It claims that the rapidly ageing population of countries around the world means that governments should promote more and better job opportunities for older workers to protect living standards and the sustainability of public finances.

August 20, 2019

Businesses should focus on the greater good of people and society

by Mark Eltringham • News, Working culture

Modern corporations should work in the best interests of society and people rather than focusing primarily on making money for shareholders as they may have in the past, according to an influential group of chief executives. The body Business Roundtable, which represents the heads of some of America’s largest companies, including Apple, Amazon and Exxon Mobil, has issued a statement of its updated corporate governance principles. More →

August 16, 2019

Office design has a role to play in reflecting neurological differences

by Julian Sharpe • Comment, Workplace design

In recent years, we have seen a growing civil rights movement focused on change in the workplace and in terms of office design, revolving around differences in brain function. Advocates for neurodiversity say that it’s just as critical to business success as gender or racial diversity in the labour force. More →

July 30, 2019

GDP should be replaced by new indicators of prosperity and wellbeing

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Wellbeing

As the consequences of climate change, social tensions and high levels of inequality are increasingly evident, the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, led by Professor Diane Coyle, has published its initial report on how to improve economic measurement by replacing GDP as the standard measure for national prosperity with others that include wellbeing and social and environmental capital. 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 24, 2019

New government has unprecedented chance to transform buildings

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

The new UK government led by Boris Johnson has an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically shift policy on the built environment and deliver higher standards of safety, sustainability and social justice, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). It urged the new administration to back up rhetoric around climate change with robust legislation; to enshrine the recommendations of the Hackitt Review to improve fire safety in buildings; and tackle the scourge of late payment that is undermining thousands of SME and driving many into insolvency. More →