Office Design
business was looking for vacant space, was about to downsize or to simply review its current workspace utilisation, knowledge of this information would be vital.
Recording, monitoring and assessing occupancy When analysing a workspace, there are various levels of accuracy that can be applied, depending on requirements. Typically, if you wanted to audit the occupation levels in an office, an audit team would physically observe each environment making ‘point in time’ observations, by recording findings via mobile technology. Ordinarily, each observation would take place at half hourly intervals over a two week period, providing insight into the ways in which every area is utilised.
However, as the benefits of space analysis are becoming more widely understood, some organisations are using sensors that are triggered by staff movement, which record the precise details of desk usage, office occupation, meeting room utilisation and general working behaviour. These are able to provide minute by minute reports on how space is used and how efficiently each room is functioning.
A good web based system will also enable you to manage and monitor the day-to-day churn within an organisation ensuring all changes -from a full scale relocation to the repositioning of a single workstation- are updated immediately.
This means that if a single member of staff moves to another team or department, or a new area consisting of three workstations becomes a hot desk zone, this information can be updated with a click of a button, as and when the changes occur. This simple ease of maintenance via a web interface means the system is always up-to-date and provides real time accurate data on the whole building or portfolio of properties.
As a result, those who require the data can access it instantly, wherever and whenever they require it. This means, if a manager needs details of how many square feet a particular team utilises in a certain building, or requires quick information on where empty space exists on a specific floor, this can be found immediately, providing details that would aid any space related decision.
The benefits Ultimately web applications are being used as a means to understand space and analyse facilities to eventually improve a business’s bottom line, but the overall benefits are vast. As well as the analysis of occupancy to improve space efficiency, a web based application can reduce the rate of unnecessary churn and the impact this has on staff productivity as well as improve sustainability by reducing energy consumed. It can centralise all facility information, improve the quality of facility management, eliminate budget overspend and enhance the management of a building’s operational issues. It can also work as a tool to create reliable forecasts related to future space requirements.
The information drawn from a web application means swift, accurate reports can be developed in real-time to assist the overall strategic decision making process. A web based system can also provide fast and accurate, comprehensive reports on
Case Study: Gatwick Airport Ltd
In preparation for making improvements to its workspace strategy, Gatwick Airport Ltd selected PiMS Workspace to audit its office space by measuring the utilisation and occupation throughout four buildings located in the North and South Terminals of the London airport.
every working environment including meeting areas, break out spaces and training rooms. A team of PiMS Workspace professionals conducted the analysis and were implemented on-site for a period of two weeks.
The audit team observed the overall patterns of occupancy, assessing the number of staff actually populating the building on a daily basis. Throughout the period of occupancy analysis, the team made over 55,000 observations, analysing over 700 different locations, all of which are located on a total of 18 floors in the airport’s buildings.
throughout a working day, before details of every single observation were uploaded via PiMS Workspace’s mobile technology and the software, ‘PiMS Locator Anywhere’.
Each individual location was observed at regular intervals
The utilisation of 50 different meeting areas was also closely audited to assess efficiency within these workspaces across Gatwick Airport Ltd’s portfolio of properties. The findings detailed the regularity of use, number of users and efficiency of all spaces, aiding Gatwick Airport Ltd’s decisions to implement changes to its working environments.
The analysis focused on the overall use and efficiency of
critical facilities information. This means any plans to develop new space, move departments closer together, reduce, expand or simply improve workspaces, can be based on actual evidence as opposed to a hunch or an expectation.
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