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different to tradditional silo designs adopted a few years ago – with reduced need for physical storage through digitisation of administrative systems, we occupy only one third of the floorspace we own and sub-let the rest because we know 60% of staff will not be in occupancy at any one time.”


Given enhancements in technology and devices used in business, there is a trend for a lesser requirement in regards to books, filing cabinets and IT servers which de-clutter offices for design and practical purposes, noted Joe Jeffers.


Colin Allan


Laurie: “And, increasingly a company’s built environment reflects its culture and brand imagery.”


Savage: “Google and others have not dispersed their workforces into the ether, they have built sophisticated campus-style ‘work-as-life’ environments.”


Laurie: “In Reading, Oracle currently sets aside 20% of space for incubator businesses.”


Not that workplace change was new … Savage said Shell provided shops, a cinema, swimming pool and rifle range for its employees in the 1960s and 70s. “You could just live within that corporate bubble.”


Craig Laubscher


Around the same time a number of larger companies started revolutionising their workplaces by providing more amenities such as bringing in retail malls and informal working areas, added Allan.


Hill: “But, where and how we work now is changing completely. Technology has brought about not only more possibilities and greater efficiency, it has revolutionised how we communicate so we need to consider what differences that will make to today’s real-estate world.


Digital technology: transforming professional stereotypes


Jonathan Hill


Senior management at Driscoll’s organisation tended to operate from across a number of locations including home or throughout the UK, and (through Microsoft Gold Partnership) Skype for Business, ShareFile and other collaborative tools to facilitate comms- links. The company was now “social media savvy” having readjusted its cultural fit and corporate image.


Laubscher: “Identity is massive today, but how do you make a building adapt to multiple people at multiple times and also portray their company and its identity?”


Rob Driscoll 22 businessmag.co.uk


“It can certainly help drive your business,” agreed Savage. One of CRS’s clients is Derwent London. “Adaptability and technology in their buildings is very


good and tenants are queuing up to take space because Derwent has got its brand absolutely in the right position, in this millennial zeitgeist, meeting the requirements of agile business working.”


JLL, like some other property consultants, now had its own fit-out business. “You don’t normally think of JLL as a contractor, but they have a contracting operation that can show you the absolute zenith of current agile trends right now – WeWork interview rooms, for instance, that can look like someone’s lounge or kitchen.”


Hill suggested institutional property owners might have operations that almost became like hoteliers, dealing with occupancy rates rather than long-term leases on their buildings.


Savage: “The big question is how disruptive and over what timescales is all this technological change going to be within the worlds of different property stakeholders? It’s here now, but is there a pivotal impact point? Are we ready for Google the contractor?”


With the construction sector often considered inefficient and reliant on trade skills, what changes could be expected? Would there be new disruptive market entrants? Would improved onsite construction management or R&D and offsite manufacturing become the focus?


Barker felt more modular and offsite fabrication was inevitable for speed, efficiency and quality – not least with greater UK immigration control on specialist labour. “I think we will have to rip up the rule-book over the next 10 years to get things right.”


Hill agreed there was more off-site fabrication and modular construction being explored. “We are already manufacturing building components; the question is how big and different can they become.”


Complexity may well be easier to build into buildings through technological design, and materials may change. “But, you will still need skills in the factories to build the modules, unless more robots and machines are used.


“The interface and collaboration between design and construction is also becoming far more integrated than it was in the past.”


Tech that’s developing faster than the development sector?


Business Information Modelling (BIM), a 3D model-based process design tool, had been generally successful within the construction sector – improving cost-efficiency, reducing onsite errors – although not yet used to its full extent, said Hill and Barker. The facilities management (FM) sector was also now beginning to use BIM for post-


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – DECEMBER 16/JANUARY 17


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