FEATURE
NEXT STEPS FOR REAL ESTATE
James Morris-Manuel, MD EMEA of Matterport, explains why the commercial real estate industry must level up with digital twins.
The pandemic has caused significant changes to how today’s businesses operate, with demands for offices and retail space decreasing due to social distancing and remote work policies. As retail customers return to stores and employees return to offices, the way we interact with the spaces we inhabit has fundamentally changed.
There is now a growing demand from employees for hybrid working models - a combination of home working, local office hubs and a head office - and alongside demands from businesses to prioritise social distancing when designing office spaces, there are many elements creating a competitive Commercial Real Estate (CRE) market and making it more difficult to find potential tenants.
Furthermore, research from KPMG suggests that 92% of office property will require varied spaces to conduct different types of work, whilst 83% will use technology to connect with remote workers and clients. With the pandemic altering the status quo and accelerating the push for digital transformation, the CRE industry must adapt in order to survive and thrive.
Leveraging digital twins Before the pandemic, offices were being re-designed to enable workspaces to feel more collaborative and interactive. In retail with many consumers moving to shop online, businesses have needed to adapt existing retail operations to help give them an edge and bridge the gap between traditional brick-and-mortar stores versus eCommerce. However, while innovation was underway, many of the processes that the CRE space relied
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upon were outdated. Days were spent showing properties and getting prospects oriented to each space, and even more time was lost managing printed and often outdated building plans.
To address these challenges and succeed in the evolving CRE space, facilities managers should readily embrace new innovations in property technology that benefit commercial, residential and industrial property sectors. Using virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins, can help facilities managers to bridge the gap between real-life and built models and inform them on the best ways to protect employees, address any issues that could arise as foot traffic returns, while creating better building management processes and new ways of solving old problems. This allows for properties to be built or refurbished with operational readiness as a top priority and allows facilities managers to better understand how end-users will interact with a space before it’s even occupied.
Digital twin technology is already being adopted in various industries from real estate, architecture and construction, through to retail, facilities management and insurance. As the datafication of the built world continues, everything from houses, shops and offices, through to museums and hotels are being brought online, unlocking a treasure trove of unrealised value.
Improving operational efficiencies through
digital twins With guidance on social distancing regulations changing regularly across the world, property owners and operators
Tomorrow’s FM Yearbook 2022/23
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