OUR TIME IS NOW: RESET THE OFFICE
The recent disruption to how we live and work has accelerated a move to alternative ways of thinking about our workplace. We now have an unprecedented opportunity to readdress the role of the office in our lives, and shape how buildings can encourage innovative and fresh thinking, while introducing greener solutions.
The issues of climate change and sustainability are becoming more important than ever, leading to increased scrutiny of the office’s environmental impact. As we look to the future, the entire sector has an important role to play in providing buildings and working environments that are better for our planet.
Our host city: Manchester
Manchester is a city that has helped shape the world. Whether it is in industry, science or culture, this vibrant city has always pioneered new ways of working and thinking and has, in doing so, transformed itself into a modern cosmopolitan powerhouse.
Recast for the 21st century as the original modern city, Greater Manchester has experienced a contemporary resurgence. This was marked culturally by the acclaimed reopening of the Whitworth art gallery, international arts centre HOME, and the world-leading Manchester International Festival. This resurgence also saw a property and investment boom that has outpaced the rest of the country, and through major changes to its governance and infrastructure, Manchester has been positioned as the central focus of the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ agenda.
Young people are flocking here to take advantage of its thriving economy, unrivalled student experience and smart jobs in the science, creative and digital sectors. Greater Manchester is truly worthy of its accolades, as being the UK’s most competitive, economically productive, livable and vibrant region.
As host city for the 2022 BCO Annual Conference, where better to engage with and debate the future attributes of the office, and to grasp this opportunity to re-evaluate and reset?
What to expect?
To slot into delegates’ busy working lives, the mid-week conference will run from Tuesday 14th to Thursday 16th June.
• The conference begins with the BCO Drinks Reception on the Tuesday evening at Manchester Cathedral, one of the city’s event spaces of choice to host rock concerts, fashion shows, brand launches, intimate fine-dining and grand gala dinners over the years.
• The Conference Plenary Sessions will take place at Manchester Central, where we will engage with keynote speakers covering development, occupation, economics, politics and futurists.
• Building Tours will provide an opportunity to see the best in Manchester and gain a glimpse of what is to come.
• The Conference Seminars will provide an alternative option to the building tours, in which we will explore key and emerging topics and trends that influence office design.
• The BCONextGen events programme for young professionals within the sector will provide activities that sit alongside the main itinerary, to add value to the conference experience and encourage greater participation from this important community within the BCO.
• Prior to the conference, the BCO Cycle Challenge will set off from London, arriving in Manchester 3 days later in time for the drinks reception. The event will raise funds for CALM and SHOUT 85258, our partner charities for the conference.
• The BCO Golf Cup will take place at The Mere, a championship course set in Cheshire parkland to the south west of Manchester city centre.
• The Conference Party will take place on the Wednesday evening at Hatch, close to the city centre and conference hotels. Here, we will celebrate within a street environment, enjoying hospitality through pop-ups as well as entertainment into the night.
Manchester, its culture, and all it has to offer will provide the perfect setting for the office community to network, engage with and explore the opportunity we all hold to influence the workplaces of the future. We hope to deliver a truly diverse and inclusive event that offers something for everyone.
I look forward to welcoming you all there on 14th June 2022.
Download the conference brochure
The full programme for the conference will soon be revealed once bookings open on 19 January 2022. As we look forward to welcoming many of you to our upcoming annual conference, Chief Executive of the British Council for Offices, Richard Kauntze shares his motivations for the long-awaited in-person event, which will provide an unprecedented opportunity to revaluate and redefine the role of the office as we know it.
Last year Greater Manchester’s inaugural Green Summit saw the city’s mayor, Andy Burnham outline ambitious plans for a region where “all businesses need to become green businesses”.
As issues of climate change and sustainability are pushed higher up the agenda across industries, including our own, what better city to host the BCO’s next annual conference than Manchester?
The three-day event will provide an exciting opportunity for industry experts to exchange thoughts upon the key requirements for future workplaces, of which creating a more sustainable world will play a critical part.
Although the recent COP26 climate change conference has accelerated the sustainability debate, extended lockdowns had already brought renewed scrutiny of the office’s environmental impact – particularly the carbon cost of commuting and the need to improve energy inefficiencies.
Our sector is already working hard to make offices greener, to drive new technologies and modern approaches to the workplace that can overhaul how Britain constructs, designs and equips its buildings – something which will be crucial to any post-Covid ‘green rebuild’. But, as ever, there is much more to be done.
It won’t be easy, but by working together towards this common goal, I believe our industry, and all the talent it employs, can achieve truly remarkable growth towards a more sustainable future for British offices.
In my mind, the key to success lies in our ability to adapt quickly to new technologies and innovative practices, which I look forward to discussing with you throughout the conference.
Richard Kauntze
Chief Executive, British Council for Offices
The conference is taking place 14-16 June 2022 in Manchester.
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#BCOconference #BCOManchester
With the upcoming 2022 BCO Annual Conference being hosted in Manchester, we sat down with Sarah Syson, the NextGen winner for the North of England and North Wales region, and spoke about all things offices, nurturing young talent and sector innovation.
Sarah is a Warrington-based Associate Design Director at Claremont and was awarded the Rising Star accolade at the Annual BCO NextGen Awards last November, which recognises under 35’s for their achievements within the office sector.
Thanks for taking the time to speak with us Sarah, so to start: what is the greatest piece of advice you would offer to NextGen candidates in the coming years?
I would tell them, ‘Don’t forget the simple things!’ We tend to work under tight deadlines and dealing with the pressure can be difficult. When you find yourself struggling in these moments, take a deep breath and make a list of priorities that you can discuss with your colleagues. And remember, there’s no such thing as a silly question, so get involved, stay curious, and keep learning!
What is your favourite office development in the North of England?
It’s very hard for me to pinpoint a favourite, with so many outstanding commercial office developments in the region, but if I had to, I would pick the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool. People have a tendency to focus upon newer buildings, but it’s so important not to forget the many iconic buildings that exist in the North! They have personality, charm and character, meaning that we can create memorable spaces for clients. For that reason, the Royal Liver Building, with its fantastic history and amazing views is my favourite.
As a NextGen Rising Star, what is the greatest area of innovation that you foresee affecting the office sector in the coming years?
If I had to guess, I would predict that technologies related to mixed presence digital collaboration will become an even more vital tool for maintaining team connection and fostering innovation. As hybrid working establishes itself as the norm, the desire for immersive environments will only increase. As a designer who puts people at the heart of any scheme, I think it’s so important to focus upon creating inclusive environments. That way, the office can remain a fantastic place for socialising and informal knowledge sharing.
When it comes to sustainability, what solutions would you like to see implemented more in the future?
As we collectively seek to reduce our carbon footprint, it would be great to see solutions implemented that reduce waste, and efforts at re-using and recycling commercial furniture in innovative and unexpected ways.
We look forward to welcoming you to the conference in June 2022. Look out for bookings opening in January.
#BCOconference #Manchester2022
What better way to celebrate the host city of the upcoming BCO Annual Conference in June 2022, than to take a trip down memory lane and admire a previous BCO National Awards winner based in Manchester?
As we centre our 2022 conference around redressing the role of offices in our lives and shaping how buildings can encourage fresh thinking, looking at one example of an outstanding local office is a perfect way to begin our reflection.
Couchbase, a stunning Grade II listed office in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, once an old loading bay and disused space, is now a unique home to the pioneering tech company. The developers transformed the site through interesting design concepts that made amazing use of the space to meet Couchbase’s office requirements, whilst also celebrating the history of the building.
As the home to many exciting growth enterprises, with brands such as WPP, Booking.com, Boohoo and AO.com continuing to expand their local presence in Manchester, this impressive office is just one of the many modern workspaces popping up across England’s second city.
We look forward to welcoming you to the conference on 14 June 2022 where we will talk about more pioneering office examples like this. Bookings will open in January 2022.
It could be you, a design team member, a client, or a subcontractor on the construction site. Mental Health issues and suicidal thoughts can affect anyone. The BCO in Scotland wants to create a lasting legacy that ensures our members – and others in the property and construction sectors – feel safe and protected, in the workplace, on site and at home.
With our membership – and the property and construction sectors generally – being strongly represented by men, who we know are statistically more likely to take their own lives, we know there is an immediate and overwhelming need to signpost help and make sure that people know what help is available.
We are starting a conversation with our Committee members and wider membership about how we can help to prevent suicides. We have begun to approach organisations that offer support to people facing crisis, so we can educate ourselves about the most appropriate way to offer support.
We believe that any future initiative to raise awareness, signpost support and fundraise for these crucial services, should be industry-wide, so we would like to start a conversation within the BCO about how we create a sea-change and support people in their workplace and at any time of need. We would like to link up with others in the industry who have already started this conversation and want to get involved.
To get in touch, contact mail@bco.org.uk.
Rob is principal of Ramidus Consulting Limited. He has over 30 years experience within the property sector. He works with property investors, developers, advisors and policy makers; and he advises corporate occupiers by preparing corporate workplace strategies. Prior to setting up Ramidus, Rob worked for Interior Services Group, Stanhope Properties, Hillier Parker (now CBRE), Debenham Tewson & Chinnocks (now DTZ) and DEGW.
Rob established Ramidus Consulting Limited in 2003 as a specialist built environment research and advisory business. Rob’s research experience has involved projects throughout the property process, from design, to development, to investment, to occupation. His particular interest is in market demand research where he has completed numerous innovative projects. He works closely with investors, developers and policy makers, advising on market trends, occupier needs, investment opportunities, building specification and benchmarking.
Rob also works with private and public sector occupiers on their workplace strategies. He has a wealth of experience in briefing and preparing business cases, and in helping clients align their operational agendas with more efficient and more effective workplaces.
Rob writes and presents widely, having published two books, many articles and a variety of industry reports for the BCO, Corporation of London, GLA, IPF and RICS among others. Having been an active BCO member since its inception, Rob has also written a number of its research reports, including the Occupier Density Study which feeds into the Guide to Specification. Rob will now lead the BCO research committee over the next period as it addresses a rapidly changing market and the longer term impacts of the Covid crisis.
BCO funds its research entirely through membership fees, so Rob is keen to build awareness of its work. Rob said: “The BCO produces research to provide new insights and promote best practice throughout the commercial property industry, so I’m looking forward to working with the committee to deliver this to the membership and wider audience.”
Rob Harris has recently published a book that will surely become a classic of its type: ‘London’s Global Office Economy: from Clerical Factory to Digital Hub’.
Earlier this year, Rob participated in an online discussion with NLA titled ‘All you need to know about offices.’ Here’s what he had to say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BWmF0d0S1Q
Follow Rob on LinkedIn here: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rob-harris-276045a
On Wednesday 21st July the British Council for Offices NextGen committee team hosted a talk and tour with Oval Real Estate around one of Birmingham’s most vibrant districts, Digbeth.
Jo Salmon, Head of Estates and Steve Sanders, Head of Development kindly explained Oval Real Estate’s ongoing active management, including the reactivation of a number of properties along Floodgate Street and The Bond, which recently secured GBSLEP funding to support the development of a dedicated Creative Content Hub. The Oval team also provided insight behind the exciting plans for the long term investment and regeneration in Digbeth, following the successful planning approval by members of the Birmingham City Council Planning Committee in May this year.
The approved plans provide a framework and long term vision for 42 acres of Digbeth centred round the iconic Custard Factory, which is owned by Oval. The framework, which will see the careful and gradual regeneration of Digbeth over the next 10 – 15 years, complements Oval’s ongoing investment in Digbeth, which has included physical improvements to the area, the introduction of new independent companies and plans for a major new creative content hub at The Bond.
The framework will provide up to 2.2 million square feet of commercial space and 1,850 homes alongside shops, restaurants, cafés and additional leisure facilities. This will support the creation of over 16,400 jobs and provide a substantial boost to the local Birmingham and wider West Midlands economy.
The plans will also improve public realm, pedestrian and cycle movement in the area, expose the River Rea, celebrate the Grand Union Canal and reactivate viaduct arches. The approval also means that plans can now be put in place to bring forward the much anticipated Viaduct Park, which will see the conversion of Duddeston Viaduct into accessible open space with views over the city centre.
Since Oval acquired the Custard Factory and other Digbeth buildings in 2017, they have been working with a wide range of stakeholders to develop the framework to understand what makes the area so special. Oval have worked in close collaboration with a team of designers, led by master planners, architects and landscape architects Studio Egret West and local practices Glenn Howells Architects and Bryant Priest Newman, alongside planning consultancy Turley to develop the plans.
In addition to the ongoing reactivation works the first phase of the framework will see the delivery of Wild Works, Custard Factory Living and the Custard Factory Extension, collectively providing new commercial office space, an element of ground floor retail and new homes. The exceptional design of the first phase is the high standard Oval will aim for in all future phases.
After a brief introduction to the scheme, delegates were provided with a guided tour of the estate, where Oval identified key elements of the reactivation works and framework ambitions.
Alex Slatter, chair of BCO NextGen said of the event: “Thank you again to the Oval Real Estates team for hosting and touring our BCO members around Digbeth. It was a privilege walking and talking through the masterplan with the team and allowed members to get a real sense of how Oval are re-imagining and re-activating the streets of Digbeth to build a vibrant and exciting place to live and work. A warm welcome back to our members with our first in-person event of the year, kick starting our exciting programme of events for the rest of the year!”
Joe Huddleston, BCO committee adds ‘What a fantastic afternoon and turn out; warm and sunny with a few welcome refreshments to help cool off afterward. We’re delighted so many members could join us. Don’t forget that all members of the BCO NextGen can join our current mentorship programme for free, it’s up and running now. Do get in touch to join in with this great initiative, build your business skills and nurture your career with our industry leaders.
View the full gallery here.
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Join the BCO NextGen LinkedIn group here.
Chief Executive, Richard Kauntze said: “One of the many consequences of the coronavirus pandemic was that last year there were no elections to the Board of Management. Those members of the Board whose terms would have expired in July 2020 very kindly agreed to remain on the Board for a further year and we have, therefore, something of a bumper crop of categories where vacancies arose this year.” Those categories were:
· Architecture/Design/Town Planning
· Construction Consultants
· Contractors
· Legal
· Occupier
· Owners/Investors/Developers
· Research
In four of those categories (Construction Consultants, Legal, Occupier and Research) the number of candidates did not exceed the number of vacancies and, therefore the following members are elected to the Board unopposed:
Construction Consultants
Mike Burton (AECOM)
Legal
Helen Garthwaite (Wedlake Bell) – re-elected
Michelle Marwood (Norton Rose Fulbright) – re-elected
Occupier
Nathalie Baxter (Home Group)
Chris Early (Telefónica UK)
Andy McBain (NatWest Group)
Research
Dr Asif Din (Perkins&Will)
“All of these candidates are therefore elected to the Board of Management for a three-year term at today’s AGM, and the BCO’s sincere congratulations to one and all.
In the remaining three categories (Architecture/Design/Town Planning, Contractors and Owners/Investors/Developers) the number of candidates exceeded the number of vacancies and, therefore, a ballot was held. It is, of course, an inevitable consequence of any ballot that not everyone can be a winner, and the BCO is extremely grateful to everyone who very kindly put themselves forward and offers its commiserations to those who were not successful this time.”
The winners in those three categories were:
Architecture/Design/Town Planning
Jason Balls (EPR Architects) – re-elected
Racheal Cadey (Edge) – re-elected
Contractors
Clare Ashmore (Parkeray) – re-elected
Alex Soltynski (21 Construction)
Owners/Investors/Developers
Jon Allgood (The Crown Estate) – re-elected
Benjamin Lesser (Derwent London) – re-elected
James Pellatt (Great Portland Estates) – re-elected
The BCO offers its sincere congratulations to all of the winners in those categories elected through a ballot and, to all of the candidates – winners and losers – for very kindly putting themselves forward.
By Derek Clements-Croome
One unintended consequence of the pandemic has been that we have gained a greater appreciation of the important role the environment plays in affecting our state of mind in the places where we work. We are more conscious of how location, screen time and human interaction can impact our productivity and our wellbeing.
Good physical and mental health are central to our happiness and wellbeing. However, amid all the other considerations, this is often forgotten when designing the workplace. After an incredibly difficult year in and out of lockdown, it is more important than ever that we create spaces that workers can flourish in. This was the inspiration behind my latest report for the British Council for Offices, “Designing and Managing Buildings for Health and Wellbeing”.
The paper outlines how sensory design will provide a positive experience on returning to the office. Multisensory design is based on how we perceive the environment around us, and this approach can act as an antidote to help reinvigorate workers and reignite their imagination, leading to an enhanced occupant experience with more creativity. The look and feel of a place is so important.
Recommendations from the report include providing adequate exposure to natural light, views of natural settings and environments, and a range of biophilic interventions, including outside views. The incorporation of these environmental elements softens the boundaries between the office and the outdoors and can have a positive effect on productivity, creativity and even health indicators like heartbeat patterns.
As a welcome reprieve from a lockdown year staring at our living room walls, offices should provide aesthetically pleasing surroundings that provide visual interest, for example through innovative uses of colour and artwork.
Additionally, to minimise intrusive noise in work areas, attention should be paid to office acoustics (particularly in the case of open-plan offices) as well as design features that can moderate noise pollution from outside the building.
We will continue to see the impact of the pandemic even when we return to the office. Companies hoping to promote health and wellbeing should provide employees with a fresh, thermally comfortable environment with effective ventilation, and spatial settings that suit COVID-19 conditions as well as various individual or team working needs. Indoor air quality is now seen as even more vitally important if we are to reduce infection risk, and spaces will need reconfiguring to ensure social distancing rules are followed.
Furthermore, the paper argues for the importance of a company-wide commitment to improved wellness through an appointed health and wellbeing executive; consistent monitoring of workplace conditions; voluntary health and wellbeing focus groups, and collecting data on medical absences and staff turnover rates in order for us to gain a deeper understanding of employee wellbeing.
Over the past year, employees have had to juggle their working commitments with their personal wellbeing, which has been a considerable burden for many. By designing offices with the happiness of employees in mind, we can provide them with a space they are excited to go to, where they can focus on making the most of their talents and collaborating with others.
Download the newly published BCO report here.
Follow Derek on Twitter and LinkedIn.
The last twelve months have been extraordinarily challenging for us all. While we have been unable to bring our members together in person at the flagship events we know our members enjoy, we have worked to continue to offer the maximum possible value to our members in the current virtual world. To illustrate this, since April 2020 we have:
Last year, the BCO recorded a series of interviews called ‘The New Normal’ where Richard Kauntze, the BCO’s Chief Executive, talked to leading figures from across the office sector, as well as a few special guests. The series focused on the immediate impact of Covid-19.
Following on from ‘The New Normal’ comes ‘The Office Briefing’ which will see Richard explore our way out of the pandemic and broader issues through conversations with members, economists, academics and more special guests.
We are delighted that our first guest in this new series of interviews is Co-President, Political Risk Advisory at Teneo – Wolfango (Wolf) Piccoli. Watch it on our YouTube channel now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWnivE0z28o
Too funny. Vicki Walker Lucky for you, The BCO Guide to Spec(savers) is coming next.
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March 06, 2025 
By BCO Media 
