British Council for Offices

To what extent will working from home become the new normal? Richard Kauntze, Chief Executive of the BCO speaks with 2017/18 BCO President, and founder of Make Architects, Ken Shuttleworth about how workplace designs may change as a result of Covid-19, whether there will still be an appetite for major workplace projects and the economic shock's impact on the industry.   Shuttleworth joined Foster and Partners in 1986 and worked on some of the world's most iconic buildings, including The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s headquarters, 30 St Mary Axe ('The Gherkin’) and City Hall.  He left Foster and Partners to set up his own practice, Make Architects, in 2004. The practice has completed a number of renowned buildings, such as the City of London Information Centre, the 55 Baker Street office development and the Olympic Park’s Copper Box Arena.

"I have not had a desk in 25 years."   In this episode of The New Normal, BCO's Chief Exec speaks to Cushman & Wakefield's Head of Occupier Business Performance, Despina Katsikakis about the impact of the lockdown on the wellbeing and productivity of employees, how this period of working from home will impact the future of work and how the demands and expectations of occupiers might be changed by COVID-19.

Head of Real Estate at PwC & Board Member at British Council for Offices, Chris Richmond discusses the shift to mass working from home, and what he thinks workers most miss out on by not being in an office.

How will COVID-19 impact the relationship between tenants and landlords?   In the latest episode, Richard Kauntze discusses this and more with head of Savills UK and European commercial property research team, Mat Oakley.  Mat specialises in the office, leisure and retail sectors.  Mat's experience includes work on a variety of topics including various office markets, the impact of major infrastructure developments, advising on tenant mix for both in and out-of-town retail and leisure developments, environmental impact analyses and assessing demand for and master planning leisure developments.

As City Planning Officer for the City of London, Peter Rees led the planning and regeneration of this world’s business and financial centre from 1985 to 2014.  Today, Peter is Professor of Places and City Planning at UCL. He lectures internationally and advises developers and cities around the world on urban planning and design.  Peter is a founder member and director of the British Council for Offices and received the President’s Award in 2003 for “presiding over one of the most extensive periods of redevelopment in the City’s long history.”    Famously, Peter preferred to keep the City as a place just ‘for business’. In this episode, Kauntze asks whether he thinks this could change in the coming years, perhaps as a result of COVID-19.  Planning in The City is covered throughout the episode, as well as what office designers can do to make their office stand out, and give people a reason to not just work from home.

Bill Price is a director at WSP and a structural engineer by background. His career has included buildings across many sectors usually delivering multidisciplinary engineering services. He was responsible for the early design development stages of the Shard and associated with all the projects at London Bridge helping to raise the profile of tall buildings in London especially around transport nodes.    Since 2012 Bill has been closely associated with the delivery and thought leadership around rail overbuild. Bill authored and led the production of the WSP papers ‘Building our way out of a crisis’, ‘Out of Thin Air’ and ‘Out of Thin Air – one year on’. He has presented on the topic at many conferences and events in the UK, continental Europe and Australia.   Bill has been a long term supporter of the BCO and led the conference technical tour programmes for New York, Madrid, Chicago, London and the recently postponed Toronto. In 2016 Bill co-edited ‘A Strategic Design Guide to Tall Buildings’ for the British Council for Offices and published by the RIBA.

Clare Ashmore has been at Parkeray for 20 years, a main board member for 14 years and was promoted to Group Board | Chief Operating Officer in January of this year. Her role covers all aspects of that of a COO (spinning plates) but has a keen drive on wellbeing, brand and ethos experience.  Clare has always focused on developing young people within our industry being on one of the first committees for Young Entrepreneurs in Property from 2002 and as board member at Women in Property, ran Schools Roadshows and Business Breakfasts with London Schools giving students a glimpse of the property industry.  Clare continues as Chair of the Mentoring Committee within the BCO of which she has been a board member for the past 9 years, supporting the #BCONextGen.

Paul Finch is Programme Director of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) and Editorial Director of The Architectural Review/Architects’ Journal. He started professional life as a journalist in the early 1970s. He became Deputy Editor of Estates Times (now Property Week), and subsequently edited Building Design, Architects’ Journal and Architectural Review, where he launched WAF in 2008.    He has been co-editor of Planning in London since 1994. He was a founder commissioner at CABE (Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment) in 1999, chaired its design review and regional panels, subsequently chairing its London Olympics design panel from 2005 to 2012. He became chair in 2010, overseeing its merger in 2011 with the Design Council, where he was deputy chair for three years.    He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster and honorary fellowships from University College London and the Royal Institute of British Architects .He is an honorary member of the British Council for Offices and the Architectural Association. He was awarded an OBE for services to architecture in 2002.

We hear from Lindsey Barrett, Chair of the London NextGen Committee on the legal impacts COVID-19 is having on the market and what we might expect from corporate occupiers. We also cover her ambitions for the NextGen, advice for today's grads and what could be done to improve diversity in the CRE sector.

In the final episode of the New Normal series, we hear from Danny Parmar, Chair of the BCO Midlands and East Anglia region. Danny is Business Development Manager with Overbury, with a major focus on Birmingham and Cambridge. In 2015, Danny built a BCO sub-chapter from scratch in Cambridge to harness its vibrant office sector.

Sir Craig Oliver was the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron’s Director of Politics and Communications for over six years, responsible for the Government’s strategy and messaging.  During that time he was Director of Communications on a number of political campaign teams, including the 2015 General Election (winning an unexpected overall majority).  His day-to-day work in this role included a radical overhaul of government communications, making them fit for the digital age.  In this 'New Normal' special, BCO's Chief Exec, Richard Kauntze and Sir Craig Oliver discuss the UK and International Governments' handling of the Covid-19 crisis so far, Brexit, and the longer-term impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

"Big businesses and small have been helpful, ingenious, inventive, innovative, they have come up with lots of solutions” – Martin Vander Weyer, Spectator business editor, discusses the economy, Brexit and capitalism in the time of COVID-19 in our latest #NewNormal

The United States is Britain’s closest ally. Richard Kauntze asks Sir Christopher Meyer how he thinks it currently stands and whether he thinks Trump will be re-elected for a second term this November.   Richard also says that following Britain’s departure from the EU, there has been much talk of the benefits of a comprehensive trade deal with the US, but America fights hard in trade negotiations and asks Sir Christopher what he thinks the chances of a good deal are for both sides, and much much more in this not-to-be-missed 3rd New Normal Special on diplomacy and international relations.

Designing for Neurodiversity: Research shows that members of the neurodivergent community continue to face struggles with disabling workspaces, with the British Council for Offices calling on landlords and occupiers to urgently design more inclusive office spaces. One in seven individuals in the UK is classed as neurodivergent, yet these individuals’ needs continue to be neglected by businesses. Those who belong to the neurodiversity community are currently underserved by and often unsupported in the current employment ecosystem. A BCO Research report published earlier this year was undertaken by Centric Lab and PLP Architecture and examines the needs of the neurodiverse workforce. To this end, the report was divided into four core sections: defining neurodiversity, the link between place and health, identifying the principles of an enabling work environment, and design insights for a work-enabling environment. It brings in research from the worlds of neuroscience, lived experience and design to create a holistic and ecological approach to the creation of enabling work environments. The intention has been to look at how neurodiversity, employment and office spaces intersect to enact health and social justice. Combining the insights of neuroscience and the expertise of design, it sets out new standards and recommendations and is intended as an introduction for those who are building and designing offices. In ep. 6 of Talking Shop, BCO NextGen London's Oliver Hall sits down with one of the report authors, Araceli Camargo, lead scientist at Centric Lab and a cognitive neuroscientist focused on how people interact with urban environments. The full BCO research report is available to download from the BCO website: https://www.bco.org.uk/Research/Publications/Designing_for_Neurodiversity.aspx

In a 15-minute rapid-fire episode, Mike Burton (Director, AECOM) and BCO NextGen's Chris Radley (Associate, Fletcher Priest) chat about lessons learned from the pandemic, resilient buildings, tech and staying creative in the field of architecture.   Mike leads AECOM's London Building Engineering team and is responsible for major UK and international projects. Mike has over 22 years of experience in sustainable design and delivery.   Chris commenced with Fletcher Priest in 2011 and has worked on a range of workplace, leisure and hospitality projects at all design and construction stages. His portfolio includes projects of a variety of scales, both new-build and refurbishment leading from feasibility through to construction. Chris has also trained at the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology, and put these skills to use leading the design and coordination of the BCO Award-winning Brunel Building façade and external structure.    #bconextgen #talkingshop #bconotebook