West Midlands businesses pioneer new era of office interior design
Speaking at a seminar on emerging trends in office design, Jamie Blake, Regional Director of Work Interiors said: “Creating the right office environment to support your people is more difficult today than it has ever been. What we’re seeing increasingly from our clients is the recognition that effective workspace design and planning will drive greater business benefits such as innovation, productivity, sustainability and staff retention.”
The event was held at the Fort Dunlop building which has recently been reinvented by Urban Splash as an inspirational commercial space with a unique, design-led environment for offices, independent retail and a 100-bed hotel.
Director of Applied Research & Consulting at Steelcase Inc., John Hughes said: “There are a broad number of significant trends related to people, process and technology which are impacting greatly the office environment and design.
“Companies today have to deal with multiple generations at work, increased diversity in the workforce, rapidly rising importance of social networking, and the increasing complexity of business challenges in general.
“All these issues must be addressed against the backdrop of expensive UK real estate. Efficient use of real estate while maintaining or increasing the effectiveness of employees can be a very real challenge for any company.
“To address these challenges companies are pursuing differing strategies for their work environment. Various approaches include; alternative officing (desk sharing, mobile working or work at home programs), community based planning (a new design approach which effectively balances the needs of the individual employee with those of the work group), and using the work environment to leverage new human behaviors required by cultural change management efforts.”
The seminar was hosted by Work Interiors, one of the UK’s leading interior design and fit-out organisations. Steelcase Inc., is a $3.1 billion global work effectiveness company and the world leader in workplace related research.
Posted 21 August 2007
