The Voice of Authority:
Post-pandemic workspace and commercial development
30 April 2020 Post webinar report
Post Webinar Report Post-pandemic workspace and commercial development 30 April 2020
Chair: Toby Fox Managing director, 3Fox Panelists Deirdra Armsby
James Finnis
Director of place shaping &
Head of south east office
town planning, Westminster City Council Stephen Platts Director of regeneration, Southwark Council
OVERVIEW The fifth instalment in the webinar series saw the panel discuss the future of co-working, hot desking and open plan office spaces, and whether a permanent move to working from home (WFH) could happen, before moving on to a debate about the effects of Covid-19 on commercial development and regeneration.
The discussion ranged widely and this report contains a sample and summary. Watch the webinar in full at thevoiceofauthority.co.uk, and subscribe to stay updated on future episodes.
Post Webinar Report DISCUSSION SUMMARY Opening the discussion chair Toby Fox pointed out recent research by the Centre for Cities, describing three factors influencing the growth of working from home (WFH). Firstly, not all jobs can be done from home. In the City of London, for example, around 40% of jobs were potentially work-from-home occupations. Secondly, while the technology we have is advanced, doing business from behind a screen is not as effective as engaging face-to-face. That’s why 25% of people who could work from home actually work in city centres, which account for just 0.1% of land. And lastly, although about 80% of workers in central London get to work via public transport, which does not lend itself well to social distancing, there has been an upsurge in cycling, e-scooters and walking: overall, don’t expect massive change in WFH patterns, the Centre for Cities said.
Picking up first on those points was James Finnis. He fully expects the government to implement rules about social distancing in the workplace that will have to be abided by. At JLL they are already looking ahead to
I think that part of the change that will come out of this is an increased adaptability and flexibility of the employer about what work looks like.
James Finnis
their return to the office, and they expect to take. Already they are having conversations about “one-way traffic, echoing what they are doing in the supermarkets” and a reduced density, at least in the short term. The increased use of technology to facilitate remote working would also seem on the surface to offer a lot of solutions, but it also brings with it issues that have to be contended with. “How do you drive innovation when people are disparate?”, Finnis asked. “How is that facilitated? Is it Zoom? Does that really give your team and your employees the ability to leverage that accidental connection that we’ve all been striving towards in our workplace design?” The other conversation that JLL are having with their occupier clients is about huband-spoke. “Can you have an operation in central London, supported by a regional portfolio?” The feedback seems to be that going forward, occupiers don’t want to just have a single hub,
Post Webinar Report and that going forward they will want to have “robustness” in their portfolios. We value our office space for lots of other reasons… Employment is good for people’s physical, mental, social, and intellectual health.
Deirdra Armsby
Local authorities in London are of course also large-scale employers, and so safeguarding the working environments they provide for their own employees are challenges that they too must grapple
with. Picking up where Finnis left off, Armsby applauded concessions that have been made to tenants, and the helpful measures that have been put in place to help occupiers keep going. Looking to the future, Armsby thinks that we will probably end up in a middle ground between the old world and current working arrangements. “It’s not to say that the physical interaction is not necessary…but a lot of the stuff we’ve learned about our technical culture over the last four weeks has been really beneficial.” With regard to the knowledge exchange aspect, earlier referred to by Finnis in the context of innovation, Armsby also raised the very valid point that younger members of the workforce were missing out on the opportunity to learn from their more senior peers, as well as the “social capital of mixing with people of their own age group” – something that can’t always be done very well from one’s own home.
Stephen Platts concurred on the importance of social interaction. “A lot of my team are missing the social interaction of an office space. We are social creatures at the end of the day. That physical contact is good for our mental health, and it’s good for our productivity and creativity.” While Platts expects to see more people working from home, he does see many returning to offices as well. “Our homes were not designed as offices; so it’s not great if you are bent over a kitchen table seven hours a day.”
Southwark currently has about 12 million sq ft of office space in its development pipeline, and yet given all talk of working from home and new normals, few developers in the borough expect the crisis to have an impact on their programs. Likewise, Westminster expects to see demand
Post Webinar Report being retained. Armsby raised the point that in encouraging workers to come back to offices, the “going to work experience” needs to be “rounded” and “positive”. “What we’ve been trying to create around commercial areas is that they’re not soulless and characterless, and in central London we have great natural assets to make sure that isn’t the case.” If people are to get back to offices the issue of transport will also have to be addressed, as public transport in its current form in London is not equipped to support social distancing.
However, even prior to Covid-19 there was a growing desire from workers for shorter commutes and greater proximity to their places of work. “Do people want to get on a train or a piece of public transport?”, Finnis asked, “Or will they look for more flexibility to walk or cycle? I think that’s going to be part of the new occupational narrative.” Speaking further to this idea, and while emphasising the flexibility of Southwark’s local plan, Platts added “one of the greatest emphasises we have within Southwark… is mixed used neighbourhoods. We’ve always been an advocate of mixing commercial and residential across the borough, particularly Bankside and London Bridge, but also we’re rolling out our new areas of regeneration and development at Canada Water; the British Land scheme at Canada Water is approximately 50% residential, 50% commercial.”
Speaking further on the market, Finnis described how major projects are continuing, while there has been a slowdown in requirements from SMEs. The biggest reduction has been in the sub 20,000 sq ft
For thirty years, we’ve been trying to cram as many people in as we possibly can… I think that will be reversed, and I think we will occupy our floor space differently.
Stephen Platts
market, and naturally then as part of that requirements for serviced offices and co-working spaces have shrunk. However, Finnis is confident about the resilience of that sector. There was some discussion of permitted development; perhaps naturally Platts and Armsby voiced opposition towards how it has been used in the past, although Finnis argued that from the perspective of sustainability and recycling unused space that permitted development has
Post Webinar Report positives to offer. “Covid is a global crisis, and sustainability is a global crisis.” Platts agreed with the desire to upcycle older buildings, but encouraged developers to continue to go through the traditional planning process, rather than the permitted development route. “This I think will ensure that the quality standards can be maintained in those buildings…”
As such, there were two key takeaways from the discussion. When we think about workspaces, and how we are going to bring workforces back into them, we will have to think about a number of factors, including design, the going to work experience, and the greater environments surrounding them. If one was to choose a buzzword from the morning it was definitely “flexibility” and this word occurred in a range of contexts; from working patterns to building use. The sense given is that flexibility on the parts of occupiers, agents, and planners will be crucial in the recovery period while we settle into whatever our new normal will be.
CHAT HIGHLIGHTS "I see work as an activity not a destination so flexibility is key." Daniella Barrow, senior director, NPS Group
"PD: It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it" Azhar Azhar, director, Azhar Architecture
"I think the lines may blur between office, residential and community spaces as traditionally thought of. A re-imagining of sorts of private, public and hybrid spaces..." Shailesh Viswanathan, chief investment officer, IPAL Fund Managers
Post Webinar Report QUESTION HIGHLIGHTS Do you think we will see an explosion of office to residential conversions? Councillor Jan Goodeve, executive member for planning and growth, East Herts Council
Do we need better standards for new homes to ensure that they are fit for purpose if people do need to work from home? Toni Riddiford, associate architect, Stride Treglown
How much does the future change of work patterns depend on us being honest about what we want? People are really appreciating the change of pace and its positive impact on personal wellbeing? How can we capture that to influence future planning? Sally Staples, cultural strategy manager, East Sussex County Council
POLLS AND INSIGHT A number of polls were carried out over the course of the webinar surveying the audience of industry professionals. Having tested the ability of your employees to work from home during this crisis period - what proportion of your employees could continue WFH post-Covid? None 1%
All 20%
Less than half 25%
Besides the maintenance of social distancing, which measure do you think will be most important on the ‘re-entry checklist’ during the post-Covid recovery phase? Increased use of data monitoring workplace habits 8% Encouraging remote working 22%
More than half 54%
Other 2% Staggered working hours and split working patterns 37%
Reduced workplace density 31%
Post Webinar Report POLLS AND INSIGHT (CONT.) Has your organisation discussed plans for a lower occupational density strategy in a post Covid-19 world?
Do you expect demand for co-working / hot-desking operations to fall?
Unsure 16%
No, but we will in future 34% Yes 40%
No 26%
Has your organisation considered a programme of regionalisation to make your portfolio more robust?
Yes 12% Not applicable 45%
No 21%
Unsure 22%
Yes 45% No 39%
Our next session is entitled ‘Digital consultation in practice’ and will take place on 7 May, 11:00 – 12:00 Hear from our speakers on how digital consultation methods are being deployed to support transport, housing and regeneration projects. How did they ensure inclusivity? What were the drawbacks and challenges, and how were they overcome? Were there any unexpected benefits? Will engaging digitally be the norm, long-term? And what learning can digital platform Commonplace provide from its experience in the UK and overseas. Speakers: Mark Bland Programme manager, Mini Holland, London Borough of Waltham Forest Florence Obinna Consultation and engagement manager London Borough of Hackney Mike Saunders CEO, Commonplace
REGISTER HERE In partnership with: For more information, or to be involved in future episodes, contact: finn@3foxinternational.com