Future Trends

Augustine Hill, Galway – the renaissance of the high street

The hyperlocal high street. Will it take off?

A hybrid model combining office-based and remote working is expected to last well beyond the pandemic, so hyperlocal high streets should experience something of a renaissance. With so many people working from home, coupled with a huge movement to support independent businesses, neighbourhood shops, restaurants and cafes have really come into their own, and this trend looks set to grow. Expect pop-up hubs providing office equipment such as printers and photocopiers to serve home workers, a rise in the popularity of co-working and the launch of small satellite offices in outlying areas.

Mixed-use city centres… but how about multigenerational too?

For city centres the story is a very different one. We all know the major impact this year has had on the retail sector. The shift to mixed-use city centres was already taking place with a much greater emphasis on housing and, as the number of empty retail units increases, the events of this past year will catapult this trend forward. What is interesting is the change in demographic with homes built, not just with young professionals in mind, but older people too, encouraging diversity and different terms of engagement, with multifaceted benefits for mental health and wellbeing.

Wellbeing – the buzzword of 2020. Will 2021 be the year it becomes truly measurable?

There is no doubt that this year has given us cause to reevaluate our priorities and the same applies to the workplace. We expect to see significant shifts in the expectations of the workforce; they will vote with their feet and go elsewhere if employers do not deliver high quality, flexible working environments. This applies to all sectors – traditional workplaces, together with others such as healthcare and education. We predict wellbeing will become more readily and easily measurable in 2021. The requirements identified in The Well Certification – think BREEAM for wellness – will increasingly influence design.

“First Life, then Spaces, then Buildings”

As Danish urban designer Jan Gehl neatly summarised, design starts with people and how they live. The spaces and places they inhabit comes next, and only after this are the buildings considered. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that social interaction is a basic human need. New communities of homes with an appealing public realm, proximity to green spaces and convivial multi-purpose community hubs are essential for successful urban living, and there is always room for improvement. The pandemic has highlighted the fragility of our healthcare system and the critical need to focus on keeping the population fit by encouraging people to take responsibility for their own health. Emerging community diagnostic hubs can help keep people away from hospitals; healthcare of the future starts at home and this must be fundamental to every design approach.

Workplace in a new avatar

There has been a fundamental shift in the way we work this year. Global businesses like ours have harnessed their connectivity to enable collaboration across studios traversing various time zones. Companies may consider satellite Our approach town ‘spokes’ to enable small teams to work together as a cost-effective alternative to maintaining a city centre HQ, thus reducing travel and carbon footprint. Offices will still be needed, but in a new avatar. Rows of desks will make space for flexible, collaborative team zones. The importance of wellness, coupled with a hybrid way of working, will impact positively on employees and the environment. Constraints can offer new opportunities.

The Emotional Workplace 1

The emotional aspects of work, culture, wellbeing, social capital and trust

The Physical Workplace 2

The future of physical offices, evolving roles and purpose and what form they will take

The Technological Workplace 3

How technology will foster new business models, ways to work and employee and customer experiences

The Purposeful Workplace 4

Evolving leadership ideas, organisational models, values and employee engagement

Original Bata Shoe Factory (1941)

Will 2021 be the year low carbon reaches the top of the agenda?

We are reaching the tipping point in tackling climate change this year. The provenance and footprint of a building or infrastructure matters more than ever before. The net zero agenda is at the forefront of everything we so. Why build new when you can retrofit or refurbish? The concept of the circular economy is rightly taking greater precedence.

Wardle Academy – a new school built within a disused gym