15 min city.qxp_Layout 7 23/09/2020 10:22 Page 1
THE WORKPLACE
Richard looks forward to the day that the table tennis corner can come out of retirement but until then it’s all about adapting
The times, they are a-changing
There’s a lot of talk about the 15-minute city, post-Covid, and where the office now sits in the new world order. Placemaker Richard Pearce, CEO of TCN UK – regenerating unloved buildings since 2006 – talks city centres, regional hubs and how the pandemic has accelerated the uptake of positive workplace and wellbeing trends
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ground floor office suite in Bristol, owned by Robert Hitchins Ltd, was brought to market by Colliers recently – emphasising attractive pluses such as cycle storage and showers, because these are the increasingly important must-haves of the post-Covid era. Commuters – some reluctant to use public transport – now need a range of options and alternatives offered to them and the 1,528 sq ft suite at the PS21 building at 21 Prince Street, next to Queen Square, would come, we were told, with two basement parking spaces as well as providing amenities for those biking it in. It got us thinking about offices and their place in society, and chatting to TCN’s Richard Pearce – CEO, chartered surveyor and creative-minded placemaker – who has been ahead of the curve, but pondering the same thing.
Profound potential implications
“In March, we wondered: where the hell is this going to go? Are people ever going to go back into an office?” Richard admits, about the potential implications of the pandemic. “In the early days it felt properly profound. Then – as ever – human nature prevailed and we realised that everyone wants to come together and, yes, Zoom and Teams are brilliant for certain aspects of life but for other bits it doesn’t come close. So now we are seeing people adjust what they’re doing. We’re starting to find our feet.” 38 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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OCTOBER 2020
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No 193
Richard’s team have been busy helping businesses they host to adapt as they work out how they’re going to get back into the office. “We’ve created the distance; our community/collaborative areas are a dull version of their former self at the moment, with table tennis tables parked up and no beers after work, but they’re still being used for socially distanced meetings. People bring their own cups and oneway systems are key. Everyone’s very respectful of each other and helping each other out – I think that’s been quite heartening across the board. We’re missing the good old office booze-up on Thursday night but the fun stuff will come back. We just have to endure this period to get back to those sunny uplands.”
The joy of old buildings with character and soul is they’ve normally got a lot of ways in and out, windows that open and close and good old-fashioned things like that which suddenly are really important
