Mix Interiors 213
June 2021
ST YLISH. ELEGANT. ICONIC.
DESIGNERS & MANUFACTURERS OF WORKSPACE FURNITURE WWW.GOF.CO.UK
42 Contents INSIGHT 6 UPFRONT The latest news from the world of commercial interior design. 14 SEVEN WAYS TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY IN THE WORKPLACE 16
STEVE GALE Our man from MMoser is keeping his cool, while others are getting hot under the collar.
18 MATERIAL MATTERS Dexter Moren Associates’ Tom Thorogood presents a selection of his go-to material products. 20
50
DESERT ISLAND DESKS Prabha Jackson, Design Director, IA Interior Architects.
22 NEIL USHER Paradoxically Speaking: Experience.
MIXOLOGY21 24 MIXOLOGY21 PRODUCT FINALISTS We announce the eagerly anticipated Mixology Awards products of the year finalists.
PROPERTY 30
BIRMINGHAM WORKSPACE The Birmingham office market is lifting itself up off the canvas as big relocations improve the mood – but there are still questions to answer, says David Thame.
36 ROUNDTABLE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WILMOTT DIXON INTERIORS
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Birmingham: Making great spaces and great places.
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18 WORK 42 CASE STUDY: NINETY ONE HLW International creates an impressive, activity-based destination for its newly transformed and rebranded client. 50 ROUNDTABLE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LIQUIDLINE
The Greatest Comeback: How can we create compelling destinations for employees to return to?
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CASE STUDY: CADENCE The leading software company’s new home in Edinburgh offers a smart balance between focused work and collaboration.
HOSPITALITY 62
CASE STUDY: EATALY Take a tour of London’s latest arrival, Eataly: a celebration of slow food and fine wine in the heart of Bishopsgate.
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THE FINAL WORD Mike Walley, Senior Director of Global Real Estate & Workplace Strategy at Criteo.
Mix 213 June 2021 | 1
WELCOME
A word from Mick
Get in touch
Before I begin in earnest, please don’t worry, this commentary isn’t all about football – I’m just using it as an analogy. I recently read a review for a match where the losing manager stated how he’d looked at the stats and couldn’t decipher how his team hadn’t won, such was their dominance in certain areas of the game. What he completely failed to grasp is the absolute core, the real essence of the sport; the human factor. Similarly, I’m somewhat bemused when I read articles that claim how ‘90% of London’s workers want to return to the office’ or ‘85% want flexible working’. The real fact here is that people are people; they change their minds or circumstances change or the unforeseen happens. How can someone who has not even travelled to a city for 18 months be so adamant and certain about how they want to work, moving forward. Plenty of us have returned, to some degree, to cities and towns – and plenty have been left a little bemused by the ‘ghost town’ they encounter, with pubs, restaurants, bars, coffee shops all shut (some for good). This isn’t the social idyll they envisaged while trying to work off their ironing board. The trains and tubes and trams are getting busier, and so the commute becomes more fraught – and extremely tiresome very quickly. I could go on. Just remember, even the very best, highest paid superstars can miss from a yard. Just because the stats tell you that a certain way of working is for you, your gut might well tell you something completely different.
EDITOR Mick Jordan mick@mixinteriors.com MANAGING DIRECTOR Marcie Incarico marcie@mixinteriors.com BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Kate Borastero kate@mixinteriors.com EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE Chloe Petersen Snell chloe@mixinteriors.com
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UPFRONT
Now that’s what we call sustainable When Perkins&Will launched its Net-Zero Now pledge, which ensures the internal fit-out of offices and commercial buildings will be net-zero embodied carbon, last year, the firm committed to reporting on its progress every six months.
Perkins&Will Fintech client
O
ne major outcome since the launch of that initial report launched is the new Now Database – a searchable directory of products that enables its designers to specify products that support the Net-Zero interiors pledge. The Now Database has been developed collaboratively with suppliers to capture products from suppliers of all sizes, large or small, and to ensure Perkins&Will measure contributions in a fair and equitable way. Products and materials are scored by Perkins&Will’s in-house sustainability team across various metrics that include sustainability, recyclability, circular principles, and areas of focus such as workers rights and the diversity of the supplier’s organisations. Going forward, designers and architects at Perkins&Will’s London and Dublin studios will use this database to prioritise a supply chain that reflects its goal for a sustainable future. As with Perkins&Will’s Transparency platform, a publicly accessible site that specifies healthy materials, the Now Database
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aims to sit alongside Transparency as the goto site for sustainable and circular designed products and materials. Additionally, the firm has a long-term vision to make the Now Database accessible to all and ensure the entire industry works together to tackle the climate challenges ahead. Perkins&Will’s internal Net-Zero Champions team regularly connects with the market to understand new solutions, challenge ways of thinking, and explore opportunities to work together. The Net-Zero Champions group comes together for fortnightly internal sessions to continuously share knowledge, reporting back on elements of investigation and how, where and what the wider studio can learn going forward. This directly ensures the target set out in the manifesto of at least one section of a project, whether its location, package or finish, is net-zero by Design Stage 2. Led by Adam Strudwick, Principal of the interiors team, the studio launched a forward-thinking consultation process in Q4 2020 with key clients, including JLL,
Citi, and Unilever, major contractors, such as Mace, ISG, and Overbury as well as supplier partners, sub-contractors, and furniture manufacturers Knoll, Senator, and Organgebox, amongst others. The consultation helped Perkins&Will better understand the challenges and opportunities for holistically delivering net-zero embodied carbon interiors and ensure that its supply chain meets netzero requirements. ‘We want to maintain transparency about all the work we do, whether it applies to targets that are on track or pledges we’ve made that need a bit more work to achieve, Adam says. ‘We are already a quarter through 2021, and there is still a long way to go for us to be confident that we will meet the target that half of our projects will be designed to be 100% circular by the end of this year. We estimate we are 10% to the target. We are also working harder on what we mean and can achieve through embedded circular design in interiors.’w
Design and Guild
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total of 27 outstanding submissions from three categories have been awarded the coveted Design Guild Mark in 2021. The Design Guild Mark is awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, to drive excellence and raise the profile of British design and innovation. It recognises the highest standards in the design of furnishings in volume production across three categories – Furniture, 2D Design and, new for the 2020/2021 intake, Lighting Design. The Design Guild Mark is open to designers working in Britain or British designers working abroad. The winning designers – including several newcomers as well as previous holders – were recently celebrated at a special awards ceremony via Instagram live. The awarded designs – representing the domestic and contract markets – will benefit from increased industry and consumer awareness, press and social media coverage, with the designers and companies behind them also receiving enhanced brand recognition. This year’s awarded companies included Morgan Contract Furniture, SCP, Knoll International, Ercol, Isomi, Herman Miller, Allermuir, William Hands and Camira. Furthermore, two designs from the Furniture and 2D Design categories have been awarded the 2021 Jonathan Hindle Prize for outstanding design: the T01 Cross Chair, designed by Luke Pearson and Tom Lloyd for TAKT, and the Identity and Strata Collection, designed by David Irwin and Rachel Evison for Bute Fabrics.w
Rediscover Viewlite, your favourite monitor arm Besides silver and black, our successful Viewlite collection, is now also available in a lovely satin white colour scheme. Give every workspace an ergonomic makeover with the stylish new white Viewlite collection.
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UPFRONT
New Order
left to right Bryony Hancock - Cumulus Sofa Nina Naversnik - Lucy Peter Kovacs - Willow Chair
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e have once again collaborated with The Furniture Makers’ Company to shortlist three young and dynamic furniture makers for the Mixology Awards’ Young Designer of the Year 2021, sponsored by KI. The public vote for the Mixology21 Young
tables and power adaptations. ‘Inspired by my experience as a freelance journalist working in unfamiliar offices, I wanted to bring a playful softness to work spaces,’ Bryony says. ‘Cumulus’ floating shapes are derived from pebbles, clouds and hills, inviting a relaxed work environment.’
me further. The more time that I spent with this character, the more I learned about her.’ The Willow Chair comes from Kingston University’s Peter Kovacs. ‘The Willow Chair was born in the hope that it will raise awareness of England’s endangered heritage crafts by
Designer of the Year is now open, with the winner announced at the Mixology21 Awards, 16 September 2021 at Evolution London. Have your say at mixinteriors.com - voting closes 2 July 2021. This year’s impressive shortlist comprises the work of three standout young designers. The Cumulus Sofa Range from Nottingham Trent University’s Bryony Hancock is a flexible collection for modern offices and coworking spaces, consisting of a variety of backrests,
Lucy is the brainchild of Birmingham City University’s Nina Naversnik. ‘Lucy came to be because I wasn’t sure who I was,’ Nina recalls. ‘The aim of the project was to discover who I was as an emerging designer, and what my philosophy and design language are. The idea of exploring metal inspired me, so I followed my joy and came across an intriguing shape, which reminded me of a bright and curious human being. I named it Lucy and let her guide
providing an alternative way of preserving the processes and material knowledge, without being restricted to the confines of a heritage site,’ Peter says. ‘I participated in a Trug making course in Sussex and learned about this craft which dates back to the 1600s. I set out to create this chair, adopting these techniques and materials to the modern manufacturing practices, meanwhile creating a clear link to the craft and its end product – the Sussex Trug.’w
Camden Rocks
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s the lines between distinct work functions in a space become more and more blurred, Connection’s Resimercial collective is designed to blend areas together to create a harmonious environment that facilitates high performance and the wellbeing of employees. The most recent addition to the company’s Resimercial Collective is the Camden lounge chair. Camden features a handcrafted solid oak frame, alongside a plethora of fabric options, to create a generous, relaxing seat that envelopes the user. High quality padding, combined with the luxury fabrics, compounds the feeling of relaxation, which has become synonymous with Resimercial design. When
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discussing the inspiration behind the design of Camden, Richard Jones, lead designer of his selftitled practice, said: ‘Camden is a beautifully balanced and proportioned lounge chair that encapsulates the charm of midcentury British design. This sense of nostalgia, coupled with the soft tactile shapes of the timber detailing, help to create a calming, engaging environment’. The Resimercial Collective is described as the perfect hybrid design to respond to evolving commercial interiors; a cross pollination of materials and aesthetics, with the comfort of home styling and the durability and functional demands of a working environment.w
Camden lounge chair
UPFRONT
SE1 ONE Hundred This year, tp bennett celebrates 100 years of practice. Here, Leanne Wookey and Tajal Rutherford-Bhatt, directors at tp bennett, tell us about the firm’s heritage, history, developments and how the next 100 years is likely to commence.
A
rguably, the biggest change we’ve seen in the past 100 years is the division of architecture and interiors into distinctive specialisms. Historically, the design of interior space was balanced across architectural teams, with schools like Bauhaus combining passion for architecture with furniture and product design, allowing practitioners to turn their hands to multiple skills. Frank Lloyd Wright famously delved into interior and product design because of his desire to blur boundaries and encompass every single detail of a project into one cross-pollinated style. Arne Jacobsen, similarly, is known for his work at St Catherine’s College Oxford (1962), in which the building’s modernist architecture resonates throughout every element of the project, from the interior and furniture to the cutlery used in the dining hall. Sometime in the 1980s, however, the approach to interior design changed – partly as a result of changes in fashion and style – and the
Open Society Foundations, London
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two disciplines started to be perceived as distinct disciplines. tp bennett established a dedicated interiors division in 1998, with the aim of honing specific skills. This evolved quite organically and collaboratively alongside the architecture practice but allowed us to keep a fresh outlook on the specific requirements of good interior design. Now, our practice has a 50/50 offering of architecture and interiors work. From an association with cushions and curtains, interior design has evolved into a discipline that requires knowledge of wellbeing, inclusivity, neurodiversity and the human experience of space. The current challenges have opened up the vision and creativity of clients who are becoming more interested in having control over their interior environments and how they impact the people using them. Google, with its renowned focus on play, and WeWork, which understands the human collaboration elements of work and need for good coffee, have really challenged the
perception of interior office design. 100 years ago, a workplace was just that and every part of it was focused on quantifiable productivity. Now, we are working on projects with organisations like Open Society Foundations, which include spaces of reflection and rest, which are authentic to the brand and also to the wellbeing needs of the employee. Change is often a psychological hurdle but there is a lot that is very positive about the way things are evolving and changing to benefit environment and society. Often, the occupier of a building is unknown when it is designed, but many clients are looking beyond the typical locations to attract new colleagues. Moving forward, a greater focus on sustainability and wellness will see buildings and interiors designed with future flexibility engrained from the outset.w
IOC Project Partners
Space and Time
W
orkspace Design Show is the exciting event that brings together the commercial interiors community, with the inaugural event due to take place over the 4-5 November 2021 at London’s Business Design Centre. Workspace Design Show will feature key speakers from the world of commercial interiors, with the advisory board including Collin Burry, Design Principal at Gensler, Kate Vine, Principal at Perkins&Will and Neil Usher, Chief Workplace & Change Strategist at GoSpace AI and, of course, Mix columnist. The list of speakers at the event is made up of many established brands, including speakers from BDG architecture + design, tp bennett, Unispace, Arup, PwC, Aviva, Areen Design, KKS Savills, MF Design Studio, The Office Group, Rainlight Studio, to name a few. Workspace Design Show will welcome the best brands from the industry including Buzzispace, Camira Fabrics, Andreu World, TC Office, Interface, Actiu, 2tec2 Flooring, Mute Design, Kettal and many more. The event has been well received in the commercial interiors industry, with Richard Benson, Creative Managing Director at Allen International (part of Accenture Interactive) saying: ‘I look forward to seeing the latest innovations and thought leadership around the future of workspace experience. To learn how the brightest design talent, manufactures and strategists are shaping and equipping the workspace of tomorrow for success today.’ Erik Behrens, Creative Director of AECOM also said: ‘We are just about to realise how unliveable most of today’s offices really were. Hopefully, we will see lots of experimental work. It is time to imagine the next generation of workspaces!’ w For further information visit www.workspaceshow.co.uk or email hello@@workspaceshow.co.uk
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UPFRONT Seven
7
ways to improve air quality in the workplace
The quality of the air we breathe has never mattered more to us – and has become an especially hot topic as people return to the workplace. From March 2020 to January 2021, Tarkett partnered with workplace consultant, WKspace, to gather information for two surveys exploring the future of the workplace, each featuring 2,800 office workers. A top concern across all respondents was, unsurprisingly, indoor air quality. Here, the team at Tarkett consider just how we can improve air quality in the workplace.
Tarkett iD Inspiration
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Vacuuming and dusting the workplace The pandemic has certainly opened our eyes to the importance of sterilising everything in sight after we’ve started to realise just how far germs can travel through the air and last on material. With Harvard University researchers finding that even small increases in long-term exposure to air pollution, particulate matter (PM) or fine dust, can heighten the risk of COVID-19 fatalities, workplace cleanliness, including removing dust, is more important than ever before.
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Bringing the outdoors inside with biophilia Plants not only add a nice aesthetic to the workplace, acting as the perfect piece of décor to bring nature indoors, they also contribute to improving air quality. However, it is important to remember that individual potted plants alone are unable to remove enough pollutants to improve air quality. Instead, there is a surge of popularity towards green walls as these increase airflow, which drags pollutants through the soil, thus creating cleaner air.
UPFRONT Seven
5
Adding air purification systems With the government’s indoor air quality proposal for new offices and commercial spaces, offices would need to use systems that provide 50% higher rates of fresh air than the existing minimum standards. With this in mind, investing in an air purification system is an easy way to get cleaner air. Although these may come with hefty price tags, taking these important steps to creating healthy spaces for employees is a must.
DESSO Orchard
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Dust capturing carpet solutions People may not be aware that some flooring products can contribute to sustaining cleaner air. For example, Tarkett’s DESSO AirMaster has been proven to be four times more effective at capturing and retaining fine dust than standard carpet solutions. This result is achieved through its DESSO AirFilters and DESSO DustCollectors technology, with dust then being easily removed from the carpet by a vacuum.
Access to the great outdoors Indoor air is recorded as being two to five times more polluted than outdoor air – a very worrying statistic as, on average, people spend 90% of their time indoors. Having windows that open to fresh air is a simple way to improve indoor air quality. Sadly, for those in basement workspaces, or those in polluted city centres, this is not always a feasible solution.
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Easy to clean smooth flooring Following on from the need to keep offices free of dust and germs, fitting the workspace out with furniture and flooring that is easy to maintain and clean makes this process a whole lot easier. An example of this is Tarkett’s newly introduced vinyl flooring collection, iD Inspiration, which can be easily cleaned, and also achieves enhanced environmental and clean air standards by delivering ultra-low VOC emissions for optimal indoor air quality.
Controlling the humidity We know that insects and mould thrive on moisture, so keeping humidity down helps to keep them, as well as other pesky allergens, under control. A dehumidifier, which doubles as an air conditioner to stop you from overheating in the summer months, helps to reduce moisture in the air as well as lessening the risk of germs from mould and allergens.w
DESSO AirMaster Atmos Mix 211 April 2021 | 15
UPFRONT Steve Gale
Bloomberg HQ, London. image credit: nigel young
Stay cool, naturally Nobody likes air conditioning, so is there an alternative? Steve Gale is hot on the trail.
Steve Gale is Head of Workplace Strategy at M Moser Associates. SteveG@mmoser.com 16 | Mix 213 June 2021
I
t’s June, and the daytime temperature across the UK occasionally breaks the 20 degree barrier. While many of us are still working at home, how do we stay functional in the blistering heat of the British summer? With air conditioning? Extremely unlikely in your home, as it’s not really needed. At home we open a couple of windows to enjoy the breeze, and change into summer clothes – but can you open windows in your office? Usually not. With very few exceptions, new office space has sealed windows with mechanical ventilation and cooling. As new offices come on stream, the percentage of air conditioned space will soon surpass 70% in the UK, with older buildings shrinking to 30%, while only about 0.5% of domestic buildings have any cooling whatsoever. So why do we need to cool offices when the ambient summer temperature is so modest? Commercial office design has been slow to react to environmental pressures. Just walk around the City of London or Canary Wharf to see how curtain wall glazing remains the snazzy way to clad a tall building. This means that both occupants and designers use every trick they can think of to reduce the glare and solar heating caused by the baseline inefficiency: internal blinds, external solar shading, vacating the sunny side of the building and, of course, expensive cooled air from the HVAC system. Max Fordham, the legendary engineer, has consistently pressed for a better way during his long career, and I often think back to a lesson he delivered 20 years ago on the benefits of natural ventilation, and what a waste of energy air conditioning is in this
temperate climate, where we already expend more than 10% of our energy on cooling. His point then was, and presumably still is, that we can deal with the moderate warmth of a British summer by simple changes in behaviour and building design, and forgo the expense and complexity of air conditioning. We can design buildings to restrict solar gain, use thermal mass to limit heating cycles, and allow air to circulate through vents, windows and convection stacks (which is, accidentally, the format of many traditional brick houses). However, it is rarely done in big cities, partly because of the noise and particulate pollution from the streets. There are examples that use some of these techniques, such as Portcullis House in Westminster for MP accommodation and Bloomberg’s European HQ in the City of London, but they are as famous for their extremely high cost as much as their green credentials. As vehicles become electric, city air will be cleaner and quieter, and the demand for natural ventilation is sure to blossom, and not just to reduce carbon emissions. The COVID virus, like many other pathogens, is recognised now as a predominantly airborne threat, which becomes rapidly diluted in the open air and degraded by sunlight. Outside air is COVID safe, while conditioned air needs to be carefully managed, and people are suspicious about its quality. Occupants are already demanding the safe option, and developers will need to look carefully at carbon reduction with some very basic physics.w
TRIM
TRIM Designed by Alegre Design
www.actiu.com
UPFRONT Material Matters
MATERIAL MATTERS For this month’s Material Matters, Tom Thorogood, Associate at Dexter Moren Associates, presents a selection of his go-to material products.
Durat surfacematter.co.uk We recently specified Durat for the vanity unit in a new central London hotel. It’s an eco-friendly solid surface material made from recycled plastics, which can be joined together seamlessly to create your design. As well as the application variety it provides, the background, colour and size of the chips can be bespoke, which allows for many different options.
Rattan, Soane soane.co.uk We love using rattan and cane – whether it be for furniture, joinery or even wall panelling. It’s such a flexible material and can be stained or painted. Not only does it always look great, it’s also sustainable. I love to use Soane whenever I can as their products are beautiful and the craftmanship is first class. I was lucky enough to receive a tour of their rattan workshop in Leicester a couple of years ago.
Earthborn Paints Earthbornpaints.co.uk Earthborn are an exciting company we’ve just discovered. They have created environmentally friendly, clay-based, breathable paints with a great colour selection, which give an ultra-matt finish to your walls and ceilings. As these paints are breathable, it also means there are no nasty smells or emissions. These will definitely be a beautiful addition to any project.
Cactus Leather, Desserto desserto.com.mx We came across Desserto recently. They have managed to produce a highly sustainable plant-based vegan leather made from Nopal cactus (prickly pear) which can be used in many different applications as well as being produced in a variety of colours – including bespoke ones. There are so many alternative leathers appearing on the market now, such as pineapple leather, and we can’t wait to specify them all!
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UPFRONT Desert Island Desks
Stainless steel spice box
Desert Island Desks Prabha Jackson Design Director IA
This is a staple in most Indian households. The individual vessels house the basic spices which form the foundation of all dishes. Growing up, the kitchen was the heart of our household. I spent a lot of time with my Mum, aunties and grannies in the kitchen – watching them cook, listening to their banter and laughter. The aroma from these boxes evokes warm, nostalgic memories.
P
rabha has worked in the design industry for over 20 years. Her primary focus is on workplace design, with her client base varying from financial to tech giants. Nurture, growth and learning are Prabha’s superpowers; they’re core work values, something she aims to promote in the everyday. She most enjoys encouraging designers to bring their best ideas to the table, and loves working with teams to deliver innovative, exciting and sustainable schemes. Prabha is passionately curious about people and how they engage with others in their environment. This is especially relevant now, in the post-pandemic return to work. Outside of work, Prabha’s favourite role and greatest achievement is being Mum to two kids. Here’s what she would take with her if stranded on our desert island… 20 | Mix 213 June 2021
A lookout pictured: Coastal Cabins by Croxatto and Opazo Architects Chile There’s something so captivating about the sea. It’s in constant flux from dusk to dawn. I like to sit and watch the waves, whether on a tranquil summer afternoon or a stormy day with dramatic crashing waves. A lookout like this provides the perfect ‘room with a view’ (equipped with a wood burning stove, mini bar and ingredients for a Martini, of course!).
Braun SK61 record player by Dieter Rams Whether I’m relaxing, working, cooking, exercising or socialising, music is a must! So, I’ve chosen to go retro with this Dieter Rams classic. I saw this at the Design Museum many years ago and then again in a documentary. In the documentary, a very serious Dieter Rams lifted the lid, put on a record and started bopping away to jazz...I saw an unexpected light side to him and it tickled me.
UPFRONT Desert Island Desks
Aston Martin 1965
Niwaki
As a massive Bond fan, I had to sneak in this wild card. It speaks for itself. Just look at it...truly a thing of beauty. As a birthday outing a few years ago, I went to a 007 car exhibition in Covent Garden so that I could see and touch it! It represents British design at its best. Nothing rivals its design. Well, perhaps the Millennium Falcon does, but let’s park that for now…
Gardening tools
Tea Master by Jasper Morrison Studio for Nikko Japan
When at home, nothing makes me happier than pottering around in the garden. My garden is my haven. Gardening is my way to connect with nature and I find it therapeutic. From the first buds and blossoms that appear in spring and the carpet of Jurassic ferns in summer, to the fiery autumnal tones of the Japanese maple, the garden is a seasonal gift that keeps on giving.
Nothing beats a cup of tea. I start and end the day with a cuppa, and I enjoy the ritual of making tea...it’s one of life’s simple pleasures. From a warm spiced chai to a refreshing peppermint – there is nothing more satisfying.
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Tracks for the juxebox Massive Attack – Live With Me Alt-J – Nara, Breeze Blocks, Estocada or Tessellate Grace Jones – Slave to the Rhythm The Future Sound of London – Papua New Guinea (12’’ Original) Alva Noto – Uniequav #05 Uni Normal Talvin Singh – Traveller: Kid Loco’s Once Upon a Time in the East mixw
Automotive
Aviation
Healthcare
Hospitality
Marine
Residential
Workspace
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OPINION
Paradoxically Speaking: Experience
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A modern update of the famous question – attributed to (but not proven to have been said by) everyone’s favourite household philosopher, Bishop George Berkeley, in the early 18th century – ‘If a tree falls in the forest but there’s no-one around to hear it, did it make a sound?’ runs ‘If I had a great experience but no-one at all saw my Instagram post because I accidentally deleted it and my phone fell in the lake before the photos could upload to my cloud storage, did I really have a good time and will anyone actually believe me?’ Neil Usher is getting experientially paradoxical this month.
Neil Usher is Chief Workplace & Change Strategist at GosSpace AI, and Author of The Elemental Workplace and Elemental Change 22 | Mix 213 June 2021
t’s all about experience today. Everywhere. That memory itself becomes the ‘product’ – the basis of what Joseph Pine and James Gilmore described as the ‘experience economy’ in an article in 1998. Marx obviously wasn’t around long enough to witness his theory of the historical inevitability of the fall of capitalism take a wrong turn and, instead of leading us to altruistic, communal bliss, volunteer itself for a freewheeling narcissistic frenzy. The memory has, through social channels – much to the disappointment of aspiring politicians attempting to erase past inhalations – proved itself fairly indestructible. As a Millennial gimmer in his mid(ish) 50s, I have about 20 photos of the first 30 years of my life. Many others that were required to find their way through the development service by post have gone the way of tea spillages, multiple house moves and failed relationships. The trouble is, my memory has faded a little, too. I kept all my gig ticket stubs during this period, lest I forget who I’d seen – and even some of those ended up going through the laundry. I look through them now and can’t recall half of them. I can’t tell you when the Cocteau Twins gig I finally got to go to was, as they tore the ticket in half on the way in and kept the stub with the date on. It was a great experience. I think. Yet, when it comes to the workplace, we now expect a great experience every time we attend. Even on a really mind-numbing day of meetings we don’t want to be at because we’re frantically trying to meet deadlines that were imposed by the very same psychopath who happened to have arranged the meetings. Great workplace experience today? Other than being thrown under the bus – twice – and having my project budget and timeline simultaneously cut, yes, it was massive. That’s because we can’t divorce the experience of the physical space from the human sphere it occupies. It’s the same with wellbeing. We don’t lie awake at night worrying about the imbalance of primary and secondary settings in our allocated neighbourhood. Instead we’re pacing the carpet at 3am, catastrophising what someone did or didn’t say or do. Or, more likely, what we anticipate
they’ll do or say, or won’t. Our paradox therefore becomes: my workplace experience was great other than for what happened. How we can expect to extract a positive, even memorable experience from somewhere we attend regularly – even if it is for the much-vaunted ‘two to three days a week’ – is a challenge not to be underestimated. And where are we going to store these memories? Our Insta account will be heading for junk status – ‘Here’s Kat fetching a new notebook from the stationery cupboard. It’s got a green cover. Her last one was blue.’ As will using precious brain space for anything barely resembling a typical day at the office. Unless of course it relates to people – our interactions – because, just as we’re prone to fixating on the trials, we celebrate and treasure the surprises, humour, coincidences, intimacy – the human stuff. There’s also something about experience that plays to uniqueness: the very essence of the gig, the one-off, the event you just had to be at. Not a picture or object, or tangible representation of any form. Pure frozen emotion. Which naturally exacerbates the potential for the joy of the day’s proceedings being inflated by those present to fuel the FoMo of those who didn’t slip out of their slippers. We need the unremarkable day-in-day-out routine, endlessly punching the amber smiley face button on the panel at the airport toilet. It allows the sporadic, magical moments to flourish, to inspire. What we’re here to do is to make the humanity of the workplace possible, to create the potential and opportunity for positive experience. By doing so, we’ll also, of course, create the possibility for the negative, and the stupefyingly mundane, too. But we shouldn’t overreach our claim. We’re not alchemists. Or, like Lord Percy in the ‘Money’ episode of Blackadder from 1986, we’ll make green. Strangely, I can recite the whole scene, 35 years later. Which reminds me, did I tell you? Kat’s new notebook has a green cover. w
Design: Warren and Mahoney MediaWorks, New Zealand Cube™ in custom colour
The greater indoors
Imagine what the world would be like if we applied the same passion for exploration and conservation to the built environment as we do the natural environment. If interior spaces encouraged the same openmouthed awe as mountains and valleys. What would you create if there were no limits?
Have you missed us? We’ve certainly missed bringing you all together for the ultimate industry celebration that is, of course, Mixology Awards.
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hough, once again, we haven’t been able to physically bring
our gaggle (we’re pretty sure that’s the correct collective noun) of judges together, that doesn’t mean we haven’t kept them virtually busy. We are delighted to bring you the products and manufacturer finalists who have made the grade for Mixology21. With fingers and toes firmly crossed, we look forward to seeing you all on 16 September at Evolution London - keep your eyes peeled for the project and designer finalists in next month’s issue! For more information visit mixinteriors.com
Task Furniture Product of the Year Flokk (1) HÅG Capisco Puls
Orangebox (5) KIRN
Isomi (2) Umi
Viasit (6) Toleo
Nook (3) NOOK HUDDLE POD
Wiesner-Hager (7) delv
Ondarreta (4) Hari Chair
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MIXOLOGY21 Product of the Year Finalists
Flooring
Product of the Year Amtico (1) Form Collection Ege Carpets (2) ReForm Transition Forbo Flooring Systems (3) Acoustic Collection Interface (4) Embodied Beauty™ IVC Commercial (5) Studio Moods Milliken (6) Social Factor Schlüter-Systems (7) Low Height Shower System Shaw Contract (8) Suited Tarkett (9) DESSO Futurity Woodworks by Ted Todd (10) TEMNO
Mix 213 June 2021 | 25
MIXOLOGY21 Product of the Year Finalists
Lighting, Technology & Accessories Product of the Year 14six8 (1) Timber BACHMANN (2) Desk2 IOTSPOT Dataflex (3) Viewprime dual monitor arms FUTURE Designs (4) FUZONE500 Harris & Harris London (5) Kyoto Lighting Liquidline (6) Touchless Schaerer Soul OE Electrics (7) ANIMATE Prolojik (8) Proxima Tuesday On The Beach (9) Gustav
Storage
Product of the Year
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Bisley (1) Be
Puntmobles (5) Chicago
Bisley (2) Belong
Systemtronic (6) Wing
Ercol Furniture (3) Canvas
USM (7) World of Plants
KI (4) Colonnade
Your Workspace (8) Simplicity Smart Lockers
MIXOLOGY21 Product of the Year Finalists
Loose Furniture Product of the Year Arper (1) Adell Bene (2) PORTS Connection (3) Nomad Frem Group (4) Novus A-Zone Knightsbridge Furniture (5) Tron Orangebox (6) Campers&Dens PLANQ (7) Unusual Collection Royal Ahrend (8) Charge sixteen3 (9) Reece Tecno (10) WQube William Hands (11) Aspect Tables and Benches
Mix 213 June 2021 | 27
MIXOLOGY21 Product of the Year Finalists
Surfaces
Product of the Year Camira (1) Craggan Flax Johnson Tiles (2) South Bank Offecct (3) Jasmine Parkside (4) Criaterra RAK CERAMICS (5) Luce The Collective (6) Swell Woven Image (7) Embossed Acoustic Panel Series
Furniture Provider of the Year Wellworking (1)
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Protocol Office (2)
JPA Workspaces (3)
MIXOLOGY21 Product of the Year Finalists
Manufacturer of the Year Bisley (1) Dataflex (2) Impact Acoustic (3) Johnson Tiles (4) Milliken (5) Orangebox (6) Shaw Contract (7) Specialist Group (8) TMJ Interiors (9) USM (10) Your Workspace (11)
Mix 213 June 2021 | 29
PROPERTY
Paradise Circus
Birmingham workspace: Road to nowhere turns into road to somewhere The Birmingham office market is lifting itself up off the canvas as big relocations improve the mood. But there are still questions to answer, and growing demand for quality refurbished floorspace – as a panel of the city’s property experts point out in our Roundtable with Wilmott Dixon Interiors on page 34. David Thame heads to the Midlands to discover more.
30 | Mix 213 June 2021
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he news that Goldman Sachs was to bring a 50,000 sq ft office requirement to central Birmingham, and that the Department of Transport would be following them, came at just the right time. Back in April, when Goldman Sachs and the ministry both revealed their plans, things couldn’t have looked frostier in the Birmingham office market. To say the market was ‘flat’ scarcely does justice to the horror story that unfolded during 2020 and early 2021. Yes, blame the pandemic – every city had its problems in 2020 – but Birmingham had
it worse, thanks to a market now heavily tipped towards Grade A office space (with more to come). Bad timing and overconfidence in big floorplate corporate blocks meant a pandemic price had to be paid. To coin a phrase, Birmingham office takeup didn’t just fall off a cliff; the city dug a huge hole, put weights in its pockets, and jumped right into it. In the Q2 to Q4 period, the city scored just 181,000 sq ft of deals (Manchester managed four times as much). Today the mood is brighter. Chatter about locations for incoming civil servants and bankers is brightening the atmosphere, and
PROPERTY
a series of small but welcome deals in prime floorspace is gradually eating into the standing stock (and therefore improving the chances of new developments due to be delivered soon). The market has been kept afloat by smaller transactions from the kind of firms who are not in thrall to global corporate strategies, nor trapped in the iron-grip of risk-averse HR departments. A letting to Clarke Willmott at 9 Colmore Row is a typical example. Its relocation from elsewhere in the city sees the law firm take 4,200 sq ft on a 10-year lease in a deal with UK Commercial Property REIT, a portfolio managed and advised by Aberdeen Standard Investments. The 69,000 sq ft 9 Colmore Row block has the kind of moderate-sized floorplates that appeal to this kind of corporate demographic. Buildings like this have done well when the big floorplate blocks have suffered: three of the
‘This is not just a standard office offering: there is full flexibility, with different routes and favourable lease arrangements that will suit ambitious businesses that want a prime Birmingham address and space to grow,’ he says. The landlord is angling for requirements from a tiny 1,850 sq ft to mighty 44,000 sq ft – and this is the kind of flexibility that will pay off. The building also lies outside the new Birmingham Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which came into force at the start of June (see sidepanel). What all this adds up to is a holding-thebreath moment for the Birmingham office market as everyone waits to see what effect the charge, unlocking the economy and the arrival of a big slug of new speculative office floorspace has on rents and take-up. Danny Parmar is Regional Chair of the British Council for Offices in the Midlands and a Director at Overbury. He says the city
other tenants have renewed leases, comprising over 18,000 sq ft, in the last couple of months. UKCM recently completed an upgrade programme at the property, which saw the reception area refurbished, the addition of a communal meeting room and breakout space, and the delivery of a dedicated cycling hub and health club with quality changing facilities in the basement. Good quality, second-hand refurbishments with decent but not huge floorplates and a landlord prepared to bend with the wind: if you have to identify the recipe for success in Birmingham offices – that would be it. Look, for instance, at another Aberdeen Standard block at 54 Hagley Road, where a £3 million refurbishment has meant new ground floor amenities, including a business lounge and café, breakout spaces, conference rooms and fitness studio with shower facilities. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Aberdeen Standard Investments, which acquired the Grade A office building just over two years ago, pressed on with its plans to create offices that were fit for 21st century businesses seeking high quality space. Turns out to have been a good move. ‘The plan was always to create the best office building in Edgbaston and thanks to our longterm approach to investment, we believe we have created that,’ says Cameron Mackay, Senior Asset Manager at Aberdeen Standard Investment. The amenity offer and some of the vacant offices have been modernised as part of a longterm investment strategy by Aberdeen Standard Investments, while a full fit-out is underway on floors nine and 14, which will provide a fully fitted solution to incoming tenants, enabling them to ‘plug and play’.
is already bouncing back, but adds (more controversially) that the big floorplate blocks now reaching the lettings market still have a firm future. COVID has not dented their appeal. ‘Yes, they are holding their breath but that is a short-term problem,’ Danny says. ‘A year ago, people were saying the office is dead… then it was talk of a new hybrid way of working and the office has to be a lot smarter to get staff back. I think the place we’re at today is that offices are here to stay but that it won’t be banks of desks in open plan spaces. It is going to be collaborative, and about socialising and mentoring – all things you can’t do from home.’ This sounds good unless you own the kind of office space designed for huge prairies of desks in open plan spaces – and most of the new speculative stock in Birmingham was.
Clean Air Zone The new rules, which are intended to limit the use of polluting vehicles in central Birmingham, have come in for predictable criticism. The complaint from retailers that now, of all times, is the worst moment to introduce a charge, got a lot of news coverage. Yet, on the whole, the property business has been cautiously supportive. So far there is little evidence that car-related charging damages the office market: Nottingham’s workplace parking levy is said to have had no effect, and life carries on much as normal in both Bath and London, where charges apply. The only difference is a reduction in through traffic. Birmingham’s clean air zone will cover an area of the city inside the inner ring road (A4540 Middleway), and once live will mean that the owners of the most polluting vehicles, which account for around 25% of the vehicles on Birmingham’s roads, will need to pay a daily charge to drive into or through the Clean Air Zone. The new zone comes with exceptions for residents who live inside the parameter (who get a two-year exemption for free), and for employees who work in the zone but who earn less than £30,00 a year (they get a year’s exemption).w
“The plan was always to create the best office building in Edgbaston and, thanks to our long-term approach to investment, we believe we have created that.” Mix 213 June 2021 | 31
PROPERTY
Birmingham tenants rethink fit-out plans Top rents in Birmingham remain high for the best new floorspace, peaking at around £37.50 per sq ft. Agents say they could rise further if the current crop of large (pending) deals eat substantially into the supply of Grade A floorspace. However, the list of people paying £37.50 is not long. Even those with this as their headline rent are, in effect, paying a good deal less thanks to a 9-12 month rental discount for each five years of leased term. That could mean substantial sums of rental saved, which can be spent on fit-out. Alas for office designers and fit-out firms, the latest Birmingham trend is to re-use existing, inherited, fit-outs. Or, almost as bad, landlords are doing it. Scott Rutherford of Cushman & Wakefield explains: ‘An increasing number of occupiers want to have their new offices delivered fitted, which means the landlord does the fit-out, saving on capital expenditure for the tenant. A lot of landlords are taking that on board – something that would not have happened 10 years ago. ‘We are also seeing occupiers happy to inherit a fit-out if it is good. The orthodoxy always used to be, ‘get rid of it, start again’. But, from both a sustainability and financial perspective, keeping the old fit-out can work.’ w
“Occupiers are coming back into the market and starting to make decisions, although they are probably talking about taking less floorspace than they would have done before the pandemic.“ 32 | Mix 213 June 2021
View of 103 Colmore Row from Victoria Square
‘There’s been demand, I totally disagree,’ says Danny, pointing to the BT deal at Three Snowhill and the fact that only two floors are left at Two Chamberlain Square. The remaining new block, 103 Colmore Row, has smaller floorplates anyway. ‘Occupiers are coming back into the market and starting to make decisions, although they are probably talking about taking less floorspace than they would have done before the pandemic. We reckon it is about 30% less floorspace due to new ways of working. But, even so, deals are coming,’ Danny reasons. Birmingham’s generally vanilla traditional office stock (see Wilmott Dixon Interiors Roundtable report on page 34) does not help excite occupiers, and Danny confesses the city needs to improve its design game.
‘There’s some truth in the complaint about office stock being bland. New blocks are built for middle of the road occupiers. They are a blank canvas. ‘Of course, if you are trying to attract media or tech occupiers, then you would create something different, although I suspect those occupiers wouldn’t be looking at the city core and would go instead to Digbeth. ‘It’s not that Birmingham has the wrong stuff on offer, and it is not the case that the big new speculative blocks will be white elephants. Demand is out there. Think of the Department of Transport – they will have to go somewhere.’ Heart is taken from the decision of some occupiers to increase, rather than shrink, their Birmingham core floorspace.
PROPERTY
9 Colmore Row
“It’s not that Birmingham has the wrong stuff on offer, and it is not the case that the big new speculative blocks will be white elephants. Demand is out there.“ Behind the smiles Agents have a remarkable ability to resist bad news, and Birmingham agents put on a bravura display when last year’s figures were published. Thanks to a 283,000 sq ft letting to BT at Ballymore’s Three Snowhill on 1st January 2020, the year’s total letting haul added up to 521,000 sq ft – sharply down on 780,000 sq ft in 2019 and the record 1 million sq ft in 2012. That the figures were not worse was hailed as a sign of resilience. ‘The 2020 total outcome of over 500K SF is therefore considered to be a respectable performance,’ a statement issued by the Birmingham Office Market Forum said. Q1 2021 was every bit as thin, the highlight being a 16,500 sq ft letting to the Department for Work and pensions. Q2 figures, which might be a bit brighter, are expected any day.w
34 | Mix 213 June 2021
Scott Rutherford, Partner at Cushman & Wakefield, is one of those responsible for persuading occupiers to return to city centre office blocks. After a few days resuming his 40-mile round trip commute, he can well understand why some are reluctant to resume old habits. ‘You begin to see why people don’t what to do this,’ he says, reflecting on the journey. ‘The truth is that we don’t know how office occupancy will go, but we are starting to see decisions about occupancy – and, interestingly, people are concerned that they aren’t taking enough space. They are finishing staff consultations on hybrid working, and they think this change is what they need.’ Does the sense of uncertainty extend to the future, or otherwise, for Birmingham’s big floorplate offices? Scott thinks there will have to be some design rethinks, but does not think their time has passed. ‘We will need things like Zoom rooms, so you can go and
do an online meeting without background noise or clients overhearing everything your colleagues are saying,’ he says. Scott’s guess is that the appeal of the office will gradually re-assert itself, particularly for occupiers with demanding environmental and sustainability objectives. Deals will soon prove his point, with rumours of a signing at Tristan/Sterling’s 103 Colmore Row. In addition, Goldman Sachs are said to be looking closely at the block. Once the current developments at Colmore Row, Paradise Circus and Arena Central are completed, there will be no more new stock available until late 2022, by which time – everyone hopes – the office market will be back on its feet. w
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Willmott Dixon Interiors
Birmingham: Making Great Spaces and Great Places When ‘unlockdown’ comes, Birmingham workspace will need to meet changed demands from a changed world. We teamed up with Wilmott Dixon Interiors to challenge a group of the city’s leading property practitioners.
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he late spring sunshine in Birmingham’s St Phillips Cathedral Square matches the upbeat mood in a city that is beginning to feel good about itself. And about time too – both for the sun and the improved self-image. Whilst good weather helped lift spirits, real world decisions – like Goldman Sachs’ decision to move its engineering department to a new 50,000 sq ft Birmingham office confirm that the city really has turned a corner. Goldman Sachs has yet to choose a location (although Tristan Capital/Sterling Property Ventures’ 103 Colmore Row is tipped). What matters is that they arrive at a time when the city centre office market is re-thinking its future. The wave of new speculative developments that began in the wake of the Brexit referendum in 2016 are now completing. Developers are considering what to build next to add to the modest standing supply of grade A floorspace. According to Savills, this has plunged by 62% and now
36 | Mix 213 June 2021
stands at just 229,000 sq ft. A few more deals this summer and it will be gone. With a nationwide return to work now close, developers and investors ponder how best to create stimulating spaces inside buildings and outside them. They are also keenly aware of the dangers the city faces if they flunk the task. That’s because data suggests Birmingham is bouncing back faster than most other UK and European cities. Oxford Economics says that Birmingham is the only UK city to feature in the top 10 recovering European cities, placing it ahead of Manchester and London. So what needs to happen for both workspaces and civic spaces to become places worth leaving home to visit? Does Birmingham have the right stock of appropriate office space and great public spaces to make a success of post-lockdown? Rob Valentine is is Leeds & Birmingham Director at Bruntwood Works, and one of the forces behind
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Willmott Dixon Interiors
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We’re seeing quite an influx of inward investment and occupiers looking at new workspace.
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the 110,000 sq ft Cornerblock refurbishment in the city’s Colmore Row business district. The building’s roof garden was among the city’s first and, as our discussion goes on to show, still a showstopper. ‘Birmingham is in a very positive position,’ Rob says. ‘We’re seeing quite an influx of inward investment and occupiers looking at new workspace. Newcomers and existing businesses are asking, ‘What do we need to deliver for growth?’ ‘There’s a dearth of Grade A floorspace in the city. And whilst we have some great schemes like Paradise, and Arena Central, most of the new floorspace is a bit corporate. If the Goldman Sachs team are looking at options, they will find there aren’t many, and corporate floorspace is the only show in town.’ Rob suggests that the city needs a wider variety of workspace, declaring the city’s office stock to be safe and slightly vanilla. ‘Workspace needs to be blowing people away if we want to attract people back into the cities,’ he says. ‘I’m mandated to grow Bruntwood’s Birmingham portfolio and we’re looking at half a dozen options – and, when we look at buildings, the questions I ask is how can that building deliver something that will resonate, and will it provide the services and wellness environment that will appeal to a progressive occupier? That is how we deliver something truly sustainable. Get that right, and it will be successful.’ This means tackling some ingrained conservatism in Birmingham office occupiers. Peter Jenks, Director at Thamesis Asset Management, and one of the inspirations to the current transformation of the 210,000 sq ft block at 10 Brindleyplace, says occupiers need to be
led. ‘Only two years ago, the idea of exposed services was a shock-horror in Birmingham. We were told it is not done here. Now those same people are embracing the idea. Design is a journey and it takes time for landlords and developers to embrace the new design criteria Birmingham occupiers want. ‘It also takes occupiers time to know they want it – particularly among the more
conservative professionals. It means developers and agents have to be a little bit brave because they might not be offering what the occupier is expecting.’ Trevor Ivory ought to know. Trevor is Birmingham-based Head of Planning (and Birmingham Partner) at law firm DLA Piper. Under his leadership, DLA signed for 40,000 sq ft of new office space
In partnership with
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Willmott Dixon Interiors
at the £700m Paradise development. In 2019, they agreed to a 15-year lease at Glenn Howells Architects’ designed Two Chamberlain Square, an eight-storey 183,000 sq ft block. ‘Lawyers and accountants are still at the conservative end of the occupier spectrum. Things that most people long ago accepted are slow to happen, like open plan, where I’m telling my colleagues this is a new innovation,’ Trevor confesses. The important thing about their new workspace, where Overbury’s six-month fit-out completes this summer, is that it works for clients and recruitment. ‘Definitely there is a role in satisfying our clients, but there is a critical role in recruitment,’ Trevor explains. ‘The questions we get from newcomers today aren’t like they used to be – they ask about things like air quality and the kind of workspace, and there is a big justification for investing in workspace because we have to be able to show graduates who are looking at other options, and other workplaces. And we want them to say they like our spaces.’ Lisa Deering, Director at Glancy Nichols Architects, says getting to grips with the minds of Birmingham’s Generation Z workforce is key to rethinking the workplace. ‘Generation Z isn’t just about going into work, and heading home again. They want a nice workspace environment. They want a place where they can have their friends round for a drink outside and be proud of where they work. It’s almost a status thing,’ she insists. ‘Really good workspace that people are happy using means
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more engagement and more productivity. It is a huge thing.’ Alec Stewart, Partner at Cundall, agrees that the mood has changed, but also that tastes change. What an occupier wants today may seem dated tomorrow, as the occupier viewpoint evolves. This has been Cundall’s experience at its Colmore Row base. ‘We took this space six years ago. It was very vanilla. Fan core system, suspended ceilings, raised floors…but we were very fortunate with our landlord, who allowed us to invest in what we thought was important and, today, it is nothing like what it was. We’ve created something very different,’ Alec says. The suite enjoys the WELL Certified gold standard, and provides the open, transparent, healthy workspace that younger graduates want. ‘Lisa is absolutely right. The ability to recruit has been a significant benefit, and it is one we
probably didn’t anticipate when we started on this journey,’ Alec says. In other words, the pressure to rethink Birmingham workspace is coming from below – from graduate staff and clients exerting influence on occupiers who, in turn, influence landlords and developers. Dr Matthew Jones, Associate Professor at the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, believes that is right. But he also points to top-down influences like Birmingham City Council’s emerging re-think of the Big City Plan it drew up in 2010. The new document, Our Future City, will guide development up to 2040. The plan envisages the city centre spilling out into neighbouring districts, a rethink of development around the Curzon Street HS2 station, potential backing for the new studio complex touted for Digbeth, and more creative use of city council property to stimulate development. The city centre will break out from within the Middle Ring Road. This means strengthening the links with the city centre and its integration with surrounding inner city suburbs such as Aston, Nechells, Balsall Heath, Small Heath and Sparkbrook. More green spaces, cycling tracks and walking opportunities are promised. ‘What we’re seeing is demand and response about how we work and where we work. And yes, that is bottom-up from occupiers to developers, but the drivers are also coming top-down from the city council and government,’ Matthew says. ‘Birmingham has always been an innovative city – it is true that it has not always worked out quite right – but it is often ahead of the others, and I would expect it to be ahead when it comes to driving new workspace. This will be about sustainable development and the way the city works – not just workspace, but civic space between the buildings.’ Which sounds good, but how do you make the transition? In part, this has to be about seeing office buildings as something more than simply shiny glass factories.
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Design is a journey and it takes time for landlords and developers to embrace the new design criteria Birmingham occupiers want.
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ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Willmott Dixon Interiors
Phil Crowther, Regional Director at Wilmott Dixon Interiors, and today’s host, says the key will be to enrich the amenity offer. His firm is currently working on the interior at 10 Brindleyplace. ‘We’ve got to be brave. That’s the big step. Birmingham is so lucky to have the HS2 high speed train line coming, and that is a real opportunity to maximise the offer and really give people the workspaces they want,’ Phil says. ‘Look at other sectors of the build economy – for instance at co-living, where developers are taking the kind of risk with new youthoriented concepts that we need to take with workspace. We have to learn from them to make workspace attractive to younger people, using the great building stock we already have and improving the more shocking examples of bad stock.’ Phil points out of the window and across the Cathedral Gardens to Birmingham’s former House of Fraser department store. Landlord Legal & General has been plotting a redevelopment for the best part of three years. The Temple Row site is slated for redevelopment as a 1 million sq ft scheme with a heavy bias towards office space. The development has run into trouble from heritage groups. ‘You look across the square to the former House of Fraser store and that enormous building needs some love. All around the Cathedral Square we have some incredible space and it would be good to give the city something great.’
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The questions we get from newcomers today aren’t like they used to be – they ask about things like air quality and the kind of workspace
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The trouble for Birmingham is that brave ideas do not always work, as Peter Jenks points out. ‘Some ideas work, some don’t. Rather than chuck everything at a new or refurbished office development, I think you have to target, and to accept that some ideas will not work. And that, in another 10 years, the idea of amenity will have changed again – to another new normal,’ Peter says. The search for amenity can also create new connections with the world on the other side of the reception desk – the world outside work. That is because many of the amenities office workers most value are not in their workplace at all. They are out in the big bold city. Are designers and developers helping to dissolve the boundaries between indoor spaces and outdoor places?
In partnership with
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Willmott Dixon Interiors
Lisa Deering says they are – up to a point. ‘Around Digbeth you do see more transparency. You see ground floors of office buildings, which are basically public spaces because the occupiers upstairs can’t all have their own little kitchens or breakout areas. But in larger buildings, when you get occupiers on a larger scale, that is a different question.’ Lisa guesses that the large office buildings have some catching up to do. ‘Are the larger office occupiers open to sharing facilities with other tenants or the public?’ she asks. Phil Crowther applauds those who try. ‘Opening the doors is the first step to unsealing the workplace,’ he says. Rob Valentine agrees – but wonders how open to sharing some occupiers are. He points back to higher quality design and a sense of adventure. ‘Nobody wants to go to a dull office with a suspended ceiling and a bleak carpet. They want to feel part of something. I like the idea of opening
However, a well thought-out amenity could surprise with its popularity. ‘At Cornerblock, we originally thought we needed to reinforce only part of the roof to support a garden, but it turned out to be nowhere near big enough, so we had to retrofit steel to support a larger garden. And that in turn has driven the success of the building,’ he says. DLA’s Trevor Ivory is also a fan of roof gardens. ‘When we were choosing our new office, it wasn’t really the building, or the interior. The bit that excited most people was the terrace. They loved the idea of having lunch out there,’ he says. ‘That shows the importance of the spaces around buildings, which Birmingham developments like Brinleyplace, and now Paradise, are showing. It is not the desk that draws people back to the workplace, it is the bars and restaurants and places around it. ‘Generation Z wants their friends to come and have a drink outside their office building, rather than outside any other,’ he adds.
up at ground floor level and having public access, creating spaces where you can feel comfortable being offline or having a conversation. But this kind of space needs creating – and it is not easy. It is not just about facilities, it is about managing it well,’ Rob says, pointing to the wellness standards mentioned by Cundall’s Alec Stewart.
Lisa Deering turns the discussion back to the Future City plan being devised by Birmingham City Council. ‘The important themes are not about buildings but about what we can do to improve the public realm, the sparks and spaces between the buildings, and that is something Birmingham has been missing,’ she says. ‘In part, that is about developers not feeling they have to use every square inch of their plot to build on. But it is also about breaking the collars around central Birmingham. Love it or hate it, demolishing the old central library achieved that – it makes the city more open, it creates links, and we need to see a lot more like that.’
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Birmingham has always been an innovative city – it is true that it has not always worked out quite right – but it is often ahead of the others
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Conclusion
Birmingham has a chance. The Commonwealth Games will help set a tone, which the HS2 development and a stream of new arrivals like Goldman Sachs will amplify. Tackling risks, avoiding vanilla solutions and taking note of Generation X, Y and Z will be the key to success. But it will also take enthusiasm – and if this Roundtable reveals anything about the city’s property business, it is that they have enthusiasm in spades.w
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Willmott Dixon Interiors
Meet our guests
Dr Matthew Jones
Rob Valentine
Matthew is Director of Technical Studies at Birmingham School of Architecture and Design, Birmingham City University, where he is a founding member of the Centre for Towns Research. His research and practice explores the role of design in creating thriving and resilient towns, high streets and smaller communities. In 2020, he published ‘Transforming Towns: Designing for Smaller Communities’ and he is part of Design Council’s network of experts committed to making life better by design.
Rob is Regional Director from Bruntwood in Birmingham and has worked in the city for more than 20 years. In this time, Rob has become a passionate advocate for the city and the West Midlands, focusing on both its strengths and its opportunities and in helping it to thrive even further. For Rob and for Bruntwood, this also means supporting communities, arts and culture in Birmingham, understanding that they are key components to a city’s quality of life, enriching values and beliefs and creating an identity, as well as being powerful economic drivers.
Lisa Deering
Peter Jenks
Phil Crowther
Lisa joined Glancy Nicholls Architects in 2008 and has been an integral part of the office, supporting the growth of the company. She has seen her career progress through a number of promotions – most recently to Director in January 2019. Lisa has experience in a range of sectors, including commercial, healthcare and leisure, and has also been involved in several aspects within the education sector. She has worked with Birmingham City Council, for the redevelopment of the Perry Barr Campus’ – an ambitious scheme providing over 1,400 new residences, amenity and community spaces.
Peter has nearly 30 years development and asset management experience, having started his career within the commercial property division of Taylor Woodrow in 1994. Peter has managed a variety of substantial projects, including the asset management of St Katharine Docks in London and the site assembly and development of several town centre redevelopment schemes. After leaving Taylor Woodrow Peter moved to Sydney, Australia in 2004 to work with Multiplex. On his return to the UK in 2007, he co-founded Thamesis Asset Management.
Phil has responsibility for all of Willmott Dixon’s business activities in the Midlands, where it is delivering the complex structural refurbishment of Wolverhampton’s historic Civic Halls and Birmingham’s largest office refurbishment scheme at 10 Brindleyplace. Phil passionately believes in the development of a greener built environment focused on the health and wellbeing of occupiers, and in the creation of workplaces that facilitate better mentoring and coaching opportunities for nurturing talent.
Associate Professor Birmingham City University School of Architecture & Design
Regional Director Leeds & Birmingham Bruntwood Works
Director Glancy Nicholls
Alec Stewart
Trevor Ivory
Alec is an M&E Partner in Cundall’s Birmingham office, having joined in 2004 to help start the office, and is a member of Cundall’s UK&I Operational Board. An experienced electrical engineer by profession, Alec has worked across all sectors, with a recent strong focus on the advanced manufacturing and mission critical sectors. Whilst the vast majority of Alec’s working career has been spent in the West Midlands, he has also worked in SE Asia and delivered mission critical projects across Europe.
Trevor practices in the area of real estate planning, with particular focus on delivering large-scale strategic development projects, planning appeals and judicial review. His clients include some of the largest developers in the UK as well as major landowners and public sector bodies. His focus is always on delivering on his clients’ objectives. He uses his experience to cut through delay and bureaucracy, delivering legally robust and commercially viable planning permissions quickly and efficiently.
Partner DLA Piper
Partner Cundall
Director Thamesis
Regional Director Willmott Dixon
In partnership with
Investing in people Throughout this project, HLW worked alongside the Ninety One team to create a best-in-class work environment that supports their ethos, helps to improve staff communication, and enhances the employee experience. The open and transparent space reflects Ninety One’s global character, with HLW taking influence from the South African light, coastline and landscape, building a palette of colour and materials with a nod to the company’s heritage.
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CASE STUDY Ninety One
The brilliant reception space features a spectacular textural timber wall
W
ith a highly collaborative culture, investment management company, Ninety One, prides itself in setting its business apart from its competitors. The company’s natural, direct, but highly professional approach sets a culture where people are encouraged to be themselves, enabling Ninety One to attract the best talent. This unique approach embodied HLWs design for a sophisticated, dynamic, renewed office. Ninety One’s new space at 55 Gresham Street, London, comprises four working floors, a client meeting floor, a fully serviced restaurant and terrace to rival, if not surpass many top London restaurants, a ground floor reception and welcome experience, which includes flexible event space, a gym and support space, located within the lower ground floor. With a vision to create a unique workplace that opens opportunities for staff to interact and entertain and meet clients, partners and customers, there was a directive to provide a level of sophistication with a boutique 5-star hotel feel. Building textural layers of colour and materiality across floors, unexpected detail and design elements create an essence of quality and calm across both staff and client spaces, emphasising an equality and making subtle reference to the company’s South African heritage. Two key elements include a large textural timber wall behind the reception, designed by HLW and mimicking the silhouette of Table Mountain, and a mirrored geometric wall panel, inspired by modern South African architecture and reflecting the London City skyline within a flexible dining area on the 9th floor. There is a warmth to the timbers,
fabrics and colours used here, complemented by textured and geometric floor finishes, natural stone and a diverse, high quality and comfortable furniture selection. The diverse range of meeting space and core work settings reflect how Ninety One now wants to work, whilst giving flexibility for future changes in working styles, which can support a more agile working strategy, as demand requires. Staff members are encouraged to move between floors via two new staircases. Both dramatic and open in their design, they improve lines of sight and visibility across floors, whilst encouraging healthy movement in the workplace. HLW worked closely with Ninety One’s Head of Workplace, Tahera Hammond, and chef and catering team to create a bespoke restaurant on the top floor, overlooking St Paul’s and the City. Both the space and the food served here are spectacular, featuring daily changing menus, theatre style street food and gourmet cheffing, supported in a modern and made to suit servery, dining and kitchen area, whilst the terrace plays host to BBQs (or Braai’s, as the South Africans refer to them) and has the ability to open a third of the restaurant façade to really bring the outside in during Summer events. The success of the whole space is testament to the journey and engagement HLW took throughout the design stages, with excellent support from a focused client team, a dedicated steering committee and an enthusiastic and insightful focus group; we’re told that the journey to developing a space, which brings people back to the office with energy and excitement, in a space that truly
Mix 213 June 2021 | 43
CASE STUDY Ninety One
below Sustainable innovations and wellness attributes are embedded into each step of both the design and design process
“
The diverse range of meeting space and core work settings reflect how Ninety One now wants to work, whilst giving flexibility for future changes in working styles
” 44 | Mix 213 June 2021
captures the businesses vision and aspirations, was made easy with such an inspired and passionate client team. Environmental impact, wellness and sustainability are very much at the forefront of Ninety One’s business initiatives, both in approach to business and building assets. Sustainable innovations and wellness attributes were embedded into each step of both the design and design process, and the project achieved BREEAM Excellent. The team also targeted Ska Gold to ensure the sustainability and wellness initiative embodied all elements of the design. Whilst attention was paid to the quality and authenticity of materials, the team made efficient use of materials to reduce material waste, and source sustainable and low carbon footprint
products. Over 100 surveys were sent to a variety of furniture and materials manufacturers to find the most sustainable solutions available on the market. Task chairs and some of the existing furniture have been reused to help minimise waste, while services and lighting were designed to meet low energy targets and smart solutions help support efficiency and reduce energy use. Wellness is further encouraged through the variety of choices and activities that can take place during the day. There is a the studio gym, wellness room, cycle facilities, healthy eating options, access to natural daylight, choice through a variety of work styles and settings in community hubs, different destination points on each floor, to encourage flow up and down the stairs – and a flexible event space enables a wide
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CASE STUDY Ninety One
range of hosted events, previously located off-site. The gym features impressive equipment and a studio space for classes, incorporating specialist lighting that helps create a contrasting dark and moody gym space and a brighter, lighter studio. The overall result of this scheme is also bright and light; this is a working environment that offers a range of high quality yet understated workspaces for Ninety One’s people to meet and engage in, which also offer a series of unexpected, detailed components to stumble upon and appreciate along their daily journey. The main internal stair encourages connection and movement between floors and clever stacking adjacencies offer a range of different support destination points on each level, including project space, IT help desk, quiet library space, community hubs and the reprographics centre. The level 8 stair allows Ninety One to easily move client meetings from boardroom to the rooftop restaurant via a striking connecting spiral staircase that descends to a circular reception desk, which is part of the client business lounge. The welcome experience is enhanced by the flexible, 5-star event space on the ground floor, which goes from an intimate 30-person presentation or team workshop, to a catered for 190-person Town Hall or drinks reception; the space allowing for in-house control, optionality and adaptability for events. The aspiration here was to create a fundamentally unique workplace that offers Ninety One clients and staff equality above & right The space offers a range of high quality yet understated workspaces for Ninety One’s people to meet and engage in
“
Whilst attention was paid to the quality and authenticity of materials, the team made efficient use of materials to reduce material waste, and source sustainable and low carbon footprint products
” 46 | Mix 213 June 2021
Pure. Balanced. Contemporary. www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/struktur1
creating better environments
CASE STUDY Ninety One
below The level 8 staircase allows people to easily move client meetings from the boardroom to the rooftop restaurant
above Bright, innovative team meeting space
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of space throughout. The opening of the space aligned with Ninety One’s transformation and launch of new brand and identity, and it was essential that the design supported this but also reflected their unwavering highly personal and collaborative culture. Ninety One prides itself on setting itself apart from its competitors and this new home supports and enhances its natural, straightforward but highly professional approach, where a culture and its environment encourages people to be themselves, attracting the very best talent. The wide range of diverse and adaptable space types support an activity based working approach, supported further by different settings, offering choice to find the best spaces to support teams’ needs throughout the day. The result truly reflects the Ninety One ethos and supports its brand identity and business approach. It is a space where people want to go to meet and work – which does, of course, go a very long way in this current climate. It’s an environment that enhances the daily working lives of the Ninety One people and is so much more than just another office. Ninety One’s new home sets it apart from the rest. It is a place to work, take clients and partners to, and be immensely proud of. w
Client Ninety One – Formerly Investec Asset Management Architect HLW International Interior Design Fleur Peck, Shelley Quinn, Mitch Parkinson, Stephen Magee. Flooring Interface, Domus Group, J + J Flooring, Guiligotti Tiles Furniture Supplier Showcase Interiors Surfaces Joinery: Thorpes Other RLB, JAC Group, Sandy Brown, Hoare Lea, Mix Consultancy, Twin & Earth
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ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Liquidline
The Greatest Comeback How can we create compelling destinations for employees to return to? While some will automatically want to return to the workplace, others will need convincing – and, to convince these doubters, employers will need to offer much more than just a desk, chair and meeting room. Now, more than ever, people are craving variety, interaction and collaboration – things they simply can’t get from WFH.
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A
group of people who know this all too well are the guests at our recent Roundtable in partnership with Liquidline; a mix of designers, developers, agents and end users who we have gathered in Manchester to discuss the expectations and opportunities the return to work presents. One of our experts, who’s currently living the realities of this topic, is BT’s Suzy Wright, who is fresh from opening the latest office in Warrington, with plenty more in the pipeline. Suzy: What this period has provided us with is a great kind of catalyst to bring people into an amazing space and reset everything. People have walked out of our old Warrington building and then into the new one and said, ‘Wow – why
would I not want to come back here?’ From free drinks to a concierge service on site and even dry cleaning, as well as a variety of places to go and work rather than being somewhere quite gloomy. That’s been the real trigger – and I suppose the hook – to get people back. What exactly are clients asking of the designers around the table – and what are they advising them on in terms of designing or redesigning their postpandemic spaces? Simon: ‘Magnetising’ I think is a key word. We’ll always have that flexibility in terms of how we work – Pandora’s Box has been opened and the
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Liquidline
right thing to do is to treat intelligent people (who you’re prepared to employ) as intelligent people! Let them choose what they want from the workplace. But it’s great if that workplace can draw them in as we keep the flexibility. Employees can choose to come in and connect with the brand and their colleagues, and experience chance encounters again. Things like great coffee are important – and it can be about getting people in to do events and just vibing with your team. That’s the key thing. It’s not just about design, it’s about collaborating with IT, HR FM, to work in that ecosystem to make that workplace. You’ve got to align with everyone, and that is the secret to it. Making it beautiful is the easy bit. I don’t think we’re designing in a different way. We call it the ‘flux capacitor’ – we were already on that path anyway. The problem was that people weren’t prepared to change: ‘Oh that won’t work for us. Well, you’ve done it!’ The change management has happened for us, and that’s always been the hard bit; getting to people to go with it and say, ‘Trust me, I’m a designer’.
“
Employees can choose to come in and connect with the brand and their colleagues, and experience chance encounters again
Leigh: The one thing I would say is anybody that’s trying to make a long-term difference to their workplace now is absolutely crazy, because nobody knows what’s actually going to happen in the next 12-18 months. What people should be doing is making subtle adjustments, primarily to try and map and match the behaviours of what people having been doing at home, to hopefully bridge that gap.
”
It’s about using the spaces differently and better than we did before – because we’ve broken down those boundaries about what meetings and collaboration look like. It’s opened people’s eyes to the fact that you can use technology in a different way, even if it’s massive collaborations. I think people have really bought into that at home – and it’s what you can do to make subtle changes to help keep that flexibility in an office environment as well. Craig: For the first time, you’re seeing colleagues with a language that isn’t around the office – it’s around their life, rather than thinking of the office as a place that we’ve got to make exciting. Actually, it’s just part of people’s rhythm and routine. We did some work a long time ago for housing associations, who effectively took over council stock. The first thing they do is they look after the house, and then they look after the spaces between the houses, and then the parks and streets, and then they
start to look after the families through debt management and education. What we’re starting to do is create an infrastructure around communities, which, again, an office is a part of. So maybe it’s not the workplace solving everything, but HR coming up with a better question. People aren’t afraid of change in the way that we thought – people have responded really well. Suzy: What we’ve been looking at is collaborating with purpose. People are going to need a reason to come in, they’re
In partnership with
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Liquidline
not going to come in to sit at their desk anymore. No matter how much free stuff you throw at them, if they can do it at home in their slippers they will. It is going to be about coming in with a reason and being able to give that kind of whole day efficiency. Anthony: We’ve definitely noticed an increase in demand for premium, touchless coffee and water machines, to help foster that social interaction and collaboration when we’re physically in the office – it’s about bringing back that watercooler moment, which you just can’t get at home...bringing the coffee shop experience into the workplace. Suzy: I also know my team a lot better on a personal level than I did a year ago, because we’ve seen inside each other’s homes, their home lives etc. I think teams are going to be much more comfortable with each other when they come back into an office. While working with Leigh and his team at our office at Snowhill (Birmingham), we’ve been a bit braver in removing some of the more formal settings. We’ve kept the same components but changed the proportions of how we do it, because I think people are going be more comfortable with how they interact with their teams. Sitting around a table like this is going to become much more normal to us, and not feel as strange as it did a year ago – and it’s about giving people permission to work like that.
Jonathan: In pre-pandemic meetings with designers, you could pretty much write what was going to be presented to the client before you even got to the meeting. So much so that the opinion was, ‘We’re paying a lot of money for a designer to put in lots of spines and maybe a sofa over there, and a coffee machine over there…’ In the last six months, that has pretty much been scrapped, and the meetings I’m going to now have some great ideas. The figure we’re working with now is 40% collaboration space. I met with a client earlier this morning and they have a Manchester office that we’re looking to refer for them. They have two floors and they’re literally wiping out a whole floor of desks, moving all their staff on to one floor with maybe 50% of the desks they would have had pre-pandemic – and then creating spaces where people collaborate, with bleachers and zones on the other floor.
“
The one thing I would say is anybody that’s trying to make a long-term difference to their workplace now is absolutely crazy, because nobody knows what’s actually going to happen in the next 12-18 months
” 52 | Mix 213 June 2021
Richard: It’s interesting, as we’re on the opposite end of that. As a residential developer, we’re looking at how people work from home, and how they work in the city. There is a huge requirement from our client base for suitable home working space in the city centre and nearby. A few years ago, community wasn’t such a big thing and people were living in the city centre primarily to go to work. Now it’s about creating that space to work from home and evolving with that. It doesn’t always have to be in the unit itself, it can be through the shared amenities that we’re offering as well. Craig: We can start to see that people are starting to think of work as a purpose, as Suzy mentioned. Why would you travel to Manchester? Because there’s a reason to do that. Why would you go to the office? Rather than just work being a routine – where you turn up and it happens – the question should be, ‘Who do I need to work with today? What resources do we need, where’s the best place to do it?’ I think people are probably thinking about work more intelligently because there’s now a choice. There’s also a chance for the office to do less! If you have a bit of everything in terms of amenities, it’s almost not done well enough,
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Liquidline
because you’ve not got the scale. Why wouldn’t you use all the facilities in the neighbourhood rather than trying to squash them into an office and doing them (quite often) quite poorly? Richard: As we grow our portfolio, instead of putting the same gym etc in each scheme, we have an amazing gym at one and an amazing cinema at the other, and so on – so you can be a Capital & Centric resident and use this fantastic network of amenities across the city and become part of that community. Suzy: It’s certainly mutually beneficial, isn’t it? It’s the reason why we haven’t chosen to have gyms in our buildings, for example, because we should be able to build up partnerships. We’re then an important part of the community rather than just people that sit in a big building. Simon: We’re working with a client who is creating a programme of events – so there’s always something going on to bring back that engagement. It’s constantly evolving as they continue to work with local companies in the surrounding community. Anthony: This has absolutely been at the forefront for Liquidline right now – pop-up events, barista afternoons – where we come and interact with the staff and tell them about the coffee. For example,
“
A few years ago, community wasn’t such a big thing and people were living in the city centre primarily to go to work. Now it’s about creating that space to work from home and evolving with that
” we have a partnership with Change Please, who are doing some great work with homelessness in Manchester and beyond. We’re bringing in people who have experienced homelessness and are now trained baristas to talk to staff, who use our coffee machines and coffee every day. It’s about building these experiences that is becoming so important, and people like to know they’re giving back to their community. Leigh: Another part of this is changing people’s behaviours when you go into that space – and understanding and appreciating other people around you. Some people will go back absolutely terrified about why this environment has suddenly been thrust back upon them. Others are going to be thriving and literally bouncing off the walls, wanting
In partnership with
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Liquidline
Leigh: There’s never going to be a onesize-fits-all to any of this. There’s always going to be an element of, ‘What can we do? How can we accommodate? Is it possible to accommodate it – and, if not, what can we put in place?’ My biggest nightmare is hybrid meetings going forward. 10 people in the room, one doing one screen with one camera, and 15 other people on Teams.
to talk to absolutely everybody and terrifying people! I think it’s going to be a big issue for people going forward: how are we respectful towards other people? Simon: The workplace has a huge responsibility to create a neurodiverse space where we can all work. The arrival point is vibrant, loud, social... where you can have that watercooler moment at the coffee machine. But there’s also a quiet and calm area you can go to because that’s what suits you. Suzy: I think a key thing for us has been about being inclusive in the things that we provide. Amenities like cafés and social spaces have become more important, but it’s also about having all kinds of multifunctional spaces to enable people to socialise – from yoga to band practice. We have made sure we have a multifaith room and wellbeing rooms where people can go and decompress. We’re very conscious of all the different types of people we have working for us, and how they work. Decompression for one person may be sitting in a dark room, whereas someone else might need to be energised, surrounded by people. Jonathan: When we created a space for a national care provider (a workplace where people are dealing with very difficult calls) we had a reading corner with soft low lighting, we had a zone where there was a computer to play games – because people deal with that level of stress in work in different ways. Some people want to read a book, some want to go sit in a corner and look at a black ceiling, and some simply want to play on a computer game. It was about creating that level of diverse activity.
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to everything: who should be working from home? Who should be working in the office? It picks up the whole inclusivity piece, it picks up the whole neurodiversity piece – not everybody is going to be the same. And you must give people a choice.
Simon: There is an etiquette that we need to learn of how we deal with that. There’s a whole level of technology solutions that need to come out to resolve that – that’s probably for the next generation. It’s fascinating that we’ve all been able to work internationally, across many time zones and not actually be present. There’s so many plus sides – carbon saving, time saving, budget savings… Craig: The old offices really drove our behaviours. We’ve got something that’s still quite human at the moment, but if we let Teams etc drive our behaviours and connections, we’re missing the trigger. There’s a real pause point now where we can think about how we can do things better. In some ways, the design industry is often being forced to do things in response to the world we live in and the game we’re playing, rather than, ‘What could we really do?’ Leigh: There’s a phrase we’ve coined in our office when describing coming back to work: ‘All can, some should, none must.’ It applies
Conclusion Moving forward, we will all have to make our own assessments about the role and value of our workplaces – and we will, no doubt, reach very different conclusions. But what is certain is that, if we decide that the workplace is still important to us (and we believe the vast majority will) – for productivity, for collaboration, for brand identity – it will have to become a destination of choice and actively help to enrich the lives of employees and their wellbeing.w
ROUNDTABLE In Partnership with Liquidline
Meet our guests
Simon Millington
Leigh Dimelow
Richard Spackman
Craig Murray
Simon is the Founding Director of award-winning workplace consultancy and interior design studio, Incognito. With over 20 years’ experience working at the heart of the region’s commercial interior design industry, Simon has delivered transformational projects for the likes of AstraZeneca, Savills, PZ Cussons, Nestle, Helical and CBRE Global Investors across the UK and abroad. From its Cheshire base, Incognito offers advanced workplace strategies that are beautifully designed to boost wellbeing, to motivate and inspire.
Heading up the northern hub, Leigh was originally based in the London HQ before opening the practice’s Manchester and Leeds offices in 2014 and 2019 respectively, where he leads a blended team of 30 architects and interior designers. Leigh has now been with tp bennett for over 22 years. He specialises in the development and delivery of commercial office space for both developer-led new build schemes and tenant interior fit-outs.
Starting his career in residential sales in London, Richard has nearly 10 years’ experience in property and regeneration. Following a relocation to the North West, he’s worked on some of Manchester’s most high-profile residential schemes, including a host of projects at DeTrafford’s Manchester Gardens, Elizabeth Mill and Cavendish Place. Richard is currently focusing on the development and delivery of the iconic Weir Mill residential development in Stockport and Capital & Centric’s first Neighbourhood scheme in Rochdale.
Craig works with organisations to translate their leadership objectives into effective human centred workplace solutions, balancing the complex factors of life, work, building and technology. Utilising over 30 years’ experience, he leads a team of 14 consultants and designers who have designed some of the world’s highest performing environments.
Founding Director We are Incognito
Principal Director tp bennett
Development Director Capital & Centric
Strategy & Design Director TSK
Jonathan StirzakerPhilips
Suzy Wright
Anthony Groombridge
A chartered building surveyor specialising in project management, Jonathan heads-up the Colliers project team across the UK Northern region. He has experience of delivering a diverse range of projects through the full project life cycle; including commercial office and luxury healthcare fitouts, and high-end residential and commercial new builds.
Suzy is a Property Strategy Professional with nearly 20 years experience in the property and facilities management sector. Having started her career as a space planner, Suzy now leads the UK office strategy and workplace design for BT’s Better Workplace Programme. She has worked in both consultant and client side roles for a variety of global private and public sector companies, and has successfully developed workplace strategies and implemented strategic workplace transformation and change programmes for BBC, Google, University College London and GSK.
Anthony is extremely passionate about challenging the status quo – never settling for the norm! Using his thought-provoking mindset, Anthony stimulates colleagues and clients alike to question their choices to ensure they are getting the very best from the project on hand. For the past eight years, Anthony has been instrumental in guiding many large corporate companies through the process of providing their staff with great refreshment facilities. Anthony loves meeting new people – his honest and robust outlook on life gives him the ability to build trust at the highest level.
Associate Director Colliers
Senior Manager, UK Office Estate Strategy BT
Director Liquidline
In partnership with
CASE STUDY Cadence
Rhythm section When, earlier this year, leading EDA and Intelligent System Design provider, Cadence, relocated its Scottish office from The Alba Campus, on the western edge of Livingston, to a prime location on Edinburgh’s renowned Princes Street, we were extremely keen to hear more about it. It’s been a while since we were north of the border (for obvious reasons) and, with restrictions now starting to lift, we’re itching to extend our coverage beyond London, Manchester and the Home Counties.
CASE LIVING STUDY Property Cadence
S
o, we begin by asking about
the relocation from Livingston – recalling how, in the very early days of this magazine, we saw several relocations that went the other way, with businesses heading out of the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh to the ‘new town’ of Livingston, just 15 or so miles to the west of the Scottish capital. ‘Our lease came up for renewal in June 2020 and, after 20 years in Livingston, we decided to review its suitability,’ we’re told by the Software Engineering Group Director at Cadence. ‘While Livingston had become our natural gravitational centre, it had become less easy to recruit and attract young engineering professionals. ‘Many other industry-leading software and hardware companies are based in city centre locations, and we felt that, strategically, we needed to relocate for our future hiring needs. Of course, all of these decisions were taken pre-COVID-19 and there has since been much speculation on what a new office environment will look like, and whether city centre locations will still be as attractive.’ In terms of its own working practices, the business chose to move to a more flexible working environment by allocating offices to managers that wanted them, on the basis that they would be bookable for meetings by others when they
are not in the office. ‘Everyone else was allocated a fixed desk, as we had strong feedback from the local team that they wanted their ‘own space’ in contrast to a hot desk system. We also decided that we would hold all-hands meetings in nearby hotels rather than create a space suitable for holding these irregular events and have low utilisation.’ Wellbeing-led, workplace specialist, obo, provided its market knowledge to assist with the design process. With a number of team members first supporting Cadence’s furniture needs for its Livingston office back in 2000, obo’s first-hand knowledge and experience was valuable in terms of understanding and fulfilling the brief. We ask obo Founder, Gary Helm, to tell us a little about the new space/building itself. ‘40 Princes Street provides remarkable space in an outstanding situation, offering expansive, far-reaching panoramic views south to the Old Town and Edinburgh Castle, with Princes Street Gardens, the Scott Monument, Waverley Station and the Balmoral Hotel in the foreground,’ Gary paints us a perfect picture of the fantastic surroundings this new home boasts. ‘By day, the open plan floorplates are flooded with natural light, providing an ambience that is both energising and inspiring. By night, they provide magical views of the city skyline.’ We’re told that, as with all its projects, Cadence took a very
left Framery’s acoustic pods were selected for holding smaller meetings and conference calls, which give the office a more modern feel
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CASE STUDY Cadence
hands-on approach, and were ably supported by obo and local designers, Form DC. Cadence’s objective was to create an inspiring and efficient office environment that would support staff wellbeing, while increasing attraction to new talent. ‘As always, Cadence outlined their requirements very clearly,’ Gary tells us. ‘Cadence expects and deserves best value. It was, therefore, our responsibility to specify and supply products in line with their philosophy of providing Great Places to Work.’ So how was the concept conceived and subsequently implemented? ‘The client held a number of internal review meetings to discuss and agree what attributes the building needed to offer to support the business going forward, Gary recalls. ‘The requirements were translated by the design team, with initial layouts then being produced. In accordance with the agreed designs, the fit-out was then managed by a local firm. ‘Although the project is maybe not unique by our own industry standards, for the client, it was a significant move towards a new workplace style. Cadence prides itself on creating and sustaining a company culture that drives innovation and business success. Cadence is recognised as a Great Place to Work around the world, including as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For over the last six years. What were the greatest challenges for the team? ‘Delivering the project through lockdown was challenging. Not only did we have the logistical issues that were brought about by the global pandemic, we had to cope with the differences of opinion between Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon!’ Thankfully, the selection of furniture and finishes throughout this impressive scheme was not such a political hotbed, although incredibly important to the success of the space. ‘Furniture and finishes were carefully selected to reflect Cadence’s corporate values, while appealing to the next generation workforce. above & right The space offers a smart balance between focused work and a more social/collaborative environment
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40 Princes Street provides remarkable space in an outstanding situation, offering expansive, far-reaching panoramic views
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40 years of unsurpassed quality...
Manor Wood, Ipswich Road, Bildeston, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP7 7BH Sunshine House, 5-7 Cutler Street, London, E1 7DJ 01449 740518 in info@tmjinteriors.com www.tmjinteriors.com
CASE STUDY Cadence
below The new Princes Street home offers fantastic views across Edinburgh
‘Aside from the views, my personal favourite element is the meeting pods! Sometimes, when in the office, you just need a bit of solo time and peace and quiet to focus and concentrate, but the positioning here means you can strike a balance between focused work and a more social/collaborative environment when you need.’ ‘Office design has changed considerably in the last 20 years, as has the level of autonomy being provided to businesses on a local basis. Whilst organisations will still look to leverage their property needs, there is now a greater appreciation of the importance of meeting the needs of a diverse global workforce.’ In terms of the design and the products selected here, Haworth’s YourPlace motor-driven, height-adjustable desks were chosen to reflect Cadence’s desire for a different type of workspace, with a more inspiring atmosphere. In addition, Framery’s acoustic pods were selected for holding smaller meetings and conference calls, which give the office a more modern feel. Other products procured included Buzzispace’s Buzziwrap screens, Verco’s Jack tables and Flux chairs for the meeting rooms and Bisley’s Buddy and Be Frames storage units. The incredible views, of course, come courtesy of Edinburgh itself!w
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Client Cadence Interior Design Form Design Consultants Furniture Provider obo life Desking Haworth Desk Screens Haworth Collection (BuzziSpace) Storage Bisley Booths/Pods Haworth Collection (Framery) Meeting Tables Haworth Meeting Chairs Verco
Buon appetito! A celebration of Italian flavours spread over two floors; Eataly London has finally arrived. Founded in 2007, Eataly was born from Oscar Farinetti’s idea to showcase Italian biodiversity and create an informal and natural place to eat, shop and learn under one roof, now boasts over 40 locations across the globe.
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hen the Farinettis and their team chose London for Eataly’s latest location, it was natural for them to turn to longstanding collaborator and global partner, Structure Tone, to deliver their new premises, after successfully delivering projects in New York, Toronto and Dallas, where a vast reservoir of knowledge and relationships had been amassed. Inspired by Italy’s love of great food and drink, Eataly’s brand-new premises at 135 Bishopsgate offers a plethora of restaurants, bars, kitchens, retail and even a cookery school. Flavour and conviviality are the two golden threads which run through each of the various spaces; however, pulling off such a feat – where the interiors have been stripped right back to spotlight the culinary delights – takes a consistently restrained approach to design, engineering and construction, Structure Tone’s Jack Dixon and Nik Quarm tell us. We take a tour of this cathedral of slow food and fine wine. As you walk through the main Eataly illuminated revolving doors, the bustling streets of London are forgotten as you enter a space known as the Gran Bar. Choice is the order of the day, with open displays of treats to grab and go, and a seating area for those wishing to people-watch. An elliptical marble-topped servery stands in the centre of the double height space, with an Italian feature pendant light floating above. Instead of having your eye drawn to the aesthetics of set-piece architecture, the servery has been templated to work in conjunction with the feature light to create ‘desire lines’, which draw the visitor intuitively towards the fresh coffee, chocolate, ice creams and cocktails. ‘The real genius of Eataly is the food people discover as the design moves them through a series of ‘magic portals’,’ opposite The main
entrance and Gran Bar photos: hufton & crow
above A corridor lit by Policelli lightbulbs and filled with pastries and desserts, aptly titled La Via del Dolce (the sweet spot corridor) left The Gastronomy Bar area
Client Eataly Architect Studio Eataly and Gensler Interior Design Studio Eataly and Structure Tone Project Management Blackburn & Co Cost Consultants Alinea
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HOSPITALITY Eataly
top & above The Cucina del Mercato restaurant
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says Structure Tone Project Director Jack Dixon. ‘Every bar is designed to draw the foodie’s gaze, with services hidden out of sight and a restrained palette of materials – natural timbers, textured walls, marble-topped counters, Corten steel staircases, warm lighting – combined to ensure slow food is the star!’ From the Gran Bar, visitors are led to a sparking corridor lit by a canopy of Policelli light bulbs,with tiled flooring denoting the crossing of another threshold, this time a trove of desserts and sweet treats inthe Pastry Lab (think an Italian Willy Wonka designed by Dolce & Gabbana, the team describes). The space then opens into the Gastronomy area, where simple lighting tracks keep the focus on food. Eataly’s rustic theme continues in the lobby where a textured acid-wash wall finish provides a flourish to an area that includes
takeaway fridges and checkouts for customers as they funnel through the entrance/exit. The double height space entices visitors up the escalator, featuring a mural depicting the history of the Eataly brand, before being immersed in a lighting installation at the top. The feature lighting, by Creative Cables, required the installation of a temporary crash deck above the staircase and escalator opening, Jack tells us – enabling the team to form a plasterboard bulkhead and install the 236 pendant lights at varying suspension heights, tapering on both sides to achieve a sense of envelopment for a visitor journeying to the first floor. At the top sits Natoora, the first London concession of the revered farmer’s market brand. The Cucina del Mercato restaurant follows, where clean, modernist metalwork and a
Furniture with a mission. Font by Matti Klenell
offecct.com
HOSPITALITY Eataly
top An impressive mural and
lighting installation entices visitors to the first floor
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templated timber curved countertop match the curved lighting track above. Pizza restaurants, wine caves, and traditional trattorias follow before arriving at the Rotunda – an iconic part of Bishopsgate, once symbolising the empire of Fred Goodwin’s RBS – now the home of private dining celebrations. ‘Where thankfully the only thing getting shredded will be basil leaves!’ Jack adds. The clean lines created by impediment-free floors and ceilings allow the space to draw people in. Acoustic sonaspray has been applied directly to the rib-deck, coordinated alongside the plasterboard ceilings and high-level services, which include more feature pendant lights from Creative Cables. ‘Fitting such an aspirational design intent, whilst also delivering a highly commercial retail space into the frame of a commercial office block – built at a time when investment banker shoulder-padded traders drove DeLoreans – required a considered approach,’ Structure Tone Senior Project Manager Nik Quarm tells us. ‘The preconstruction period was spent modelling the architectural elements
in the Revit model, as well as the services. This enabled much-needed flexibility to protect Eataly’s design intent despite the complex issues associated with the fit-out, which emerged, and the complexity of interfacing with Eataly’s own global supply chain. ‘The construction strategy retains Eataly’s sense of mystique, with all services pulled as tight as possible to the underside of the slab. By specifying plant and machinery with relatively high power to mass ratios, and cable for its malleability, the services have been kept above the public’s eyeline.’ As Eataly develops, a focal point will no doubt be the bar and restaurant, Terra (open in September), with its marble chamfered counters, blond timbers and acid washed floor tied together with the use of biophilia and simple lighting. In a city starved of hugs and lunches, Eataly will undoubtedly be a popular space to come together in a post-pandemic London.w
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THE FINAL WORD
App Hazard I do worry sometimes that I am turning into my grandfather, Criteo’s Mike Walley admits. He was a man rooted in his working class upbringing, proud of his history as a soldier and as a lifelong employee of London Transport and, despite the huge technological changes he saw in his lifetime (The Wright Brothers to the Apollo moon landings, for example), he remained a committed technophobe to anything invented after about 1970. He obviously felt most needs had been met and any further tinkering was, well, tinkering.
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Now don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of apps in general, but I think the best ones are those that help me access data in a fast and intuitive way.
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Mike Walley is Senior Director of Global Real Estate & Workplace Strategy at Criteo 68 | Mix 213 June 2021
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s I look at the huge proliferation of apps that are suddenly appearing, offering everything from desk booking to holistic wellness tracking, I begin to have an appreciation of his position. In the last few weeks I have been offered apps that allow me to return to the office safely (a current market favourite), apps to help me NOT return to the office and yet still build meaningful work relationships and, most intriguingly, an app that collates all the data in my life, such as schedules, bank statements, medical data etc and works out which bit is giving me most worry before helping me navigate a way out of the stress. Although, there doesn’t appear to be a section to input the pressure created by all the salesmen pestering me with their latest app. A mere oversight, I am sure. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of apps in general, but I think the best ones are those that help me access data in a fast and intuitive way. Think rail timetables, weather forecasts, news feeds, banking etc. I am also happy to concede that movie streaming and electronic books also have their place, but apps that try and manipulate the human condition always strike me as overreaching. I sense it is driven in part by a fear of the unknown. As we all head out of our various lockdowns, there is a lot of uncertainty out there. How will we work in offices again? How will we stay connected? Will I remember how to be social? The only thing I am fairly confident of is that no app will fix it. It puts me in mind of a story I have already told in these pages about the coffee machine manufacturer who added voice recognition to their product. Unfortunately, they designed it in such a way
that, by requiring a button to be pressed before speaking, they simply added a step to what was already a simple process. That is exactly what a lot of these apps are doing. Think about an app that helps me make a social connection in the workplace for lunch (they exist!). After going to all the trouble of finding and installing the app, I let it be known that I am free for lunch. I then get a response from the one person on the planet I don’t want to have lunch with. I know how the conversation will go.... Them: ‘Let’s have sushi’ Me: ‘Sorry, I don’t like sushi, maybe Thai?’ Them: ‘You just haven’t had good sushi yet’ Me: ‘I ate it in Japan’ Them: ‘Ah! This is California style. It’s different. You’ll like it’ Me: ‘But...’ And so on...added complication thanks to the app. I think we should all just have a little faith in our natural abilities to connect in the workplace (virtual or otherwise). It may occasionally take a little more effort in these times, but it still just boils down to one person reaching out to another. By all means build me an app that will help me work out how to buy split tickets on the East Coast Mainline trains so I can get to Edinburgh without needing to sell all my worldly possessions – but leave the lunch dates to me. So...you busy? Fancy Thai? w
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