Facility Manager

September 29, 2017

The True Cost of Noise

Dead silence can be an intimidating working environment. Some sound in any workplace is generally desirable: pleasing background sounds like the gentle, indecipherable babble of colleagues speaking, one’s own choice of music or perhaps the sounds of nature coming through an open window. However, much of the sound in typical workplaces is undesirable: ringing phones,…

January 23, 2017

Biophilic Design at Cranfield University

When refurbishing the Water Sciences Department at Cranfield University, Tracy Flynn, Development Project Manager, wanted to create a flexible space that would provide staff and students with areas to work independently, as well as places where they could work collaboratively to discuss ideas. Tracy was keen to use the principles of biophilic design – which…

September 9, 2016

Top Trends for the Future of Workspaces

These are the big trends we’re seeing regarding the future of workspaces. 1. Co-Working A proliferation of co-working venues with sophisticated and comprehensive amenities previously only found in high-end corporate fitouts. Internationally renowned British designer, Tom Dixon, has recently designed Interchange, a purpose-built co-working space in Camden, London – three shiny glass and metal buildings…

October 19, 2015

The Role of Landscape Architecture in Creating Biophilic Environments

When we think of biophilic design, we think of nature. Its primary intention to reintroduce nature into our built environments. Yet much of the project and literature focus of biophilic design has been on interior environments. What about applications of biophilic design to the external built environment? There is a noticeable bias towards architecture and…

September 30, 2015

How Can We Design Mindful Offices?

How can we design the mindful office? What would a mindful office look and feel like? An introduction to mindfulness We live and work in a world full of distracting pollution. With increased digital connectivity through access to emails, social media, the web’s encyclopedic repository of information and all the other distractions that are commonplace…

April 22, 2015

Can We Identify “Healthy” Products?

What’s hot in green building right now? No, global warming isn’t hot, despite growing alarm about extreme weather events. What’s hot is health. Specifically anything related to the potential health impacts of building products. The rise of the WELL Building Standard and the addition of a day-long Materials and Human Health Summit to Greenbuild provide…

April 20, 2015

Sick Building Syndrome and the Importance of Good Air Quality

We are all familiar with the term ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ as a term that is bandied around to imply an unhealthy environment to be in. But what makes a building ‘sick’? And what are its effects? Sick Building Syndrome affects the well-being of those who spend time within it. The symptomatic effects are a sore…

March 23, 2015

Rethinking Office Space: Google’s Vision on Building Design

Like a number of big tech companies, Google is growing fast. In the past they have acquired/hired existing buildings, but recently they have presented their vision for great office spaces, which they will build from scratch. “The idea is simple. Instead of constructing immoveable concrete buildings, we’ll create lightweight block-like structures which can be moved…

October 7, 2014

What Workers Want From Their Office Space

Our recent Human Spaces study into the impact of the work environment on employee well-being asked more than 3,600 office workers what mattered most to them about their workspace. One of the questions we asked respondents was “What was the top natural element that European office workers would want on their modern office wish list?”…