GSSARCHITECTURE have been involved with a range of office projects, delivered from the head office in Northamptonshire and regional studios located across the country.
Commissions for new-build, converted and remodelled offices are on the rise, reflecting an increasing call for modern workplaces. In the next five years more than 50 per cent of the workforce in office environments will have been born between 1980 and 2000 – Millennials – and designs and the availability of flexible and easily adaptable office space is essential to meet the ever-changing needs of this evolving workforce.
Tom Lyons, Partner at GSSArchitecture said: “It is commercially essential to all our developer and business clients that they understand the importance of creating environments that support work practices, both now and in the future. Spaces need to be flexible and adaptable and best respond to their workforce’s needs, whilst at the same time giving them an efficient and well-utilised asset in the form of their building, whether it is a new-build development or an adaptation of existing space.”
This creative approach increases office space utilisation, either by increasing occupancy or reducing the need for surplus space which has a cost to build and run.
In addition, employees have a work environment and working practices that are better suited to their way of operating, thinking and productivity, which promotes collaboration, communication, innovation, mobile working and the integration and utilisation of digital and mobile technologies, and an environment that reduces absenteeism and supports staff retention.
GSSArchitecture are developing this knowledge and expertise further, utilising their latest new-build office project, the six storey £50m innovation hub on a new city centre science park. The practice has teamed up with academics from universities to develop research into efficient and appropriate working environments, using the design development of the new innovation hub as a vehicle. This work has included researching which approaches best benefit employers and UK developers of offices by exploring new work environments in the UK, USA and Europe.
In addition to the new-build office projects currently being delivered by the practice for developers and end user clients, GSSArchitecture are also seeing an increasing market for rethinking existing commercial space. Repurposing of existing space has been the demand of a number of recent projects including the conversion of town centre retail space into offices. –
GSSArchitecture would be pleased to hear from developers and employers on their workplace experiences as part of this research. Contact Tom Lyons on 01536 513165.
