Understanding occupancy levels – a core metric for business success

The BCO’s Review of Post-Pandemic UK Office Utilisation was published mid-July. I authored the review with data provided by three different sources of utilisation dataⁱ and input from a host of workplace industry expertsⁱⁱ. A key objective was to advise developers, architects and engineers on how lower occupancy levels and utilisation reduces occupant density such that a building’s infrastructure, based on an assumed higher density, may be over-specified and energy inefficient.

As a workplace strategist I am more interested in how utilisation studies can be used to determine the optimum number of desks and meeting spaces etc., informing the required building size, for occupiers moving to a new office. Since the COVID pandemic, office workers have literally voted with their feet with many not returning to the office full time. Not understanding future occupancy levels can lead to wasted space which both incurs unnecessarily higher property costs and is not sustainable, due to building, heating, servicing empty space. In contrast, it may lead to underestimating the required space, as recently experienced by HSBC with their 7,700 desks shortfall, which clearly impacts the success of any business.

I went to a land down under

I spent the month of March in Australia, and it took me over 45 years to get there. Just before leaving school in 1979, I wrote that I planned to become an electrician and emigrate to Australia (but ended up a psychologist in the UK after a short spell of medical electronics). My trip to Oz was long overdue, and my biggest regret is leaving it so long. Lessoned learned, carpe diem.

Isn’t biophilic design just good design?

I was at the first Biophilic Design Conference, hosted by the Journal of Biophilic Design, last week, an excellent conference and a question frequently raised by both the speakers and the delegates was “isn’t biophilic design just good design?”. I would say yes in general but, as I discussed with Chris Moriarty and Ian Ellison of Audiem, for biophilic design to stand alone there must be examples of biophilic design that is poor design and cases of good design that is not biophilic design. I believe such scenarios exist.

Alfresco Breaks Boost Productivity: Lessons from the Workplace Trends Conference

At yesterday’s Workplace Trends conference, NicolaMillard reminded us that the brain can only cope with four hours of intense work each day – see Pang for more details. It reminded me of Tony Schwartz’s Energy Project, which proposes we can work intensely for 90-minute periods, so long as we take a proper 20-minute break between them, and three such periods of intense work per day is more than most will achieve. Also, let’s not forget the Display Screen Equipment Regulations which recommends a 10-minute break every hour or so. Counterintuitively, it seems the key to productivity is to take regular breaks. 

Why is your office empty?

Various reports indicate that while office space utilisation has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic it is much lower than previously. For example, Remit Consulting’s ReTurn project, comprising of security access (swipe-card) data from 13 UK companies with 155 office buildings and circa 200,000 occupants, shows the current utilisation rate to be around 32%. Having two-thirds of office space empty is neither good for sustainability or creating a vibrant and enticing workspace. 

My recent research, with Dr Gary Raw, conducted in partnership with MillerKnoll, explores approaches to enticing the workforce back to the office (see the summary or full report). The research findings were presented to industry experts and their thoughts subsequently captured in an IN Magazine supplement. 

Are you or your clients planning an office relocation or refurbishment? Or do you need to review an existing workspace to ensure it still supports the organisation?

Unlike other sectors, architecture and the real estate industry do not automatically collate customer feedback to improve their current and future products and services. However, BREEAM, WELL and BIM all require a Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) to be conducted to achieve certification, and RIBA and BSI recommend them as best practice.

Back to Research

I recently completed a workplace strategy for a major investment bank and I’m now conducting some independent research, which I will share later this year. 

I genuinely enjoy carrying out research, it was my first career, but more importantly research informs my core services of workplace strategy and design briefing. My academic colleagues may disagree, but research must be applied rather than blue sky or theoretical. It should also be conducted in a reasonable time scale, at an affordable price, with a practical approach so that the results can be quickly adopted rather than wait years for complicated research to be completed, and out of date when eventually published.