In our series of guest blogs by speakers and supporters of our up-coming Workplace Trends Autumn Conference in London: People, Place, Performance, conference manager Maggie Procopi discusses biomimicry and biophilia, which have been engaging topics of discussion at recent conferences.
Over recent years at our Workplace Trends Conferences we’ve been lucky enough to welcome Michael Pawlyn and later Richard James MacCowan to speak on biomimicry, as well as Bill Browning and Oliver Heath on biophilia.
They enthralled audiences with tales of how the natural world can solve human problems through design solutions (biomimicry) and by satisfying our innate need to connect with nature (biophilia).
But biomimicry is more than just the famous design solutions we hear about, like the stability, aesthetics and economies of the Eden Project’s bubble raft shapes, or Sharklet Technologies printing sharkskin patterns onto adhesive film, which repels bacteria and so is ideal for installation in schools and hospitals, or harvesting water in the desert like the Stenocara Beetle.
Biomimicry casts its net wider than just design. The human race has only been here a fraction of the time that nature has. We can look to the wild world for tips and best practice on people management and leadership. Just Google and learn – from how a wolf pack works to the way a beehive operates and ant colonies manage themselves.
Most interestingly for the workplace is that nature never throws anything away, unlike our largely linear economy (make, use, dispose).
In a 2010 TED talk, ‘Using Nature’s Genius in Architecture’, Michael Pawlyn illustrated a ‘close-looped system’ (circular economy) with the ‘Cardboard to Caviar Project’. Put simply, restaurant waste was turned into horse bedding, then fed to worms, which were fed to fish, whose caviar was then served at the same restaurant. Nothing is wasted, and the whole process is economically and environmentally profitable.
Over the past 10 years, PwC has systematically applied the principles of the Circular Economy to its business. I’m especially delighted that Bridget Jackson from PwC will be sharing their experiences at our up-coming conference on 17 October 2018. It’s a story that has inspired BITC to create a Circular Office programme, with c. 75 companies now signed up to follow suit.
So as well as pondering the FM budget sheet, we need to take a hard look at the contents of our bins at home and work. What things need never be in existence at all (over-packaging, I cry!), what might be reused, what might be properly recycled?
Post by Maggie Procopi, event manager of the Workplace Trends and Design & Management of Learning Environments Conferences.
This article was originally published at FM World.
Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash
Further in our series of guest blogs by speakers and supporters of our up-coming Workplace Trends Autumn Conference in London: People, Place, Performance, top workplace recruiter James Saunders looks at the benefits for him of attending the conference.
Workplace Trends London 2018 is fast approaching and I’m already looking forward to it.
Last year it was great to meet more workplace professionals, network with existing clients and candidates, along with learning more of the industry from some great speakers. All the topics for this year are going to be compelling, with Artificial Intelligence as one area which I’m particularly interested in. Hearing that AI could be changing how the workplace is not only designed, but what it could mean for the future of Workplace Recruitment and similarly other industries, will be invaluable knowledge for me.
For most that know me, you will know I’m professional and love the workplace world, but also enjoy a bit of humour and apply a common-sense approach – Last year I was met with several tongue and cheek comments (mostly from those I knew) as to the surprise of a ‘recruiter’ attending an Industry Workplace event!
I welcome such conversations and I attend because I enjoy it and it adds value to my work. I find it a real benefit attending Workplace events throughout the year, so I can understand more about the industry, and specifically the thoughts on future ways of working and thinking for the workplace community.
Having this industry knowledge from guest speakers and professionals allows me to further understand the sector, clients and candidates; by knowing the latest trends and topics, along with a solid understanding of my clients’ businesses, I can present the right workplace professionals to the right companies. I like to work as a partner to my clients, providing advice and introductions to available talent in the industry as well as taking on specific headhunting assignments. The event is a great place to meet new professionals, who may just know me as the ‘workplace recruiter’ on LinkedIn, and to catch up with some of my current clients and candidates who will also be attending.
To anyone in the workplace industry, I would highly recommend attending Workplace Trends 2018 – it may just give you an idea of what the industry could look like in the next 5-10 years, you’ll meet your industry peers, oh and if you are lucky you may bump into me!
Guest post by James Saunders of The Talent Locker.
James will be one of our exhibitors at Workplace Trends London on 17 October 2018.
Photo thanks to rawpixel on Unsplash
Continuing our series of guest blogs by speakers and supporters of our up-coming Workplace Trends Autumn Conference in London: People, Place, Performance, Durable’s Jonathan Brune introduces the concept of Visual Ergonomics.
Mega-trends like increasing digitisation, individualisation and urbanisation are rapidly changing the way we work. For example, it is no longer necessary to work in one place. Modern workplace designs and office furniture already strongly favour agile working, open office layouts and flexibility.
Ergonomic workspaces are playing an increasing role in today’s working world. Desk-sharing workstations must allow different users to adjust the desk height, seating and monitor position.
Acoustic systems are installed to absorb high noise emissions as well as improved ventilation and air-conditioning units to support better air quality.
However, lighting, which is also an essential aspect of workplace economics, often remains completely unconsidered.
When planning a workplace, Lighting Designers often operate on the principle that the definition of ‘light’ is ‘enough to be able to see well and cope with the tasks that will be undertaken in the space’.
Yet, recent scientific research shows that ‘light’ is far from being sufficient to provide good vision. This becomes particularly significant when comparing people of different age groups.
As a result of the darkening of the eye lens with age, a 60-year-old requires approximately two to two and a half times as much illuminance as a mid-20-year-old to achieve comparable vision.
Everyone has a personal daily rhythm which is ‘circadian’, meaning that it is driven by light and roughly synchronised with day and night.
Clinical studies have proven that some modern LED lamps which can almost completely replicate the colour spectrum of sunlight have a biological effect on the production of the hormone melatonin, just like sunlight. So these lamps can give you the same biological ‘triggers’ as you get outside even when you are indoors.
Biologically Effective Light can:
Planning regulations exist for new and renovated buildings which ensure a minimum level of illuminance and uniformity of light distribution. But there are a few flaws in these principles:
So it can be argued that traditional lighting concepts are falling behind other areas of a workplace in adapting to modern working. They no longer fit the New Work Order. But increasing knowledge of the importance of Visual Ergonomics is set to change this.
Visual ergonomics is providing flexible workplace lighting. Just as you can adjust an office chair to suit a user’s requirements, you can change the light over your work station.
Visual ergonomics allows you to:
Unfortunately many lighting systems do not have these features as standard so remember to check and request them when specifying your lighting requirements.
Guest post by Jonathan Brune of Durable.
Jonathan will be speaking at Workplace Trends London on 17 October 2018.
Continuing our series of guest blogs by speakers and supporters of our up-coming Workplace Trends Autumn Conference in London: People, Place, Performance, Herman Miller’s Mark Catchlove asks, “Have you heard it all before?” (Looking at our programme we don’t think so!)
Agile Working, The Future of Work, The Generations at Work, Social Capital in The Workplace, An Engaged Workforce, New Ways of Working – the list goes on and on.
I know some of you reading this may well have heard all there is to hear about these subjects and there will also be some amongst you think the subjects have been overdone. The reality is however, that you are in an elite and somewhat privileged minority. As I travel around Europe delivering seminars, I find that there is still a thirst for insight into these and many more subjects looking at the role workplace can play in today’s business world. Many are interested in what’s happening now, as well as what the future may hold, so that they can improve the whole work and workplace experience.
Seminars are attended by a range of people with a variety of agendas.
One thing I always ensure is that the occupiers attending realise that whilst what we share may add to their knowledge bank, they will benefit from working with experienced and trained consultants to maximise the opportunity to deliver a great outcome.
So, please be patient with those of us who regularly commission and share workplace knowledge. I know you may have heard it all before, but I hope you will accept that not everyone has.
If you are knowledgeable about workplace matters, why not look at ways you can share some of the knowledge in interactive workshops, or even by putting yourself forward to speak at the many conferences that are now being organised.
There is also the added benefit of networking in a real, rather than a virtual environment. Don’t ever underestimate the value of networking in the current climate. You never know, you might even learn something new.
“I work best when I’m pushed to the edge. When I’m at the point where my pride is subdued, where I’m an innocent again” Bill Stumpf
Guest post by Mark Catchlove, Herman Miller.
First published at Mark Catchlove’s Blog
Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels
In this guest post Christopher Glass of workagile describes the concept of Salutogenic Design.
What if health became the basis for judging every public space, every building, every workplace and every home?
Carolyn-Rickard-Brideau explains salutogenic design as “A measurable aspect of design that can help people operate at peak performance and help them to maintain physical and mental wellbeing. It is the ultimate investment in people in an architectural sense.”
Coined by Anton Antonovsky, Salutogenesis links health with the ability to comprehend, manage and apply meaning to stress, understood as a “sense of coherence.” The higher the sense of coherence, the less negative the impact of stress will have on mental and physical health. The three factors integral to a sense of coherence are:
Salutogenesis is thus most easily explained as the opposite to pathogenesis – fighting disease and illness once a condition has appeared. Whilst we hear a lot about fitness, managing diet and taking time to pause effectively in our day to day lives, there are more subtle aspects to the promotion of good health that are particularly relevant to the design of the workspace – daylight, sound, colour, ability to interact with nature, space, human interaction, empowerment, privacy and more. As people are likely to spend between 80,000 and 100,000 hours of their lives at work, it is critical that workplace design is a solutogenic design.
Dilani and many other architects, designers and theorists have begun to further explore Antonovsky’s salutogenesis theory and to approach architecture, interior design and urban design through a salutogenic lens. In doing so, they have provided useful framework to guide designers and planners who want to consider how the physical environment impacts wellness factors in order to promote health. Mapping design attributes to Antonvosky’s sense of coherence factors could look something like this:
In workspace design, elements of salutogenic design are becoming apparent as designers create spaces that encourage activity, creating outside work spaces, making internal stairs more engaging to encourage their use, and laying out enriched environments that provide the variety and novelty that humans instinctively seek.
The ideal spatial framework for salutogenic design is thought to translate into three key components: welcoming spaces for meeting and social exchange, familiar spaces for orientation and reassurance and quiet spaces for focus and/or restoration.
Designers are now beginning to understand the importance of designing restorative elements in buildings – these typically involve views to natural settings and biophilic elements that provide a sense of scale, offering a calming evolutionary memory which has been shown to reduce blood pressure and stress levels. These places provide a place for unconscious processing in the brain and allow a renewal of attention and focus.
Spaces are now being considered as complex ecological systems where salutogenic design intervention can lead to new structures of interaction, new resources, and individual, social, and organisational learning.
In the design world, Salutogenic design is being evaluated and endorsed through vehicles such as the Delos WELL Building Certification which focuses not just on those well-known elements of the wellness industry such as air, water and light but also elements associated with comfort, nourishment, fitness and mind. Salutogenic design has been shown to provide sensory design with high outputs, be cost-effective, sustainable and require very little maintenance.
Whilst biophilic design is about engaging with nature and natural elements to help with the restoration process, salutogenic design encompasses these elements and much more with the aim of encouraging active health, productivity and efficiency. It is easy to see why salutogenic design is beginning to represent international best and emerging practice in workspace design.
Guest post by Christopher Glass of workagile.
Workagile will be at our Workplace Trends London conference on 15 October 2019.
In the first of our guest posts from supporters and contributors to our Workplace Trends London Conference on 17 October 2018, Vanessa Champion of Argenta Wellness takes a look at biophilia for the workplace and in healthcare.
For many of you reading this article, you’ll likely know all about it, or at least have heard the terms “biophilia” or “biophilic design” used in various magazines or newspapers, in fact I see it’s recently been covered in media outlets as random as NBC and the Daily Mail.
Companies like yours and mine, if you subscribe to these wonderful Workplace Trends updates, know the huge benefits that nature, biophilic and human-centric design can bring, not only to our health and wellbeing but also to companies’ staff retention and bottom lines. And it is also likely that you, like us, are creating some amazing spaces and transforming lives.
At Argenta Wellness, we were established after witnessing first hand, the total difference a simple image of nature made in an NHS isolation ward. From a view of a grey messy pinboard, dustbin and clock, the patient’s view was transformed into a vista of calm and beauty. Doctors and nurses commented on what a positive and refreshing difference it made, and were amazed that the print could be cleaned and was hospital grade. I suppose they were used to Ikea prints that harbour dust and the subject matter of New York taxis in a traffic jam is not that appropriate for inducing calmness and wellbeing! As founder of our company, I now have a personal bee in my bonnet to bring nature into every NHS in the country. If you would like to join us on this journey, let’s talk!
The thing is, while I am talking with heads of procurement for acute care wards, it is the administration staff and also other suppliers who are approaching us to bring biophilic enhancements into their offices too. Knowing the value and understanding the qualitative evidence-based research that has been done on biophilic design in workplaces and hospitals has been key in unlocking interest and sales. It’s not all pretty pictures and pricing.
I honestly don’t think it will be long before Jo Public will start sharing and shouting #biophilia from the rooftops, Instagramming like mad and over-taking #hygge and #lagom as the new must-have trendy term. The important thing though, is for us as professionals and pioneers of biophilic design to ensure that people are educated properly, that they understand what it is, what types of images make a difference, what lighting is best, what shapes and spaces make for happier homes and workplaces. Events such as these inspirational conferences run by Workplace Trends, bring us all together, one big voice and a strong movement to make people’s lives better. Our company is one piece in the biophilic jigsaw puzzle, which is why we work with designers, innovators, disruptors and other suppliers, together we can make a bigger positive impact.
I am learning all the time, and I am excited how future workplaces will look, heartened by media coverage of the benefits of biophilia, although they are churning out the same quotes from EO Wilson. Maybe there is a need for a “standard” in biophilic design? I’d be on the board like a shot!
Guest post by Vanessa Champion of Argenta Wellness
Photo copyright Vanessa Champion.
Vanessa and Argenta Wellness will be at our supporting exhibition at Workplace Trends London on 17 October 2018.
We’re often approached by companies and individuals who’d like to speak at our events. Our presentation slots are filled by a mix of invitation, Google searches, and direct approach from speakers and we’re always interested to hear from potential presenters. Please note the following guidelines:
Speakers should be:
– Recognised experts in their field &/or occupier/client-side professionals, and
– Experienced presenters and good communicators – ideally TED or TEDx level, and
– Active on social media with a reasonably-sized following – Twitter and LinkedIn.
– Familiar with our audience. We love it if our speakers have already been to one or more of our events. That way they know our audience – who are VERY well informed, friendly, but also challenging.
Subject matter should be:
– Pitch-free, and
– Original theory, backed up by research, or
– Results of recent research, or
– Relevant case studies
£££:
– We do not accept payment in return for speaking slots. Period. Sponsoring does not mean you can speak.
– Equally we do not generally have large budgets to pay speakers, but we do expect to at least cover expenses and we like to think we’re quite nice people to deal with!
So if you have an idea for a presentation at any time, please drop a line to maggie@workplacetrends.co.uk.
We’ll be live blogging our Learning Environments Conference on 17 May.
Bookmark this page, follow and tweet using #LearnEnvConf to take part!
(If you’re having trouble reading the blog below, please visit this alternative site.)
We had a great day at our Copenhagen Conference at DTU on Wednesday 9 May 2018.
Read the Live #wtrendsDK Blog by Su Butcher below. (If you have trouble viewing the page below please try this link.)
Author: Maggie Procopi
If you couldn’t make it in person to the last Workplace Trends Conference on 18 October, check out these write-ups.
It’s not quite the same as being there, but you’ll get a feel for the great day that was had by all!
Huge thanks to all contributors!