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With the very nature of work undergoing rapid evolution, it’s no surprise that the format of actual work spaces is becoming a key consideration for businesses everywhere.
While the one-size-fits-all traditional private office environment once ruled the roost, today’s drive for greater flexibility means that options like coworking spaces are becoming increasingly attractive.
So, just what are the major differences between traditional and shared spaces, and what are the key factors to consider when deciding the right type of premises for your business?

Owen Thomson | Nov 19, 2019
​(Article Ref: https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news)

Long term v short term
Bottom-line considerations are always a major driver for any business when considering premises. For organisations looking to avoid the costs and commitment of a traditional long-term lease, coworking spaces can provide a flexible – and cost-effective – alternative.
“Coworking spaces are ideal for companies that don’t want to pay for traditional overheads like rent, electricity, technology and infrastructure,” says John Cooksey, director of Melbourne-based HR consultancy Affinity People.
“They offer a lower-cost, lower-commitment, flexible entry into a particular market. This could be highly attractive for a company that’s coming into the country that doesn’t know if it’s going to stay long term.”

​Coworking is are becoming increasingly attractive for many businesses. Photo: Spaces

​Networking v distraction-free
For companies that recognise value in having their staff interact with workers from other industries and areas of expertise, coworking spaces are an obvious choice.
However, there can still be reasons to opt for more traditional environments, particularly for those who crave stability and continuity.
“A major upside of coworking spaces is the ability to network,” says Cooksey.
“There’s always different sorts of people around and they tend to be all looking to connect in one way or another.
“A lot of coworking spaces also provide regular networking opportunities, regular coffee meet-ups, and bring in guest speakers. I even heard of one space putting in a golf simulator. There’s a limit, of course – that fine line between connecting people for positive outcome versus creating a distraction people don’t need.”

​Desks in the Spaces coworking office in The Wentworth, in Perth. Photo: Spaces

Stability v innovation
For some businesses, office continuity can reap enormous benefits around worker mindset and productivity. For others, the dynamism of a coworking space can inspire new and exciting outcomes.
“If you’re the type of person who likes continuity and being part of an ongoing cohesive team, you’re not the sort of person who should put your business into a coworking space,” says Cooksey. “However, if you like the idea of a contemporary, dynamic, shared, collaborative space with all the possibilities for rapid change that it entails, it might be just the thing.”
Cooksey says some larger companies are putting their project teams into coworking spaces to inspire new ways of thinking.
“As a result of removing them from the traditional working model, they’re actually finding that teams in these new environments are nimbler and are more able to respond to changes in the market.”
When it comes to the provision of dynamic shared spaces, Amsterdam-born coworking pioneer, Spaces – part of the International Workplace Group (IWG) – is meeting a vital need.

​The boardroom of The Wentworth. Photo: Spaces

​Offering a range of flexible workspace solutions, including fully furnished offices, coworking spaces, meeting rooms and virtual offices, Spaces operates six coworking locations across Australia, including recently opened premises in Perth’s Wentworth Building and Melbourne’s One Melbourne Quarter. Spaces at Sydney’s Martin Place and Brisbane’s Riparian Plaza will be open in early 2020.
According to Damien Sheehan, country head of Spaces Australia, the decision to opt for a coworking environment is governed by a range of factors.
“It all comes down to individual business needs,” he says. “For example, it’s the perfect option for companies that are looking to boost team collaboration within a community environment, which enables stimulating interactions with like-minded people.

​Coworking spaces are ideal for companies that don’t want to pay for traditional overheads. Photo: Spaces

​“From a budgetary perspective, the option is also highly attractive. We provide fully furnished workspaces for companies of all sizes, offering flexible contract terms and the freedom to expand or reduce workspaces based on changing business needs.
“At the same time, we provide the type of services and facilities available in a professional workspace, such as barista coffee, secure business-grade internet, high-speed Wi-Fi, friendly receptionists, administrative supports, plus worldwide access to all Spaces business clubs.”
This article has been created in partnership with Spaces.

Millennials are eschewing large pay packets in preference to having wellness facilities, flexible hours and training included in their remuneration contracts, according to the latest Avdiev report.
While cash remains king, the idea of having a better culture, improved office conditions with a focus on wellbeing, such as yoga rooms, and sustainable lighting and agile and flexible work spaces are higher on the list of requirements.
The Avdiev Remuneration report is a formal Australia-wide survey of remuneration in the property, investment, development and construction employers and design and building consulting companies.
The report shows that pay rises remain subdued in the property sector, but still ahead of the general workforce.

The Sydney Morning Herald   Carolyn Cummins | Oct 16, 2019
​(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/news)​

​But 46 per cent of respondents said they are developing new “non-remuneration” policies to motivate and retain their teams.
“The young are still ahead, average increases were 2.5 per cent for senior and mid-level staff and 3 per cent for the juniors, with the building and construction and IT sectors faring best,” Avdiev managing director Rita Avdiev said.
“Remuneration structures are being reviewed and refined to reflect strategies put in place early in 2019.
“These include a better pay and incentive mix, changing performance targets, aligning pay for performance to market practices and developing new non-remuneration policies, being flexible hours, wellbeing and mental health programs, culture and training.”
On a sector basis, property development is the most lucrative for the industry, with an average pay of $280,000 a year, followed by a senior analyst in property investment, funds & trusts management, who garners about $153,000 per annum.
For retail management, where times are tough trying to get and keep tenants, a marketing executive earns about $149,000 a year, according to the Avdiev survey respondents.
The mixed outlook for the property investment sector is reflected in a number of sentiment data released last week by the NAB business confidence index, which fell from +1.1 points in August to a six-year low of -0.3 points in September.
Ryan Felsman, senior economist, CommSec, said despite interest rate cuts in June and July (the survey pre-dates last week’s rate cut), business confidence has fallen to six-year lows and business conditions remain stuck near five-year lows. That said, capacity utilisation remains around long-run levels, employment conditions are still above long-run average levels and mining investment is rebounding.
Australian firms continue to face mounting profit margin pressures as rising operating, purchase and labour costs weigh on constrained balance sheets. Rising global import duties are also contributing to lifting input costs.
But Ms Avdiev said employers know to ”keep the best people for the worst times” in case of a downturn in business.
She said 75 per cent of companies plan to pay the usual increase or a catch-up component, 25 per cent intend minimal or no increases.

The way we work may indeed be a work in progress, but one thing is certain: long gone are the days where a daily commute to a traditional office space is the only way to forge a meaningful career.
Today, contract and freelance work are burgeoning, with the rise of the so-called “gig economy” seeing a new generation of digital nomads exploiting tools like cloud technology and virtual conferencing to work remotely across a range of projects.
Then there’s the global rise of co-working spaces – specialist open-plan areas in which a range of different businesses work side by side. Especially popular with start-ups and small companies, they’re becoming increasingly sought-after due to the potential they offer for networking, idea sharing and collaboration.

Owen Thomson |Oct 15, 2019
(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/news)

​“Due to lifestyle and generational changes, the view of a job for life no longer exists,” says Paul Chiswick, corporate solutions director (APAC) at contingent workforce solutions provider CXC.

“While the permanent workforce will probably remain the primary model of employment for most organisations for many years, there are now a lot of people who are actually choosing to have greater flexibility.
“In fact, we’re seeing an emerging growth in high-end senior professionals who are choosing that lifestyle as well. It’s an expectation that’s actually being delivered by organisations, which are allowing this flexibility in terms of the time people work and the location at which they do it.”
Perhaps the first rule of the new employment paradigm is that there are, in fact, no rules.
Sydney-based freelance graphic designer Evan Shapiro is a case in point.
Currently combining client premises-based freelance contract roles with home-based remote freelance assignments, the print-design specialist delivers projects for a wide range of local and international clients, including not-for-profits, universities, large corporates and small businesses.

The front desk of Regus's Dandenong office, in Melbourne. Photo: Regus

“I really love the flexibility and autonomy that this model of work allows,” says Shapiro. “I’m a single dad and I co-parent, so working freelance and remotely means that I’m a lot more available to my family, which is very important to me.
“Having that control over how you spend your days is only one aspect. Being freelance also means I have the opportunity to work on a diverse range of projects for a diverse range of clients who often need very different things. Not doing the same thing every day is really interesting, and, for me, that’s a very significant drawcard,” he says.
When it comes to catering to changing work demands, global workspace provider Regus – part of IWG – is at the forefront.
Offering a range of flexible workspace solutions such as fully furnished offices, meeting rooms and virtual offices, the company operates more than 70 centres across Australia, including recently opened locations in Sydney’s World Square, Bankstown’s Flinders Centre and Dandenong in Melbourne.

The boardroom of Regus's Dandenong office. Photo: Regus

According to Damien Sheehan, national head of IWG Australia, co-working spaces enable companies to overcome uncertainty due to digitisation and disruption by offering the ability to adapt to required workforce sizes quickly.
“When we talk about conventional office space, part of the problem is its inability to adapt to particular business needs.”
Sheehan says rapidly evolving work and employment patterns are making it harder for companies to commit to traditional office spaces in the long term.
“Most managers don’t really know what they’ll need three or four years from now. This is why flexible workspace solutions are becoming increasingly relevant and sought after.
“Rather than having a one-size-fits-all office structure, our workspaces can be moulded or customised around individual businesses as they upscale or downscale, as their priorities shift, or as staffing requirements change.”
This article has been created in partnership with Regus.

Tim Church, managing director and head of real estate Australasia with UBS Investment Bank, says Australia is set to receive a lot more offshore capital.

The commercial property market is set to see a massive inflow of global capital via Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs), a leading investment banker has predicted – a result of strong returns, falling interest rates and the weak Australian dollar.
Tim Church, managing director and head of real estate Australasia with UBS Investment Bank, was speaking at the recent Australian Financial Review Property Summit in association with Commercial Real Estate.
“This is a very conducive environment for those assets,” said Mr Church. “The A-REIT average yield has been just under 6 per cent and there’s been good growth with that. We’re now starting to see a lot more retail money and institutional money come into the sector and, from an offshore perspective, it’s even more attractive.”
A-REITs have attracted significant demand from investors seeking yield, and he feels this is likely to continue in the current low-interest environment. Additionally, the Australian dollar is at very attractive levels for offshore acquirers.

Sue Williams | Oct 4, 2019
(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/news) 

​With an average return of 5.7 per cent, A-REITs compare very favourably with a Westpac five-year term deposit at 1.25 per cent, the Australian official cash rate of 1 per cent, the 10-year government bond yield of 0.96 per cent and the five-year government bond yield of 0.73 per cent.
As well, with the fall of the Australian dollar to 68 cents American, that’s a big saving for overseas investors. “A portfolio of $US2.7 billion now costs $US1.7 billion which is a billion-dollar delta,” he said.
“So we’re seeing a lot more offshore capital coming into Australia, not only because we have a stable economy, but because of the Aussie dollar. And we’ll see a lot more.”
Australian cap rates for commercial are healthy too, especially when compared to those returns from 10-year government bonds. Since the GFC in 2008, they’ve always been significantly higher, with industrial offering a 2019 yield of 5.8 per cent, office 5.2 per cent and retail 5.1 per cent.
“No one wants to catch a falling knife”
Retail was, however, proving the least attractive class, said Mr Church. “We’re not seeing people buying into Australian retail as off-shore sentiment is extremely negative. When there’s mis-pricing, mergers and acquisitions activity picks up, but it won’t pick up in retail at the moment. No one wants to catch a falling knife.
“We don’t know when we’re at the bottom of that cycle, so people don’t want to step in, and banks won’t fund take-over efforts just now.”
Yet retail in Australia is certainly not doing as badly as in some places in the world. ABS figures show that A-REITs continue to trade across all sectors at a robust premium to Net Tangible Assets (NTA) in comparison to their global peers.
Australian retail, for example, has a market capitalisation-weighted average premium (discount) to NTA of 7.1 per cent, as against -8.2 per cent in the US and -35.5 per cent in the UK.
Other sectors, however, are significantly stronger – Australian industrial at 158.4 per cent, as against 12.7 per cent in the US and 11.7 per cent in the UK, and office is at 17.1 per cent, compared to -22.7 per cent in the US and -25.6 per cent in the UK.
There’s no shortage of capital in Australia, according to Mr Church.
“We have enormous amounts of capital and they’re getting bigger and the cost of that capital with interest rates is getting cheaper. Australia’s superannuation market has grown the fastest over the past 10 years, with pension assets growing by 10.2 per cent – the fastest globally.
“From $US0.7 trillion in 2008, we now have $US1.9 trillion. Further growth in Australian pension assets will be underpinned by the super guarantee, increasing to 12 per cent by 2020.”
The lower-for-longer interest rate environment will help keep yields strong and Mr Church believes rates will continue to fall, both here and globally.
“We’re heading towards Ground Zero, a place we’ve never been to before,” he said. “I’ve even seen one Danish bank now offering a sub-zero 10-year home loan, in effect paying customers 0.5 per cent to borrow. I think the world has gone mad! But I wish I had one of those home loans …
“We’re now in unchartered territory and it’s going to be an interesting ride [but] Australia remains well-placed globally to continue to attract capital.”

Commercial property is likely to be a much better investment over the next 18 months than residential property, according to Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital, with most asset classes set to offer stronger returns.
Dr Oliver told an audience at the recent Australian Financial Review Property Summit that residential and commercial yields had done a complete turnaround over the past three and a half decades.
“In the early 1980s, you had a good yield for residential and for commercial it was a lot lower,” he said, adding, “residential went to 8 to 9 per cent gross yield, while commercial was showing just 3 per cent.”
“Now we’re in a situation where residential is less attractive. Its yield is much lower at around 2 to 3 per cent after costs, net rental yields, while commercial is more around 5 per cent, which makes it somewhat more attractive.”

​Sue Williams | Oct 2, 2019
(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/news)

​He said he didn’t see that situation changing much in the foreseeable future either, with jitters in the international markets from global economic uncertainty centring on US President Donald Trump, trade wars between China and the US, and tensions arising from the Middle East, Hong Kong and Brexit.
These factors were likely to keep Australian interest rates falling further, particularly in light of ongoing issues such as low wage growth and rising unemployment and underemployment on the horizon, although infrastructure spending, tax cuts and a weak Australian dollar could be considered positives.
But that low interest environment stretching off into the foreseeable future makes returns on bank term deposits much less alluring when compared to commercial real estate. A 10-year government bond yield of 0.9 per cent doesn’t cut it at all.
“We’re in an environment where interest rates will be low for some time,” Dr Oliver said. “They may go down to 0.25 per cent, but I don’t see them going negative as I don’t think that will work, and that’s not what Australian banks want. We’ve been in unusual periods before – such as in the 1970s and 1980s with high interest rates and high employment – but it eventually passes.”
Residential property looks less certain, too, as an investment, with speculation of a return to boom-time conditions short of the mark, according to Dr Oliver.
“With residential property, there are two extreme views,” he said. “One is that a bounceback has started a new property upswing and we’re heading towards 10 to 15 per cent returns over the next 12 months, and the other is that things are so weak that things will decline and we’ll see some property crash.
“But both are wrong, in my opinion. The truth will be somewhere in the middle, and we’ll see single-digit growth.”
In that context, commercial property is looking a much better bet for investors, although there’s a wide variance in the performance levels of different classes.
“Retail has run hard and fast, and into some trouble with the switch to online sales,” Dr Oliver said. “Rising house prices and slow spending is also leading to lower consumer spending so retail has had a bit of a rough ride in the last year or so. But now we are starting to see some uplift in yields.”
Office property, however, is faring better. There had been concerns that the trend for working from home would take over, and perhaps robots snatch our jobs obviating the need for offices for the rest of us to work in, but those fears haven’t materialised. Instead, it’s a strong market, offering good returns.
“With office property, we’re seeing an ongoing demand for space and strong investor demand driving a very tight leasing market,” said Dr Oliver. “Vacancy rates are incredibly low so that’s pushing up rents and leasing activity.
“If there were a lot more stock, I would be more concerned, or if we were going into recession. But we’re not facing either of those situations, and yields are looking reasonable to me. As years go by, we’ll see a bit of a pick-up in supply but that won’t be onerous.”
It’s a similar story too for industrial property where the growth in online sales is leading to an increase in demand for warehouse space, with Amazon, for example, wanting more warehouses to distribute their products.
“Property investors sometimes say industrial property is rats and mice, and who wants to invest in it?” said Dr Oliver. “But it offers fantastic yields and investors have realised that over time.
“I worry a little bit about it because you can put up industrial property pretty quickly, in a few days in some cases. Office buildings take years; industrial stuff seems to take a few moments in comparison. But I suspect online logistics are going to be there for a long time.”

​The physical workplace has changed to suit the modern workforce. Photo: Supplied

Perth office designs are evolving, with business leaders recognising fitouts are an investment in employee productivity.
CBRE project management director Jess Surman said the physical workplace had the potential to influence and enhance productivity and increase collaboration, which had a financial benefit to a business.
“As real estate is typically one of the largest expenses for tenants, there has been more focus on how to use space more efficiently; through detailed utilisation studies prior to fit-out, in addition to real-time tracking during occupation,” she said.
“If areas are underutilised, then they can be modified into more efficient space use.

Lisa Calautti | May 31, 2018
(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/news)

​“There is a desire to fit out highly flexible spaces, that can be used for multiple purposes and/or business units, or alternatively flex from an office one week with minor changes to become a meeting room over the weekend.”
Density ratios have changed to meet tenant efficiency requirements with office fitouts being designed for density ratios from 1:10-1:12 (staff: square metres), Colliers International office leasing director Daniel Taylor said.
“The standard layout is for 100 to 300 square metres and consists of a boardroom, a meeting room, one office and open plan in the remaining area, with linear-style sitting and standing work stations,” he said.
“One of the most recent trends in fitted-out offices is the shift away from a reception area.
“Staffed front of house areas that take up a lot of floor space are almost a thing of the past.
“They have been replaced by small waiting areas with a buzzer because it’s a more efficient use of space.”
With a tenant shift to wireless workplaces, fitouts are also being completed without cabling.
Some fitouts are being offered with a flexible design so new tenants can add more offices/meeting rooms as needed.
Savvy owners have also been fitting out speculative tenancies to attract “set and forget” tenants.
Knight Frank head of office leasing WA Greg McAlpine said building owners who had gone on the front foot and improved their offering had been the most successful during the past year.
The nature of fitouts had changed with the pendulum of open-plan offices swinging back a little, with separate offices in large fitouts but no longer in peak locations with views, Mr McAlpine said.
There was still a strong push for staff break-out areas with a more relaxed feel, as well as interactive, industrial-style kitchen areas, he said.

​Grocon's Pixel building was the first carbon-neutral office building in Australia and achieved the highest Green Star award from the Green Building Council of Australia. Photo: Craig Abraham

Leasing a ‘green’ building is high on the agenda for many businesses, but can a green commercial building really deliver tangible cost savings?
  
Green buildings can do much more for your business than simply alleviate your environmental concerns. As the latest case studies reveal, there are significant bottom-line benefits to be had from choosing to lease an environmentally friendly building.

Slash those energy and water bills

Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) chief operating officer Robin Mellon says Green Star-rated commercial buildings use around 66 per cent less electricity and 51 per cent less water than the average Australian building.
The 6 Star Green Star-rated Trevor Pearcey House in Canberra is a perfect example. This 1980s commercial property was retrofitted with contemporary, energy-efficient features that resulted in a massive 52 per cent reduction in energy use and 85 per cent reduction in water consumption for the building’s tenants.

Cathy Wever | Jan 13, 2016
(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/advice)

Similarly, when global infrastructure services consultancy Cardno moved into Brisbane’s 6 Star Green Star-rated Green Square Tower North, its monthly energy bills dropped from an average of $12,000 to approximately $8000, even though their new office space was larger than where they’d been previously.
The Westfield Sydney Retail Podium in the heart of Sydney’s CBD underwent a green makeover this year that cut gas emissions and electricity costs by approximately 35 per cent, slashed potable water use by 80 per cent and earned the building a 5 Star Green Star rating from GBCA.

Savings for businesses of any size

CitySwitch, a no-cost service that supports commercial office tenants to improve office energy and waste efficiency, has helped more than 700 businesses across the country achieve greater energy efficiency. CitySwitch case studies reveal that even smaller businesses can achieve significant cost savings by going green.
Viridis, a design, development and property consultancy with offices in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, partnered with CitySwitch to implement low-cost energy efficiency initiatives that are saving the business around $3800 per year. Similarly, sustainability consultants WT Sustainability were able to achieve an annual saving of around $6600 through fitting out their North Sydney offices using a sustainable design approach.

Count the productivity savings
​
Melbourne boasts the largest concentration of green buildings in any Australian capital city, with 138 Green Star-rated buildings.

​City of Melbourne environment portfolio chair Arron Wood says there is a clear business case for green buildings when it comes to staff attraction and retention, as staff who work in healthy and well-designed environments are more likely to be happy, productive employees.
“Staff health and productivity was one of the factors the City of Melbourne took into account when developing and constructing our own innovative green building, Council House 2 (CH2),” Mr Wood says.
“The environmental features of this 10-storey office building have already been paid for through increased staff productivity, as well as energy and water savings. The building’s first full year of operation was evaluated independently and found to have improved productivity by an impressive 10.9 per cent.
“CitySwitch estimates that staff costs in office-based businesses, including salaries and benefits, can account for up to 85 to 90 per cent of a company’s total expenditure. If a company can achieve a positive uplift in staff productivity, like the City of Melbourne did in CH2, the financial benefits are tremendous.”
Back at Canberra’s Trevor Pearcey House, the building’s green retrofit has delivered an estimated 6.2 per cent boost in staff productivity to occupant businesses, translating to a typical salary cost saving of around $300,000 per year. Meanwhile, at Macquarie Bank’s premises at 1 Shelley Street in Sydney, a 15 per cent productivity uplift was recorded after just one group of employees moved into the new 6 Star Green Star-rated office.

Ask if it’s green before you sign on the dotted line

With the considerable dollar savings and productivity increases possible, it makes good business sense to make your next commercial tenancy a green one.
Before signing up to lease any commercial property, check its green credentials. Make sure you speak with the commercial leasing agent and ask them for the GBCA Green Star rating or NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Energy Rating) information for the premises.

Lucy Taylor and Dieter Hochuli
​
The sky is blue and you are walking through a park, speaking with a colleague, discussing a new project. You feel energised, puffing slightly as your pace speeds up with the excitement of tossing around ideas as you walk among the trees.
This is how the Nature Conservancy envisages you may spend an hour of your working week this week. April 18-24 is Work with Nature Week, a campaign to encourage Australians to engage with the natural environment. The hope is that you will come to appreciate nature – if you don’t already – and support conservation efforts.
Nature, according to the campaign, can improve your concentration and make you a sharper and more creative thinker. What boss wouldn’t want their employees to “work with nature”?

The Conversation | Apr 18, 2016
(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/advice)

​The health and ecology research literature brims with examples of the positive effects of nature on well-being. Exposure to nature helps us recover from stress and mental fatigue and restores concentration. Lower blood pressure, improved concentration and more positive emotions are identified when people go for a walk in a natural environment compared with an urban environment.
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) explains that restoration requires a different experience – such as “getting away” – in an environment that is together interesting, non-threatening and realistic. If you have spent your morning in a meeting room or office, a park with trees and perhaps a pond or fountain is about as different as you can get.

Finding nature in the heart of the city 

If you work in the middle of the city, how practical is it to spend an hour of your working week surrounded by roads and concrete, pollution and the occasional rat? Even if you can go and sit among the pigeons for an hour, how “natural” is that experience of nature?
Urban ecologists have realigned thinking about nature in cities. Cities are novel environments that have the potential to support surprising amounts of nature. Parks, surrounding national parks, street trees and even private gardens create a large-scale urban forest that wildlife can use.

​For example, in Sydney vulnerable powerful owls have been sighted in the Royal Botanic Gardens in the middle of the city. Australian cities have even been found to act as hotspots for threatened species.
Conserving any local native areas and species is important to maintain the unique natural identity of a city. In addition, manicured parks and gardens provide new kinds of plants with the potential to support both local and native species. Nature is dispersed through our cities, even if we don’t notice it.
What supports well-being in cities?
​
​We have published research that identified the aspects of urban environments that support human well-being. Being able to move safely around a city (walkable space) and enabling space for social interaction are known factors of good urban design. Green space is another factor that, for the reasons discussed above, is important to ensure we can survive in cities.
We add biodiversity and ecosystem services to the equation as both are necessary if we are also to thrive in cities. Without sufficient biodiversity, the nature we encounter may not be realistic enough for a successful restorative experience, according to ART. Biodiversity can also keep species in check – for example, reducing the numbers of animal vectors of disease such as mosquitos and ticks.
Ecosystem services are critical to our survival. More than the air we breathe and the water we drink, when ecosystems fail, this has serious consequences for human well-being. Environmental degradation has been found to affect people who work in rural environments, but cities are already degraded landscapes. Urban nature has never been more important.
If you are considering how to spend an hour working in nature this week but your calendar is hectic and you are facing a wall of meetings, don’t despair. You could even benefit from nature just by glancing at it. In a recent Australian study, a glance at a green roof has been found to be more restorative than a glance at a concrete roof.
Working with nature is not limited to sitting in a lush garden with your laptop. A walking meeting through a landscaped area, which would provide the added benefits of exercise, or even a glance at a natural view might help you to recover from your day’s stress.
The Work with Nature campaign has another function: to remind decision-makers that we need nature in our cities. There are many forms it might take. An atrium or view from your office has the potential to help you function more effectively at work, but a large inner-city park offers us the realistic green space that provides the full benefits of nature.

​fairfax_syd-0077

What tips and tricks can you use to ensure your business gets the best location possible?With so many options and decisions to make, finding a new office space can be a daunting task, such as where it will be located.
However, breaking your search down into a few key areas can make the process easier and help you get the office space you need.
Budget
One of the most important aspects of your new office space is your budget. Does your budget extend to pricier city locations? Or do outer city areas fit better with your price range?
When you set a budget for your office space, ensure you’re realistic but flexible with what you can afford, but avoid the temptation to spend more than your limit.

​Stephanie McDonald | Aug 14, 2016
​(Article Ref: commercialrealestate.com.au/advice)

​Size
Another key factor in your search will be what office size you need. If you require a large space over several floors, your options may be restricted to larger commercial areas. However, if you just need a small office, you will have much more flexibility on where you can lease space.
When you’re determining the size of your new office, remember to accommodate for future business growth, but be careful you don’t lease too much space and waste money.
What type of company do you have?
Your company’s business type can have an influence on your location. For example, more creative businesses could work better in suburbs filled with cafes and trendy restaurants where there’s more of a community feel. On the other hand, financial-based businesses could be better located where the action is – close to or in the city.
Ensure you look at where your customers and clients are located to help narrow down location options. Once you have a few suburbs in mind, assess the demographics of the areas and examine their amenities, such as public transport.
Use online resources
After you have culled your list to four or five suburbs, use Commercial Real Estate’s search feature to see what office spaces are available in those suburbs. You can refine your search options by choosing the type of space you’re looking for, the size and, importantly, the price.
You can also use the Commercial Real Estate website to find an agent or look at leased office spaces. This will give you an idea of what types of spaces you could find in the areas you’re interested in, searching by similar price, size and office type.
Leasing an office is not an easy task, but following a few simple steps and taking advantage of online resources will help you lease your new office space sooner.

​Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Open-plan offices may be all the rage but productivity and peace of mind are among the trade-offs, writes Bond University lecturer Libby SanderLooking back on the changes in office design over the past 30 years, it is easy to see why some employees feel as if they have been subjects in a giant ongoing experiment.
For decades the office has moved from private, to open plan and more recently, no desk at all. These changes have been driven almost simultaneously by the push to reduce real estate cost and to also increase collaboration among employees.
While savings in real estate costs appear to have been achieved, the negative effects of the open-plan office on employees have now been well documented. A large body of research shows these offices are noisier; employees have difficulties concentrating and are unable to hold private conversations.
The promise of increased collaboration in open plan appears to have very little evidence to support the idea. A study of more than 42,000 employees found that open-plan office environments did little to increase interaction.

The Conversation | Jul 28, 2016
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Given all this evidence, it is perhaps unsurprising that a recent study by Oxford Economics found the impact of open-plan office design is far greater than executives realise. The report found both productivity and employee peace of mind suffers in the open workplace. Although there appears to be a growing realisation of the negative effects, the results showed few companies have effective strategies in place to address the problems.
Another key issue in the open-plan office is that it doesn’t cater to either differences in individuals or differences in the type of work that needs to be undertaken. The time workers are spending on collaborative tasks is decreasing, while time on quiet concentrated work is increasing.
In response to these issues, organisations have been experimenting with ways to segment workplaces to overcome these problems. Articles on new office design are peppered with concepts such as “caves”, “campfires”, “town squares” and “city zones”.
The segmented office is based around the idea that different spaces are needed to support different tasks and different personalities. Sleep pods, library spaces, mobile-free zones and cafes are becoming standard features in new office designs.
Employees are encouraged to move between the different areas based on what they are doing at the time. Tasks such as taking a phone call, holding a meeting, doing work that requires focus and quiet or work that needs collaboration with others are all allocated separate areas.
While seen as a positive move by some employees, the changes often don’t go far enough to allow concentrated, productive work. What if your co-workers are just noisy people in general?
Julian Treasure, sound consultant and author of the book Sound Business, suggests employees are one-third as productive in open office designs as in quiet rooms. In research I am currently conducting, many employees report that having to find a space to work each morning is tiring, while others resent having to move around to do different tasks.
The practicality of moving to different spaces, carrying laptops, power cords and other documents and materials needed to complete work can be tiresome at best and impractical at worst.
The inability to find co-workers when needed appears to be another common complaint in early results of the study I am undertaking, with some employees opting out of IT-based location identification systems in order to not be interrupted.
Other key issues emerging in my research on this topic are that often the number of phone booths and meeting rooms are limited, resulting in wasted time and frustration trying to find somewhere to meet or take a call.
When the need for confidential conversations arise, such issues often need to be dealt with immediately. Employees report to me that finding private places to converse in such situations is challenging, and being told to “book a room” or “go to a coffee shop” is not uncommon.
The overall office size in Australia is relatively small. As a result, offices being designed to embrace the segmented idea can end up having a gym with a rowing machine as well as the cafe space within metres of the open-plan desk area.
It seems we still have a way to go. Recent research in the Harvard Business Review indicates the push for collaboration is too much of a good thing and staff are increasingly demanding quiet spaces to work where they can focus and concentrate.
With many working from home or other third places to get work done, does the office still matter?
Some authors suggest the office will die out all together. Nikil Saval, in his book Cubed, goes so far as to suggest leisure is over as the office now follows its employees everywhere thanks to the cloud.
Yet the imperative to get it right appears more important than ever. While we may indeed be able to work from anywhere, it seems we still want to come to the office.
Two-thirds of employees prefer to build relationships face-to-face, and the majority prefer to build that connection in an ideal workplace. How we create the ideal workplace remains to be seen.

Libby Sander, Lecturer
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.