Spec Finish

Feature www.thefis.org 23 “The enquiries we have seen over the last year have ranged from full office refurbishments and new office fit outs to mezzanine installations to create more usable space, whilst other businesses have chosen to adapt their existing workspace with fresh office layout designs and the installation of Perspex screens as a form of protection against COVID.” www.apss.co.uk Will Gosling, Human Capital Consulting Leader for Deloitte, said: “Many companies will invest in revamping their spaces in the coming months to encourage teams to work creatively and collaboratively when they do venture into their workplace. Desks will be replaced with meeting rooms and training spaces, creating a vibrant hub for collaboration and skills training.” Sounds good Before businesses closed offices completely, workplace managers were already working out ways of getting at least some of their staff back in the office in a safe manner. Partitions, screens and moveable walls are all options to offer easily reconfigurable space to separate teams and maintain social distancing, Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive said: “We’ve seen a lot more products focussed on adaptability coming into the marketplace, where people are looking for breakout spaces but not necessarily looking to partition a whole area or relocatable meeting spaces. This evolution is something we are looking at in work such as the FIS acoustic verification scheme, ensuring the products used provide the right level of sound protection for office workers and, as a sector we really deliver this new experiential workspace that delivers for the productivity over presenteeism era of workplace redesign”. www.thefis.org/membership-hub/ publications/guide-office-acoustics Laurence Barrass, Managing Director at APSS Footnotes 1. https://www.rics.org/uk/news-insight/research/market-surveys/uk-facilities-management-survey/ 2. www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201023-coronavirus-how-will-the-pandemic-change-the-way-we-work 3. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/press-releases/articles/7-5-million-uk-workers-hoping-to-work-from-home-permanently-once-lockdown- restrictions-have-lifted.html Comfortable office acoustics Our ears have evolved to hear perfectly in nature, yet today we spend up to 90%of our time indoors and this has tremendous consequences at work. It can take up to 25minutes to return to our original tasks, and another eight minutes to get back to the same level of concentration before we were interrupted. The new Ecophon office guide ( https://www.ecophon . com/globalassets/media/pdf-and- documents /ecophon.com/office/ ecophon_office_guide.pdf ) explains how comfortable acoustics isn’t just about making people feel good. It’s about also raising performance because the less we are disturbed, the more productive, efficient and creative we become. www.ecophon.com #FitoutFashions Are you a dedicated follower of fashion? If so, we are reaching out to you to get your thoughts on the trends and design features that are driving change in our sector. In a backdrop of profound societal change, with retail and workspaces becoming more about the destination experience and companies looking to better project their corporate values through their choices, design has become so much more than just what looks good. Along with a growing understanding of the impact of biophilia, colour choice, air quality and light can have on health and wellbeing, there are a number of complex factors driving change. At SpecFinish we are keen to better understand, track and project change. #FitoutFashions is designed to support this evolution and provide inspiration, so we are asking you, the experts in our community, to identify the key design trends that are emerging and reshaping our interior spaces. So whatever your passion, be it soft furnishing, décor and features, acoustics, sustainability, wellbeing, upcycling, we have two simple questions for you: 1. What is the key trend you are seeing in fit-outs in 2021? 2. What is driving this change? Please send your thoughts to janeknight@thefis.org or call us on 0121 707 0077 .