Tim Heatley, co-founder of property developers CAPITAL&CENTRIC, looks at how changing workplace trends are driving higher standards in commercial development.
Nothing pleases us more than the overdue death of the dull office. And it is all thanks to you – the creative and digital industries. Grads entering the workplace are already bought into the Silicon Valley dream of inspired spaces. Apple, Facebook and Google all sport Instagram-friendly workspaces that are playful, colourful and exciting. Yet many millennials are in for a shock when they step into their new company to find the surroundings anything but.
Businesses are sometimes a little taken aback when we ask to see their fit-out plans for their space – even more so when we advise that it’s not good enough. Believe it or not, we’ve actually politely turned away potential occupiers whose plans just didn’t do justice to the awesome shell they wanted to inhabit.
At CAPITAL&CENTRIC, we turn unloved spaces into amazing places to work and live. We’re intensely design-led and meticulous in delivering places where people actually want to spend time. But our role as developers is only part of the bargain. For a building to become a community, occupiers need to do their bit.
Location, size, cost; all high on the hitlist for business-owners looking for property. But they increasingly value vibe, community and design. They get that their workplace can be just as much of a selling point to prospective clients, future employees and visitors as their website or marketing campaign. And about time too!
Across the North, we’re developing commercial buildings that cater to people’s aspirations for what a work space can be. At Tempest in Liverpool, we took a brutalist 60s tower block and transformed it into something beautiful. We have a rooftop garden where occupiers meet to hangout, while wellness groups also put on yoga and meditation sessions. There are also beehives, which provide us with pots of Tempest honey, posted out to our nearest and dearest when the bees bear fruit. These are all non-essentials, but they all help to create something much more than just an office – they help forge a community among the people that use that building.
We’re proud to be supporting Inspired Spaces North 2017. This time last year we launched The Foundry in Salford to coincide with the contest. Since then, we’ve filled the commercial units with ambitious and forward-thinking businesses that took our vision and made good. InvasionHub created a cool-as-hell co-working space; Foundry Film Studios attracted the region’s multimedia talent; and Boda Skins crafted bespoke fashion pieces to export around the globe.
