FOCUS CORPORATE REAL ESTATE
REAL ESTATE
REVOLUTION
Corporate Real Estate is going through something of a revolution at the moment as the
impact of COVID-19 accelerates trends in health and wellbeing, hybrid working, and the
use of technology to improve space utilisation. FMJ reports
The long-term e ects of the
pandemic on Corporate Real Estate
is currently a subject of much
debate, as conflicting research either
suggests the commercial o ice is dead
and gone or conversely workers will flock
back to reoccupy buildings. The truth is
somewhere in between. A global survey of
members of CoreNet Global(i), the global
association for corporate real estate found
that those companies which anticipated
having a smaller corporate footprint
within the next two years, had fallen from
70 per cent in a previous survey to just
over half. While nearly three quarters (70
per cent) did believe that the 9-5 work
pattern was a thing of the past, it was with
the caveat that the o ice will live on as a
place for collaboration.
Karen Plum, Director of Research &
28 APRIL 2021
Development at Advanced Workplace
Associates (AWA) thinks many CRE leaders
have been pushed to make the workplace
COVID compliant, “at the behest of senior
leaders, many of whom are keen to get
everyone back to the o ice because that’s
how they feel the organisation works best.
“To accommodate smarter working, I
think that there will be a need for smarter
spaces, designed around people and what
they require to be able to undertake specific
activities. The commercial property sector
will also need to ensure the future o ice can
easily accommodate those who don’t have
suitable alternate space to work from.”
For FMs says Tom Carroll, Head of EMEA
Corporate Research and Strategy, JLL: “One
of the greatest legacies of the pandemic
is the focus on individual health and
wellbeing. A healthy working environment
is now a fundamental for many employees
considering a return to the o ice and
companies are seeking to reinvent their
o ice space to reflect the fact that health
and wellbeing is a priority.”
He believes the adoption of more flexible
‘activity-based’ working will grow that
encourages a ‘new normal’ where the
o ice becomes a hub of social activity and
collaboration rather than a place to tick
tasks o .
Carroll explains: “According to JLL’s
recent Shaping Human Experience report(ii),
74 per cent of employees look forward
to the opportunity to return to the o ice.
However, work patterns will continue
to allow work from home, with 75 per
cent expecting businesses to continue to
support homeworking and 74 per cent
even considering a four-day week. As such