2/5/2007

Jack Pringle, President RIBA, introduced the event suggesting that Architects design the future therefore need to think about the future – building design cannot be done in isolation from thinking about the broader context of how people will work in the future.

There were a number of speakers throughout the day and a summary of main points from each is included below:

Glenn Lyons – Transport Driver and Intelligent infrastructure
• psychology of transport – look at how people travel and not how cars travel
• shift in transport studies focusing on behavioural, social and environmental aspects
• consider intelligent infrastructure at four levels - intelligent design, intelligent systems, intelligent infrastructure and intelligent use

Yvette Cooper – Minister for Housing and Planning
• consider buildings to be the catalyst for new technologies
• push materials to the limit and improve cost effectiveness
• it is a must to reduce carbon emissions as the consequences of climate change are potentially devastating
• need to look at built environment as a whole – new and existing buildings, way we live and power supply
• there is a huge challenge of incorporating energy efficiency measures in to existing homes and small developments. However this also presents opportunities for new technologies development and a window of opportunity to find new methods for reducing energy consumption
• Government is leading by example – new and existing public housing must meet more stringent requirements then private housing and must do it sooner.

Prof. Derek Clements – RIBA – Intelligent Building Futures
Consider futures by looking at drivers of change:
• quality of life
• demographics
• work and lifestyle changes
• sustainability
• health
• innovation
and by adapting a systems view of people, products and process.

David Fisk – Value added futures
• Real options – you buy the right to buy or sell at a future price. For example, retrofit and maintenance costs included in initial purchase price
• Life span – is longer life span necessary especially is we are facing uncertain times
• Scenario planning – common thing between all futures is the biggest future vulnerability (or biggest assumption)

Futures in Focus – Changing work styles
Davida Hamilton – DEGW
• look at the future thru what people are doing now
• distributed working models
• link between people, HR policy, technology and health and safety – occupancy, work patterns, travel patterns, home-base distribution, related costs.

Mark Walls – Asset Factor
• institutional market no longer meets needs of corporate occupier
• institutional lease of office space is disadvantageous
• 70% of CBD leased space is vacant and therefore surplus - we need to find a use for this space
• Wrong to have office space for desk working – should be used for team work

Futures Forum – Cities and urban form
Lynsey Hanley - author 'Estates, an intimate history'
• city of inconvenience – public housing estates and the boundaries they create

Rachel Cooper - Prof. Lancaster University
• we can’t drop in like a colonial officer on the natives and design spaces for them – we must live amongst them

David Bodanis closed the event postulating that offices and office design technologies have plateaued - the next revolution in office design and the built environment will be socially and culturally oriented.