In this edition of our Higher Education Spotlight, we turn to the fundamental question of what people want from the spaces in which they study or work
Historically we have often got away with providing the spaces that we feel work best for our users, often without even asking the user their opinion. However, the ever-increasing focus on satisfaction, wellness, productivity and happiness has led to a more collaborative way of planning and delivering high-performing spaces. This is only set to increase as users demand more control, and technology enables more monitoring and modelling of what really works.
The challenge for estates teams is that one size does not fit all. We have to design our spaces to suit a variety of workstyles and an even wider variety of personalities. Should we be focusing on delivering the ‘wow factor’ or just on getting the basics of temperature, light and noise right?
We believe that there is a huge opportunity for higher education estates teams to learn from the corporate office world where many of these issues are already being tested, and a wide variety of data is available. However, the information flow should go both ways, as many forward-looking corporates are now recognising that lifelong learning is an employee perk.
In this report, we look at common findings between employee and student workplace studies and suggest some key strategies for both worlds.
Read the articles within Spotlight: UK Higher Education below.
