CBRE Meeting Room of the Year 2018
A few days remain during which you can still vote for your favourite in the competition CBRE Meeting Room of the Year.
This year is the fifth year in a row the competition has been held, and in just a short time the organisers have succeeded in expanding it to a further five countries in Europe (Slovakia, Austria, Romania, Poland and Belgium). The chairperson of the jury is internationally renowned architect Eva Jiřičná, and TECHO is a general partner of the entire event.
The competition aims to present the best examples of office design in the Czech Republic. This year there was a record number of 101 entries and the jury of experts whittled this down to 44 for the final.
PPF Gate
The competition has nine categories, of which four are assessed by the jury of experts, a further four are decided by professional guarantors and the final category is decided by a public vote.
The competition intends to continue strengthening awareness of workplace quality, having as it does an influence on employee health, satisfaction and performance. It is no surprise that the largest group of finalists are IT firms followed by co-working centres, the financial sector and marketing firms.
Most of us spend a significant amount of time at work and the demands placed on employers is increasing, and thus understandably interest in workplace environment quality has been rising among the general public. A number of surveys have shown how much of an impact workplace environment has on our productivity, mood and energy. Sufficient fresh air, daylight illumination and a comfortable workstation are key factors for our performance, as shown, for example, by the JLL survey.
For most participants the main current trend appears to be coworking. At the same time there is often a desire expressed for improved acoustics and the addition of natural items and materials in interiors. An amazing feat are the offices of Koma. The use of technology and the linking of office space with art is by Czech standards an exceptional concept. A similar case is the Škoda interior, which succeeds in combining a strong corporate identity with attractive interiors. We hope that the award-winning designs will inspire others.
Offices Air bank in Prague
Offices Verizon in Ostrava
Offices Brit
Offices Sodexo in Prague
We are proud that among this year’s finalists are several companies that we furnished and helped to create an interesting work environment. These include, for example Verizon, Air bank, Brit, Sodexo, Horizon Holding, Veeam Software and Škoda.
Cooperation with clients that have an interest in a high-quality environment is always a pleasure and inspiration for us. Luckily the requirements of companies differ as does their work style to which we have to tailor their office environments. Thanks to this every space is unique, unrepeatable and our work is never the same. We view the current positive development of the workplace environment with interest and enthusiasm and we are happy to see the attention that is currently devoted to offices.
The ideal meeting room
Meeting rooms are an essential and important part of the modern office. It is typically a closed room, but this is not a necessity. For optimum operation the issue of acoustics should be well thought through, and it should be a pleasant optically separate space that enables multi-purpose use for meetings, presentations, training, team projects etc. It should also permit variability in the layout of tables and, last but not least, IT connectivity. Also often fitted as standard is a videoconference facility to enable, for example, communication with foreign branches. What is the most frequent mistake? Poor positioning within the office as a whole and a bad acoustic arrangement.