Do we really need innovation?

On 1.11.2018, the conference FRIENDLY BUILDINGS, organised by Sharry Europe, took place at the La Fabrika cultural centre. Speakers and contributors tried to answer the question, how can we make the most of the potential offered by modern technology to improve user comfort in office buildings.

The conference was open to the general public. It was a meeting place for technologists, developers, architects, university students etc. The new options and potential were discussed from many different perspectives.

We were happy to be able to participate in this year’s conference and pass on our vision for the future of the workplace environment.

Will we still work in offices in the future?

The rapid development of communication technologies has raised many new questions in relation to these generally conservative fields. Over a few short years, the new demands and requirements of the up and coming generation have transformed our work environment.

Young people have a different view of their future, and companies that want to be prepared must know how to overcome a significant inter-generational barrier and understand their way of thinking. Adjusting to the new generation is the only way to be successful in the war for talent and maintain competitiveness.

The impacts of the new approach can already be seen almost everywhere today in the field of office interiors. Šimon Opekar talked to the conference on the latest developments in commercial interiors, and he also highlighted several interesting trends, such as co-working and shared living.

YouWork vs YouLive

According to Šimon Opekar, today we are already witness to a strengthening convergence of home and work. Under one roof it will become more common to find both apartments and offices, and we can expect completely new types of space, such as computer games rooms. This is enabled by ever greater connectivity and the development of new technology branches.

Šimon Opekar
Sales manager TECHO

Companies are becoming less and less concerned about where people work. They need experts. The important thing is for employees to be happy because this is what drives success. According to a survey by HBR, happy employees are 31% more productive and can increase company turnover by 37%.

Technology – a good servant or a bad master?

The influence of technology is great, but is it always beneficial? Should technology be introduced on the basis of some well-conceived vision, or should it be more of a spontaneous process? These types of questions too were heard at the Friendly Buildings conference. Unfortunately there is no universal answer, but this year’s conference demonstrated again that regular discussion of this theme results in new interdisciplinary initiatives and helps all participants to come to their own conclusions on future development on the basis of additional information.

Survey:

Friendlybuildings výzkum
Infogram

And what did we learn from the conference? We took the opportunity to ask visitors to the conference about what aspects of the office environment is important to them. We drafted a list of important factors that influence us at our workplace and let visitors vote on them. How much did the results differ from the similar but larger survey conducted by JLL? Judge for yourself.

What can we do for you?

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