Project Image: KPMG, St Vincents Plaza, Glasgow. Design by Michael Laird Architects. Photo Credit: David Balfour
The pandemic has fundamentally shifted the long-held assumption that businesses need a traditional office space for their workers. In our next Q&A session, our guest speakers will consider the outlook for office-based work in a post-Covid world.
Expect ideas for architects and designers to future-proof workspace design, exploring the question “what could the future role of a central office look like?”. And how to ensure offices can hold onto their role as a centralised, collaborative space – not a thing of the past – and the vital role innovation and technology will play.
As the pandemic has forced a nation of office workers into new ways of working, the need for traditional office space is being thrown into question. The unexpected working-from-home revolution has challenged the idea that businesses need dedicated workspaces for their team to be productive – or at all.
But many new home workers are finding the reliance on remote-working technologies intense and exhausting. Missing the face-to-face connection and sense of community that comes with sharing the same physical space.
With many businesses looking ahead to reduced Covid restrictions and reopening offices safely, our guest panel will consider what people will expect from their office environment in order to return. Looking at the positives and negatives of working from home, and how the benefits can be translated into new workspace design.
The Panel
Hazel Pearson
Director, Michael Laird Architects
Hazel is a Director and Architect at Michael Laird Architects having joined the team in 2012. She started her career in the leisure and residential sectors, finally finding her home in the Workplace and Interiors team at MLA. She has enjoyed being part of the ever-growing MLA team as they move from strength to strength.
As well as leading a wide variety of successful projects, she drives research and future thinking at MLA. She has a keen interest in workplace design and how it can encourage staff engagement and wellbeing, strengthen organisational culture and improve business performance.
Hazel is a former BCO NextGen Chair and was instrumental in establishing the BCO NextGen Committee in Scotland.
Peter Kerr
Director at Atelier Ten, Glasgow
Peter has worked for over twenty years leading several multi-disciplinary project teams on various projects from small scale fit-out to large multi-use international projects. Peter enjoys getting heavily involved in the design concept and delivering on the promise of low energy, cost-effective, aesthetic design with the need for delivering the design practically and on time.
Peter has during his career been involved in and an integral component in developing technical excellence and the management of regional quality management systems. Peter has a particular interest in lighting, achieving flexible design both functionally and aesthetically, working closely with the client and architect to achieve the desired solution. Peter’s experience has recently included introducing innovative circadian lighting into commercial office fit outs in Scotland in order to improve health and well-being in the office environment.
Michael Gallacher
Construction Director at Abstract Securities
Michael joined Abstract in March 2013 as Construction Project Manager and became Construction Director in July 2018. Michael’s primary role, based in Scotland, involves managing all the design, planning and construction elements of various projects, including liaising with clients, producing specifications, and working up design proposals for developments.
His role also includes monitoring due performance by the contractor and the professional team during the building process. In addition, with a legal and quantity surveying background, he ensures the appropriate procurement routes are considered and selected to ensure a client’s goals are achieved on budget and within programme.
Michael previously worked for Davis Langdon (AECOM) for 8 years and has wide-ranging experience within the project management field. He has successfully delivered a number of project management commissions in the commercial offices, healthcare, education and residential sectors. Previously, Michael obtained extensive specialist experience in large-scale infrastructure and residential schemes when working in Libya.
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