Plugging in: We need to get smarter about tech-enabled offices

The next time you visit an office, could you be met in the lobby by a robot receptionist? Will the coffee in your meeting be served by a cyber assistant? It might sound far-fetched but, with global companies such as EY and Google using new tools to track employee attendance, technology is already transforming the office.

As we enter what looks to be another technological revolution, this time powered by artificial intelligence, technology has the potential to renew the purpose of the office by providing workers with the space and resources required to work to the best of their ability. But we need to understand the opportunity in full to make the best use of it, and to avoid bringing in tech where it is neither necessary nor helpful.

Technology is one of the forces identified by the British Council for Offices (BCO) as having an important impact on real estate and the workplace, and forms one of the pillars of the BCO’s new research agenda, alongside economic change, new business structures and the rise of environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) principles.

Building owners need businesses to occupy their space, those occupiers need talent, and the talent needs a reason to leave the house

Technology has under-pinned the use of the workplace for more than 20 years. Historically, it has been considered a “bolt-on” – some wires and screens, often not installed until after practical completion. As systems have developed into a wide range of useful tools supporting the workplace, this approach has led to some difficult integration between advanced – but often siloed – systems.

There has now been a step-change in the market, accelerated by the global covid-19 pandemic, and the focus has moved to the end user. The employee is now the “customer”. Building owners need businesses to occupy their space, those occupiers need talent, and the talent needs a reason to leave the house.

For a workplace to be “commute-worthy”, the facilities need to be slick and seamless, with a technologically enriched experience.

Most of us are used to accessing our phones with facial recognition, ordering groceries with a single click, or even using a voice assistant to do so. As home technology continues to evolve, workplace technology needs to not just keep up but get a step ahead, or risk being left behind.

Buildings that are easy to use, are inherently efficient and sustainable in their operations, and can offer app-driven facilities and shared resources will increasingly win out against beautiful but “dumb” buildings.

According to Dell’s future of the workforce studies conducted in 2021 and 2022 respectively, 49 per cent of US workers and 49 per cent of British Zoomers would leave their jobs if they were unhappy with the technology they use to do it.

Comfort and wellbeing are being prioritised, enabled by technological features such as air quality sensors and circadian lighting

We must not forget that a key driver for people to come into the office is the social aspect – and community spirit that cannot be truly replicated when working from home. Not just sharing messages but sharing experiences with the people around us. Technology has a role to play in facilitating those experiences so that they can be enjoyed without barriers, helping us to find, access, schedule, meet and enjoy comfortably.

Comfort and wellbeing are being prioritised, enabled by technological features such as air quality sensors and circadian lighting. Truly digital buildings can both monitor and adapt to occupant requirements, meaning that events diarised within the building, external conditions, population within the building at a particular time and other factors can all be proactively addressed by the building and its systems.

For example, building intelligence will know from diary information and guest management systems that a large event is programmed for 6pm and proactively direct higher airflow and cooling to the appropriate space.

As we work towards net zero buildings, we will also rely increasingly on advanced monitoring and control systems. A building providing meaningful information can be better managed on a long-term basis and, in the future, artificial intelligence or digital twin technology will provide much of the foresight needed to adapt the operation systems and improve them through self-learning.

For example, the building will know that it is likely to be a quiet day and so stack the occupiers in one wing, putting systems in another vacant wing to “standby”.

We need to see technology not as an add-on or “technology for technology’s sake”, but as a critical means to optimised outcomes for the office sector. Considered at the earliest opportunity, and with end use goals in sight, this will enable the development of buildings that are more sustainable, flexible, connected and safe, and which enhance the quality of life for occupants. This will require ongoing research, investmen, and collaboration between different stakeholders to maintain and realise full potential.

The BCO’s upcoming research aims to guide the sector through these changes. Viewing technology as a critical enabler for optimised outcomes rather than as an isolated add-on, we will explore how technology can create more sustainable, flexible, connected buildings that elevate every worker’s quality of life.

Richard Kauntze is chief executive of the British Council for Offices. The BCO annual conference takes place in Birmingham from 22-24 May, Building is the media partner