According to a study conducted at the start of the year, more than 7,500 affordable homes have been lost in the past two years in England as a result of office redevelopments bypassing affordable housing requirements. Permitted development rights rule that office buildings can be converted into housing without planning permission, but there is no commitment to building affordable housing as part of these conversions. London already has a shortage of affordable housing, with mayor Sadiq Khan announcing his intention to increase the pace of construction from 29,000 homes a year to 66,000. On top of this, he has vowed to make 65% of these home affordable, a much higher percentage than the current rate of 38%. However, the city’s rate of conversions of former offices into housing dropped from 873,000ft2 in 2014, to just 178,000ft2 in 2016. The housing crisis in London is leading to ‘dog kennel’ flats In order to try and tackle the housing crisis in London, the government took a relaxed approach to planning regulations in order to promote the conversion of underused office spaces. Over the past two financial years, there have been 30,575 homes converted from office blocks, and an estimated 25% of these could have been affordable housing. This means that 7,644 affordable homes could have been created, according to the London Government Association. Hundreds of tiny, studio flats will be squeezed into former office block Barnet House, with 96% of the 254 flats being smaller than the national minimum space standards for one person. The smallest of these ‘dog kennel’ rooms will be just 16 square metres, which is 40% smaller than an average Travelodge single room. On the opposite side of the capital, office buildings in Croydon have also been converted into tiny studio flats, offering as little as 15 square metres per person. Converting office spaces discourages businesses Converting office space into housing also means there are fewer workspaces for new businesses looking to launch in the city. Last year, there were a massive 187,250 new businesses set up in the capital, almost all of which will need some form of office space. Councils are warning that the conversion of office space to housing could leave businesses and startups without physical premises to base themselves in. If office space becomes increasingly hard to come by, the price to let will also increase, leaving startups struggling to have their own office space. A rising number of businesses are looking to telecommuting as a way to combat the rising costs of office space. In a survey taken at last year’s Global Leadership Summit in London, 34% of business leaders stated that more than half of their company’s full-time workers would be working remotely by 2020. Meanwhile, 25% admitted that over three-quarters of workers would not work in a traditional office by the same year. Many workspace providers are already operating in the city, accommodating startups who are looking for short-term leases with minimal space. These hot desking workspaces often run through a membership system, such as Landmark’s club space membership, which offers a communal workspace which members can drop in to as and when they need it. A lack of affordable housing and office space is driving businesses to other cities Birmingham is quickly becoming the most popular city for startups outside of London, and according to BQ Live, 2017 saw the city welcome 12,108 new businesses. Last year marked the fifth year in a row that Birmingham followed London for the number of new businesses launching in the city, thanks to the abundance of affordable office space, access to global markets, and dedicated support provided to entrepreneurs and small firms. On top of this, more and more people are leaving the capital because of the lack of affordable housing and workspace, with the number of Londoners abandoning the city reaching a 10-year high. According to recent figures published by the Guardian, 292,000 people left London during the first half of 2016 alone, with many Londoners turning to Birmingham and Brighton for their new homes, thanks to the cheaper cost of living. While converting office space into affordable housing can be seen as a solution to the city’s growing housing crisis, it also means that fewer businesses have access to affordable physical space. Londoners and entrepreneurs are therefore looking to other cities for homes and office space, as London’s rising prices continue to drive them away.

The Workplace Summit is a one-day conference and exhibition which takes place on February 6th2019 at Croke Park. It is the first conference in Ireland to centre on the three key areas of Workplace, – People, Place and Technology, attracting Senior Professionals from Facilities Management, Property, HR & IT. We intend the Workplace Summit to be innovative, interesting, disruptive and fun! We have some of the best people in their areas to deliver talks which will inspire those involved in the Workplace professions in Ireland to influence their own organisations and push the boundaries of what’s possible. We are delighted to announce Chris Kane(ex -Disney and BBC) will chair the Workplace Summit. Already the following speakers are confirmed: Margot Slattery(Sodexo Country President Ireland); Bashar Kassab(Facilities Director, the Burj Khalifa & Dubai Mall), Hannah Dwyer(Head of Research, JLL), Fionnuala Byrne(Director of Facilities CEMEA, Google), Neil Usher(Workplace Director Sky); Chris Moriarty(Head of Insight, IWFM), Euan Semple(business strategist and facilitator), Hung Lee(CEO, Workshape.io), Mary Connaughton (CIPD Ireland Director), George Harold(CEO, Integrated Facilities Solutions), Martin Pickard(Managing Director, FM GURU), George Muir(Futurist, LiveTiles) . Workplace Summit tickets are available on Eventbrite or contact us on email info@advancedworkplacesolutions.ie

The kitchen is often the heart of the home and commonly one of the most social and functional spaces. Kitchens are no longer simply a space for preparing and cooking food, they are often a social and work area too. Whilst a kitchen’s style, look and feel is defined by its doors, worktops and appliances, lighting plays a key role in shaping the appearance, ambience and functionality of the room. Well planned and designed lighting schemes can transform a modest kitchen into a spectacular and inviting space. In addition to illuminating the room, kitchen lighting performs many functions from setting the mood and tone, highlighting special features or providing washes to levitate units and illuminate beautiful flooring. However, perhaps the most important function of kitchen lighting is task lighting. Task Lighting For areas in which you plan to complete work or prepare food you will need to clearly see what you are doing. These areas include worktops and kitchen sinks and require task lighting. Task lighting can include under-cupboard lighting above work surfaces, or lights that are directed down at one particular place. They need to be bright, well positioned to reduce shadows, and have a higher colour temperature (something around 4100k works well here). Also, it is important to have lighting with a high CRI, ideally >90. CRI (Colour Render Index) is a measure of how accurately the light source displays an objects true colours and this is clearly important for preparing food and assessing its freshness. An LED contour strip is a great way of lighting work surfaces below cabinets as this provides a continuous wash lighting effect. This is especially fitting in modern and contemporary kitchens. General Lighting Kitchens need the most flexible lighting scheme in the entire home as it needs to cater to the wide range of functions. The most popular forms of kitchen ceiling lights these days are recessed down lights, pendant lights or directional spot lights. Ceiling lights should be placed in multiple positions to reduce shadows, but the brightness can often cause issues, as certain situations call for brighter light than others. One way around this is to have dimmer switches in your kitchen. If you are choosing modern LED lighting, however, make sure your dimmer switch is compatible with LED technology. It’s generally better to choose an intelligent trailing dimmer when using LED. Another way to make your kitchen lighting flexible is smart lighting. Smart lighting is lighting that you can control with an app on your phone, or a device like Google Home or Alexa. If you have a high ceiling in your kitchen, consider using pendant lighting to bring the light source lower and to create a centre show piece for the room – the downward directional light of many pendants make them perfect for illuminating worktop space where under cupboard lighting is not available. Pendants come in a variety of styles to suit traditional, modern or contemporary settings. It is not uncommon these days to see a series of decorative pendant lights above a kitchen island, breakfast bar or adjoining dining room table. For best effect and performance, a minimum distance of 850mm is best from the bottom of the pendant to the worktop surface. Recessed downlights have become ubiquitous in kitchens and are effective in providing directional light to an area, particularly if you have low ceilings. It is common practice to fit multiple downlights in equally spaced rows to create a continuous zone of light with minimal shadows. Tiltable downlights are also available and can be very useful in directing light to required areas of workspaces. Downlights are available with different coloured bezels/rims to fit with your kitchens design theme and style. When fitted, recessed lights breach the ceiling structure (often plaster board) and as such it may be a requirement of building regulations that you fit fire rated down lights, your local building control department can advise you. Fire rated downlights are classified as either 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 90 minutes. It is important that you check the rating of the downlights to meet the requirement you need as a 90 minute fire rated downlights may not be rated for 30 or 60 minutes. Directional spot lights can be an easy and effective way of fitting multiple tiltable lights on one rail or fitting. However, many people feel these units are unsightly and do not compliment more traditional style kitchens. Accent Lighting Accent lighting is an effective way to accentuate features in the kitchen or an adjoining open plan room. These might include illuminating inside glass cabinets or highlighting recessed shelving, alcoves or pictures. A variety of lighting from LED strip lights, to directional lighting can be used, but consideration needs to be made about the appropriate colour temperature of the lights used and the overall effect this has on the total lighting scheme. Using ambient lighting well can highlight features that you want to stand out, adding an extra dimension to your kitchen. It can also be used either alone or with worktop lighting to create a low-level background glow for romantic and intimate evenings. Ambient Lighting When completing tasks in the kitchen, you’ll no doubt need a bluer, cleaner light, for example a daylight bulb, but in areas in which you plan on socialising, eating and chatting, you may wish to create more of an ambience. This is especially true in kitchen diners. For areas like this, you should look at using a warmer light, for example a 3000k warm white bulb. You may want to also choose an even warmer bulb as well, possibly in a floor lamp. It is common to use an 1800k vintage style bulb in a floor lamp, and a 3000k bulb in a ceiling light fitting. These two styles of bulb not only complement each other, but also offer two options depending on the brightness needed at any point. Get creative and use your imagination to find places where the source of light won’t be