Real Estate 4.0. The transformation of an Industry.
It has been a very interesting conference held by ULI Greece & Cyprus.
Innovative case studies were presented starting from the city of Tel Aviv and its fresh spirit approach that makes the city attractive to talents and startups increasing the dynamics of the city and implementing a strategic vision for growth .
Insights and ideas were presented on discussion panels referring to case studies from the Sharing economy, the Experience economy and the Innovation economy.
The Sharing economy panel focused on co-working concepts and flexible offices concepts and applications.
The Experience economy panel focused on hotel concepts that offer special experiences.
The Innovation economy panel focused on business concepts that use technology innovation and AI tools to foster business productivity and effectiveness.
Real Estate development opportunities exist in concepts that dare to invest on special human experiences, using innovative strategies and digital technology. We just have to be open-minded to identify them. Architectural design can transform real estate properties and create added value using daring experience and human-centered concepts.
Very well organized event with premium speakers and attendants.
The power of exchanging ideas, experiences and knowledge.
Smart Workplace Design Summit Spring Edition in Berlin
It has been two days full of conversations, interactions, sharing of ideas and experiences in a unique environment in a former warehouse building by Spree river in the suburbs of Berlin.
Day 0
We were the first to visit Zalando's new headquarters in Berlin, an inspiring workplace environment organized around a living atrium which is the heart of the building. Impecable human-centered design, with great attention for details and use of natural materials. Henn and Kinzo created a unique workplace. There is even childcare provision with kindergarden on site and facilities for working parents.
Day 1
Starting with Lars Sorensen and his social experiments, enjoying with Mike Walley and his running a hotel and tech company theory. Going on with Ahrend’s call for silence and the silence box which seems the only possible way to detouch from smart devices, prof. Veronica Kotradyova and her deep research on applying human centered design at workplace, Luctra presentation on how lighting impacts our health and well-being, Zaha Hadid Architects amazing use of decoding data analytics to get the best out of people in the workplace, Linkedin and their experimenting workplace innovation in an actual workplace hub, Unicredit and a practical approach on how to manage optimization in huge corporate portfolio, Ecophon and its always convincing by experience need for healthy acoustic environments that help people thrive, Jan Revaj and his empathy, emotion, evolution approach that leads to breathtaking architectural results, and finally Killan Keller and his focus on the authentic feelings that facilitate decision making, which we practiced on stage using our bodies. The end of the presentation could not be better, but that we cannot describe, it was a unique experience that only those who lived it can understand.
Day 2
Zalando team presented their new headquarters challenges and the way they use digital tools to facilitate work and employees everyday life. A panel discussion followed about agile workplace and agility, where everybody agreed that agility as a word is trendy to use and actually it can reperesent different meanings and working parameters. Lieven Bartier made it obvious that we can be more effective with shorter and dedicated meetings of 17 minutes. Stephanie Hugues was as always inspiring presenting her architecting interactions strategy of creating spaces deriving from the intelligence of users. Mikomax and Vecos presented playfully how their furniture and storage products respond to contemporary workplace needs. Chris Middleton from Kinzo architects presented some key projects of their user-centered design approach with again inspiring workplaces for all. Workshops and the closing campfire session on how a good crisis can turn to transformation opportunity with Hansel Holger from European Central Bank lead to the end of the conference.
We are already excited for next Smart Workspace Design Summit event and we are overwhelmed of the people we met and the power of exchanging ideas and experiences.
Will greek real estate market recover? Is there need for high quality workplace properties?
The annual ELIE (Hellenic Valuation Institut) conference for greek real etstate market presented interesting insights anr remarks.
We focus on office buildings.
70% of existing office buildings are built before 980. Only 3,2% of office buildings are sustainable. There is great office building stock but luck of grade A offices.
For grade A offices rents tend to rise and yields tend to low, which is a result of higher demand. Rents for grade A offices in the center of Athens can be even three times more than rents for grade B offices. Vacation rates are less than 5% for grade A offices and around 15% for grade B offices.
Low grade offices have no deamd at all even if they are offered in remarkably low rent rates.
Demand for office building properties is expected to rise even more with the recovery of state economy.
The demand for high quality offices is proven. There is building stock but cannot meet the contemporary workplace needs. We can identify a clear investement opportunity with definitely promising ROI.
Architectural workplace design can achieve existing building transformation to contemporary high standards workplaces with space management and energy performance optimization. New workspaces in existing buildings will offer various advantages for companies and their employees well-being, will reply to a specific real estate market demand and will create return of investement for both investors and companies.