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How modern working helped the city of Bristol unlock opportunities to repurpose challenging real estate
Corporate Real Estate Journal,
6
(3),
259-275
(2017)
Abstract
The way we work has changed. The public sector is required to reduce costs and improve its delivery of services and respond to changing citizen demands. Under pressure to rationalise its real estate portfolio, the challenge is where to invest limited resources within constrained budgets and under public scrutiny, all in a risk-averse sector. Bristol City Council has reduced its office estate from 38 buildings to two; forced to retain the Grade 2* City Hall and with heritage constraints precluding remodelling, the council faced failing to deliver its business case objectives. A step change in design approach and commitment to adopting agile working transformed those constraints to the council’s advantage. Now with a flexible and adaptable portfolio, the council is well positioned to deliver its service redesign objectives, embrace future work style changes, support the wider public sector’s integration agenda and secure a sustainable income from its dramatically reduced estate.
Keywords: Bristol workplace programme; real estate rationalisation; service collocation and integration; service redesign; smart working; desk sharing; workstyles; collaborative working; space utilisation; space standards; presenteeism; mobile computing; wifi; workplace engagement plan
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Richard Billingham is currently Service Director — HR, Change and Communication at Bristol City Council, responsible for the Bristol Workplace Programme (BWP), transforming the office estate and bringing about service improvement. Richard is leading a system-wide programme of complex organisational change, championing innovative approaches and translating the energy and willingness of high-performing individuals and teams at all levels to be the best they can and change the way the organisation works for the better. He has extensive experience working with leaders and organisations across public and private sectors, both in the UK and internationally.
Alison White is a co-founder of consultancy firm PLACEmaking, workplace designers and change advisers. She has been at the centre of knowledge on the changing demands on the working environment for over 20 years, is co-author of Working Beyond Walls (Office of Government Commerce, 2008), contributes to professional journals and is a regular speaker on implementing workplace change projects. In 2013, PLACEmaking and AFA architects formed ‘ADAPT’, a multi-skilled collection of specialists commissioned by Bristol City Council to undertake their Bristol Workplace Programme (BWP). PLACEmaking led on all workplace strategy, interior architecture, design and cultural change aspects for the three-year programme.
