Proptech in the office

Published 26 September 2019

Increasing demands are being placed on our office space. Beyond the need to be conducive to working, it also needs to attract and retain talent, provide a range of different styles of space and be flexible enough to deal with fluctuations in team size and technological evolution. The office of the future, will need to do more than just co-locate a group of people and act as a ‘defensive’ balance sheet.

The connected digital era and the imminent intelligent era challenge the value chain that has underpinned commercial real estate. Traditional practices are poorly aligned with future possibilities. Making infrastructure and design decisions years or even months before occupancy no longer appears sustainable. Cost, previously the driver of many building decisions, can no longer be the premier factor in an era where buildings are being asked to do more.

PropTech has the potential to be a significant enabler and change agent, facilitating the shifts and helping the physical structure become a flexible asset against a backdrop of continual disruption. There is, though, a way to go. Employees do not consider their buildings to be smart enough. Business leaders acknowledge the role that PropTech can play, both on new and older stock. However, the majority of businesses do not have either a specific PropTech strategy or generally, a digital strategy.  Those with a clear sense of how to engage will be the winners in a market where existing business models are being overturned.

Read the article in full here.

Our thanks to David Smith, Chief Executive of Global Futures & Foresight for his research into this item and his support.