London Office Guide - Choosing a Building

Deciding on the most suitable building after the amount and type of space required has been determined.

Socio-economic trends
Today's office market is beginning to be influenced by changes in the demographics of the office population. These trends will inevitably have an impact on an organisation's overall requirements. Some of the following may well influence the final design solution:

job and workstation sharing
staff retention and attraction
home-working
smoking
staff catering
female staff returning to work
staff fitness considerations
flexi-time
healthy buildings
24hr working
leisure facilities
childcare requirements

Changes in statutory regulations being implemented by the European Community will also impact the office environment, by providing minimum standards and guidelines for the environment and use of equipment.

The process so far has allowed a model of the tenant's organisation to be established. Clearly, the extent of this analysis will vary depending on the size and complexity of the company; and the time taken can range from a couple of days to a few weeks.

However, once the profile has been produced, the picture of an 'ideal' building that fits the organisation may be established. And this ideal can be matched against the reality of a shortlist of available buildings.

Building Configuration
The internal shape and configuration of a building will have an enormous impact on the amount of space which may be used effectively and therefore need to occupy. The following areas will be addressed:

space efficiency & circulation factors
module size
sublet considerations
footprint
storage availability
access for wheelchairs
flexibility
total usable square footage
access
security

BUILDING SERVICES
The provision of services within a building will influence where departments and facilities can be located. The following areas will need to be addressed:

building grid and module
location of service cores
riser locations and size
trunking systems and size
speed and quantity of lifts
fire escape routes
air conditioning system
WC allocations
plumbing provision
floor plate areas
circulation patterns (primary and secondary)
potential service areas
vertical transport links and speeds
access of daylight
view
access points
car parking

These are some of the factors which may be evaluated for each building. At the same time, the tenant gives priority to the issues important to the company. Using a statistical weighting system, each building can then be rated on a scale which combines building features with organisational objectives.

Results of this process are often surprising. A building which appears ideally suited to a companies needs, may itself be inefficient; and would restrict growth and operational efficiency.

As the amount of vacant space in this guide illustrates, companies are faced with a bewildering choice of office accommodation. Cost and location factors need to be considered. But the actual amount and type of space a company needs should be defined before the search begins.

The actual requirements in terms of building configuration and the floor 'footprint' can have a remarkable impact on cost and ultimately efficiency when it comes to fitting out and then using a building. Buildings vary considerably in their efficiency. But to reach a decision on the choice of building it is first necessary to analyse the organisation's space requirements, future objectives and business plan and whether the company can operate effectively and efficiently in that workspace. For this the services of a professional space planner are recommended.

The success of every project is driven by the need to understand an occupier's strategic and corporate objectives clearly, together with a detailed knowledge of its organisational structure, growth projections, personnel and working practices. This enables an accurate profile of an organisation to be established and used to evaluate the suitability, usability and efficiency of a chosen building or buildings. The data gathered under this section should then be held within a database and will not only form the basis of the "organisational model" but will also provide the package for post project facilities management.

Information will be collected through interviews with key members of staff as well as via questionaires and surveys. Listed below are some of the areas which need to be addressed in order to build up a picture of the present and future needs of the organisation.

staff growth (historical and projected)
organisational structures
departmental structures
adjacencies and space requirements
changes in working methods, corporate culture...

Departmental Function
Establish the nature, function of all departments and current working practices. This helps you understand how all the components fit together and true requirements of each group.

Adjacency Requirements
The relationship and consequent location of departments within each building is integral to the efficient operation of an organisation. The space planner will gather management information on departmental adjacency requirements. The need for groups and facilities to be near to building services will also be given strong consideration.

The analysis of this information will be shown on matrix diagrams and interpreted so as to provide efficient building "stacks", relating existing departments, people and paper flow between floors or buildings.

Space Standards
A Space Planner should analyse the different tasks carried out and develop a set of functional space standards or review existing corporate space standards. Space standards allow for planning consistency and flexibility and also allow for predictions on future space requirements to be made more accurately. The following areas will be addressed:

functional requirements
effect of building module

Filing and Storage
A schedule of all filing and storage will be made, together with forecasts of expansion needs. All types of storage from security rooms to cleaner's cupboards will be included. New offices can also be the impetus for a re-evaluation of storage needs and practices. The following areas will be addressed:

existing & future requirements
general and archive storage
costs
internal configuration of filing unit
rationalisation potential
furniture and stationery
space use and savings

The guide to available London offices to rent, Central London office space to let and for sale and serviced offices
London Office Guide, Gordon House, 6 Lissenden Gardens, London NW5
For futher information: info@london-office-guide.co.uk

The London Office Guide is useful to help tenants find London office space to rent, London offices to let, central London offices to rent and both serviced offices and commercial property space. In addition to helping find London offices to rent and central London office space to let, it is useful for finding London serviced office space and business centres, London agent surveyors and information on the London office markets. Finding office space to let in London can be daunting. The right office space to rent in London is critical for many companies and if they don't find the right London office space to let their business and staff may be affected. Office space in London and London office property to rent can be expensive so companies need to shop around as much as possible. Overall, the London Office Guide is the most useful website and publication to help tenants find London office properties to let and central London commercial space. Especially office space in central London which includes City office space, Midtown offices and West End office space.

Included in the City of London are the postcodes EC1, EC2, EC3, and EC4. On the City fringe are London E1, London N1, London SE1, the southeastern part of London E2 and the southern part of London N7. London E14 includes office space to let in Canary Wharf and offices to rent in London Docklands. It is a separate office market but it competes for many of the same type of tenants the City does. Office space to let in London EC1 includes the areas of Clerkenwell, Smithfield and Farringdon which are east of Farringdon Road. Many media and hi-tech companies find these areas appealing. Offices to let in London EC2 include the areas around the Bank of England and Stock Exchange. Banks and financial companies of course prefer London office space in this postcode. Offices to rent in London EC3 include the area around Fenchurch Street and Eastcheap. Traditional home of insurance companies. Office space to let in London EC4 east of New Bridge Street include the areas around St. Paul's, Cannon Street and Blackfriars stations. London office space to rent is less expensive in the fringe postcodes. However, there is high quality London office space to let in London E1 around Spitalfields, Shoreditch and St. Katharine's. There is also new high quality offices to rent in London SE1 along the southbank and new office space to let in London N1 around King's Cross. There is also a range of inexpensive offices to rent around Angel and Old Street in London N1. Offices to let in London Docklands are mostly modern and the Canary Wharf office space to let is some of the best in all of Europe.

London Midtown is the area between the City and the West End. It is all of London WC1 and London WC2. It also contains London EC1 west of Farringdon Road and London EC4 west of New Bridge Street. Office space to let in London WC1 include offices to rent around Holborn and office space to let in Bloomsbury and also king's Cross. Offices to rent in London WC2 include Covent Garden office space to let and offices to rent around Leicester Square and the Strand. The Midtown office market is divided by Kingsway. Midtown office space to let east of Kingsway competes more with the City. Midtown offices to rent west of Kingsway tend to compete with the West End. Covent Garden offices to rent compete mostly with Soho office space while Bloomsbury offices for rent compete with office space in the West End north of Oxford Street.

The central or core West End of London office market comprises mainly London W1 office space to let. It also contains St James's offices to rent which is London SW1. London W1 offices to rent are in three geographical parts of the postcode. Mayfair, Soho and north of Oxford Street. Mayfair is the south west part of the London W1. Mayfair office space to let is some of the most expensive in the world. Soho is the south east part of London W1. Soho offices to rent have traditionally appealed to advertising and media companies. London W1 north of Oxford Street is divided into several office markets. There is office space to let in Noho which is immediately north of Soho. Soho office space to let is more expensive though. North of Noho are offices to rent in Fitzrovia which is the north east part of London W1. London W1 west of Portland Place is the remaining office market north of Oxford Street. It comprises mostly period office properties converted from residential.

The Greater West End of London includes offices to let in all of London NW1 and part of London NW8 to the north. To the south it includes almost all of London SW1, part of London SW8 and part of London SE11. To the south west all of London SW5, London SW6, London SW7, London SW10 and parts of London SW11, London SW15 and London SW18. To the west all of London W2, London W6, London W8, London W9, London W10, London W11, London W12 and London W14. Office space to let in London NW1 and London NW8 are offices to rent in Camden, Euston and Marylebone. Office space to let in London SW1 includes offices to rent in London Victoria, Belgravia, Millbank, Westminster, and Whitehall. In London SW8 and London SE11 are offices to let in Battersea and office space to rent in Vauxhall. In the south west there is office space to let in Chelsea, Fulham, Earls Court, Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Putney and Wandsworth. The office space to let in London SW11 also includes parts of Battersea. The Knightsbridge office space to let is expensive. Knightsbridge offices to rent compete with Mayfair. To the west there is office space to let in Paddington, Hammersmith, Bayswater, Kensington and West Kensington. There is Hammersmith office space to let in London W6 and Hammersmith offices to rent in London W12. London W14 office space to rent comprises mostly West Kensington.

In some cases serviced offices in central London or business centres in London might be more appropriate for some companies. London serviced office space is ideal for smaller companies. Serviced offices in London are usually available month to month and include furniture and services as well as the space. There is a range of London serviced office space available. From expensive prestige buildings to basic economical space. Before trying to find office space in London and especially central London office property to rent, tenants should refer to the London Office Guide.