Identifying adaptive strategies employed by office building investors

Abstract

Purpose -With strategies including flexible work practices, tenants are increasingly seeking flexibility in their physical office space and layouts. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent investors address tenants' changing demand for office space with reference to layouts in new and existing office buildings. Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative study comprising in-depth individual interviews with senior portfolio managers of all listed property trusts investing in the office sector in New Zealand was undertaken. Findings -The findings confirmed property investors incorporate several adaptive and flexible space design and specifications in their modern office buildings to enhance space flexibility and functional efficiency. These include adaptive building structures, efficient floor plates, flexible building services, advanced IT networking, high-quality building amenities and modern building materials. Building structures and layouts are designed to be modified quickly and cost effectively to address tenants' changing needs. Implications affecting tenant demand for flexible spaces on their lease contracts were also identified.Research limitations/implications -The findings from this research have implications for management of office space. Although the data were sourced with reference to buildings located in New Zealand only, the findings are applicable to office buildings in other countries. Practical implications -The study provides an insight into design strategies adopted in modern office buildings to enhance space flexibility and functional efficiency. These findings are of practical application to professionals involved in the design, development, investment and valuation of modern office buildings. Originality/value -The paper provides in-depth insights into how investors meet tenants' changing demand for physical space which is linked to delivering improved and stable market-driven returns to investors.

Post Occupancy Evaluation of Adaptively Reused Buildings: Case Study of an Office Building in Saudi Arabia

“…• Interior and Exterior Finishes: Interior and exterior finishes, reflecting the image of the building, are essential components in modern office buildings [25,39]. As adaptive reuse of buildings might require the replacement of interior and exterior finishes, defects in the installation of new materials may occur, due to the lack of quality control measures during the replacement process [17].…”

“…The workplace needs to be provided with advanced information and communication technologies (ICT), through flexible networking and high-quality building amenities [39], to support the business operations [14]. The utilization of innovative ICT in the workplace will reflect positively on the performance of the organization [40].…”

“…The utilization of innovative ICT in the workplace will reflect positively on the performance of the organization [40]. • Car Parking: The availability of sufficient car parking in office buildings is a challenging issue for designers [39]. In adaptive reuse projects, designers need to provide sufficient number of car parking to satisfy the requirements of the new type of occupancy [36,41].…”

“…• Other Amenities: Other amenities in office buildings usually refer to the social spaces provided to enhance the design quality of the workplace, such as lobbies, lounges and cafeterias [39]. These spaces need to be assessed to improve the satisfaction of users with the overall quality of the workplace [40].…”

Future office layouts for large organisations: workplace specialist and design firms’ perspective

“…Organisations will be looking at office space which gives opportunity to be more agile and connected with giving high flexibility and variety of choices (Halvitigala, and Reed, 2015). Harris, (2015) contradictory to his own argument above he believes that usage of high…”