Reflections from BCO Conference: Regional City Developments vs London Developments

A busy week at the BCO Conference in Edinburgh for Directors – Gordon McQuade & Jeremy Williamson – who did well to get to 4 events on the evening they arrived.

First a Drinks party hosted by Turner & Townsend Alinea at the Rooftop Bar, overlooking Edinburgh Castle, followed by the Hawkins Brown Summer Party in their lovely courtyard, with an excellent food selection in addition. Then onto Buro Happold Drinks Reception which included a presentation on the changes in the UK office environment, a paradigm shift. Finally, we rocked up at 8Build Drinks Reception across the other side of the city, before calling it a night. A good introduction to Edinburgh, all in all.

The plenary sessions were both engaging and thought provoking.

Some highlights as follows:

Key Discussion Points:

• Office design that gets people back to work is a recurring theme.
• Circularity approach costs money!
• GPE project example where all glass recycled and 100% re-used raised floor
• The importance of cities; the need to design ‘non-creepy buildings’; to embrace the positives in AI; to continue to make offices flexible, adaptive, ‘experience driven’ and collaborative places with which to attract and retain quality staff. This was a key driver for Lloyds
• Edinburgh chief executive Paul Lawrence, announced in the plenary session that a tourist tax will raise £40million in revenue a year
• Know the environment you’re building in. Successful regional office buildings that aren’t a fortress with all the amenities but encourage the users to go out and use the local amenities.
• Roof terrace space is considered a luxury in office accommodation
• London market is different. Users require premium service office with short lease flexibility. 64% are retained customers.
• Amenity and external space continues to be critical requirements.
• Trend is Cat A and B space fit-out provided by the landlord to the customer’s brief.
• Regional rental value £40/sqft vs London rental value £160/sqft
• Building identity through good design is critical, especially when regional rental values don’t support amenity.
• London new build and refurb costs similar. New build typically around £600/sqft vs refurb at £500/sqft.
• Carbon savings is an economic necessity. “Circularity in Practice” is a paper that promotes reduced waste which currently costs more than if not adopting the policy because managing waste is an expensive process. Further explanation in the link here: https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/circularity-in-practice/
• Some tenants, such as HSBC (in London) and Lloyds (in Edinburgh) require refurbished building types because circular economy is important to their profile and image.
• A lot of vacant office space is being converted to hotel due to an increase in demand over recent years, due in part to increased number of flight destinations / options.
• NABERS not generally a consideration in Edinburgh market and BC Guide to Specification is used as a reference point only.

Building Visits

• Haymarket Square (a QMile Group development): Foster design of high quality / Grade A office buildings w/in complex masterplan. Initially a speculative development, a single tenant (Baillie Gifford) a 450 bed Hyatt Hotel currently under construction completes the development and is due to be finished in 2028.
• Port Hamilton: repurposing of Scottish Widows HQ which is in the process of being overhauled and converted into a new HQ for Lloyds Banking  in the heart of the city.
• Leith Docks Visit: Port of Leith Distillery (a brave entrepreneurial venture on the outskirts of Edinburgh), Clockwise Offices (repurposing of old Custom House building stock).
• West Edinburgh & business park evolution: Exploring West Edinburgh’s transformation focusing on placemaking through quality new build / refurb office and residential developments, public art, exquisite landscape design and community engagement.
• City Centre tour of Charlotte Square Collection, St Andrew Square, Waverley Gate: Refurbishing 22 Category A listed buildings into quality office space and a brief introduction to Edinburgh’s Dunard Centre, a purpose built 1000 seat concert hall.

In between building visits and conference seminars we managed a breakfast with Waterman Group at Dishoom, and a Whisky & Haggis Tasting event hosted by Wates Specialist Projects at the Whiski Rooms. One of the highlights of the week. Also worthy of mention was the venue for the Conference Reception Drinks, the Mansfield Traquair Centre, also known as Edinburgh’s Sistine Chapel. Originally a Catholic Apostolic Church, one of the most notable features is the series of mural decorations painted by Phoebe Anna Traquair in the 1890s.

If the conference reception drinks setting wasn’t enough, the Conference Party venue was pretty special, being held at the Museum of Scotland, and included a session by the excellent Red Hot Chilly Pipers and a traditional Scottish Ceilidh thrown in for good measure. Great catch ups with new and familiar faces. Many BCO attendees we spoke to were very impressed with Edinburgh as a great place to live and work. The reasonably good weather certainly helped, and Edinburgh was showing itself off in the best light. The Edinburgh tram made getting around very easy and it is a good way to enjoy the sights of the city.

Thinking Piece by Gordon McQuade & Jeremy Williamson