Higher Education Future Spaces

Introduction
As part of AUDE’s Space Management Group’s activities, Atkins and Broadway Malyan are collaborating to bring to members a curated one day conference and subsequent workshops focused around Higher Education Future Spaces.

Tell us your preferences for the conference

Please select your TOP FIVE sessions with at least ONE FROM EACH THEME that you would like to feature at the one day conference.

The event will kick-off in early 2022 with a one day conference for a maximum of 40 attendees organised and chaired by Atkins. This will be followed-up by a series of workshops organised and chaired by Broadway Malyan to explore further the themes and topics presented and discussed at the conference.

Question Title

* 1. Theme 1 - Digital physical overlap

1A. Spaces for innovation and creative thinking
Talk: Innovation Lab: 4 x 4 x 4 (Major technology and media company)

The brief for the workplace design was to create a world-class facility, giving access to an environment, tools and
insights which help accelerate innovation. A key aspect of this is the 4x4x4 strategy developed specifically for the
client. Staff are encouraged to bring forward new ideas which first are explored over a concentrated 4 hour period by
leading specialists within the business, after this period the idea is either rejected or enters a 4 week period of
exploration with necessary support and resource. Again the idea either proceeds no further or is selected for a 4
month intense development phase for possible adoption by the business. The building is therefore organised to
reflect this, the mezzanine level hosts the 4-hour team, level 1 the 4 week team and level 2 the 4 month team.

1B. Agility and how space can be organised for future working trends
Talk: Future workspace (Major technology and media company)

“The future is flexible” – the term flexible working can mean a wide range of different things, from adaptable spaces,
to hybrid home-office working models. Understanding how new workplace models can provide flexibility needs to be
considered in the context of the specific activities or requirements of an organisation. We have been working with a
number of clients to explore what ‘flexible’ means for them, and how they can use a combined approach to workplace
planning and strategy that includes workplace settings, management & occupancy strategies and technology.

1C. Technology and spatial overlaps, how to make them flexible and adaptable
rather than single use
Talk: Creative Space Park Leicester*

Learning from the European Space Agency – spaces for collaboration & design
Collaboration & innovation can happen anywhere, but to develop complex ideas sometime specialist spaces are
required. The ESA & NASA use a particular method, concurrent design to accelerate their programmes with multiple
disciplines and experts. This design approach has led to the development of a specific type of space to support this
process which combines spatial layout and technology infrastructure to supported integrated design. This approach
and these spaces are now being shared and used by new sectors including medical technologies and creative
industries. Potential external speaker: ESA / Space Park Leicester

1D. Immersive technology and the blended future, how do we curate space for this
Talk: Digital Catapult (innovation labs)* – to be approached

Lots of angles for engaging with Digital Catapult, for example:
How does immersive technology fit into future spaces/events. The Digital Catapult work with multiple sectors and
types of organisations to maximise value and opportunities from digital technologies, including IoT and 5G
technoglogy, and immersive technology spaces and research centres. They regular work to connect SMEs to larger
organisations to trial ideas and solutions. They are currently running a pilot project to develop a hybrid festival using
5G tech, which will test the art of the possible in multi-location, multi-tech, and diverse audience engagement – what
can we learn from their experience. Potential external speaker: Head of Immersive and Creative Partnerships

1E. Digital physical / blended
Talk: LavaLab

The LavaLabs are designed to enable our business to transform in order to work more collaboratively and in a truly
digital sense. The spaces will enable our project teams to collaborate and drive value from current and emerging
digital technologies. This will be an innovative thinking/working space or a place to showcase our technology to our
staff / clients, or both. These hubs enable a fluid way of working that integrates smarter working, interoperable
technology and policy to break down barriers and facilitate collaboration between teams and departments.

Question Title

* 2. Theme 2 – Adaptability and flexible use in the community

2A. University space in the wider context
Talk: Connected Places* – to be approached

Hubs of innovation – How can Higher Education providers work with the wider innovation ecosystems regionally and
nationally to create hubs of innovation. These require an combined approach to thinking about spaces and the
systems or structures that are in place to support different activities and events. CPC recently released a report on
this. Potential external speaker: Director of the Built Environment

2B. Blended future - what is needed to remove isolation
Talk: University of Leeds – Research Social Networks* – to be approached
Socio-technical Centre & adapting offices research

An interesting angle on this would be the impact of workplace planning and management on social networks. As
workplace change across all sectors, there are a wide range of hybrid working models that are being explored, from
‘collaboration hub offices’ to ‘50/50 models’. The impact of these different models is not yet fully understood are we
continue to operate in the largest home/remote working experience ever experienced. These different models may
have an impact on how people interact with one another, and the opportunities for informal learning or building social
networks within the workplace. University of Leeds are leading research into exploring this. Potential external
speaker: University of Leeds.

2C. Space for consumers - the wider community context and interface
Talk: Head of Innovation Sony (guest speaker) – to be approached

How do digital organisation approach innovation for the consumer market? How do they define the users / consumers
needs and requirements and how do they engage those end users in their innovation processes? What are the big
changes they have seen in the last 10 years, and what are their predictions for the next 10?

2D. Field research and creative consultation events
Speaker: Scott Mason / Val Clugston Nomad-RDC (guest speaker) – to be approached

Val Clugston and Scott Mason founded Nomad in 2006 to pursue their joint passion for research led/people centric
design. Their mission is to build a new type of intelligent design consultancy, one which takes the best values of the
creative mind, experimentation, lateral thinking and critical reflection and combines these with active academic
practice and user centered methods.

Question Title

* 3. Theme 3 – Wellbeing through the blended learning cycle

3A. Psychology of space - what is needed in the mix
Speaker: Fiona Duggan FiD (guest speaker) – to be approached

Fiona’s qualifications cover architecture, organisational psychology, teaching (higher education) and business
strategy. Prior to establishing FiD, Fiona gained 20 years experience including workplace consultancy (DEGW, AMA),
architectural teaching (University College London, Oxford Brookes University, Greenwich University, Birkbeck College
London), architectural practice (David Chipperfield, Avanti Architects) and overseas work (VSO, UNESCO).

3B. Putting people's wellbeing at the heart of building design
Talk: Human-Centred Design Research

A study on the relationship between wellness and productivity
The underlying data research was conducted by researchers from Imperial College London in partnership with
Atkins, and seeks to examine how human-centred design can promote improved health and wellbeing with spin-off
benefits in terms of greater productivity.

3C. Psychology of Space - Working with the Department of Psychology and Crossmodal Cognition Lab to investigate
psychological responses to space

The study considered how can we define the success factors of increasingly flexible environments, including social
density, spatial density, type of view and presence of noise, and to what extent these influence our perception of the
environment we work in, from our ability to concentrate, overall satisfaction, or our feeling of personal space.