In collaboration with Faithful+Gould, Our tool draws on space standards from our extensive database of projects to provide space utilisation, lifecycle cost and environmental performance scenarios. It also helps to illustrate existing and predicted user populations and space factors within individual buildings and across a wider estate.

We can effectively categorise and assess space by asking the right questions. For example:

• with workspace, precisely how much of it is agile, collaborative, shared?
• for public interactive space, how much of it is allocated to exhibitions, meeting rooms, social space, revenue-driving space?
• at a university, how much of the estate is devoted to improving student wellbeing?

The results are extremely useful for demonstrating facts to stakeholders, often both validating and challenging preconceptions. Clients are often surprised by what they find, previously unaware of how much underutilised space exists on their estate, or how much it is costing them.

Cost and programme analysis

The model includes Faithful+Gould’s smart investment planning tool to bring clarity to potential options, factoring in capital and whole life costs, programme and operational information. This is in addition to ‘Insight’, Faithful+Gould’s benchmarking and costing software, which creates cost modelling and capital cost forecasting. Insight will capture the space options developed by Hawkins\Brown and drop them into a cost and programme model.

Environmental performance

Recognising that we must all play a part in the journey to carbon net zero, our team analyses an estate’s data by building type and energy performance, modelling the outputs on each building. The data can then be used to plan a scenario – in line with the space utilisation and lifecycle cost software – to identify the optimum energy and sustainability model for the estate.

Why?

Covid-19 has renewed the focus on estate optimisation. Many estate holders now have a footprint mismatch, potentially carrying excess property weight, and with decisions looming regarding rightsizing options, operating models, renegotiation of leases, and disposal and/or acquisitions. Accurate data is vital to making the right decisions.

Whether you’re reviewing your whole estate, or only smaller segments – all of our estates optimisation services can be used, allowing for more informed decision-making and enabling a balance of suitability, quality and affordability.

If you’re interested in making use of this approach, please contact Euan Macdonald.