Welcome to our new blog series "Working Well" where we take a look at workplaces through the eyes of the people within them. Each month, BRM catches up with previous clients to hear how they found, created and continue to manage a workplace that "works well".

This week we spoke to Henry Kalus, Partner at Melbourne-based law firm Kalus Kenny Intelex. The firm recently made the move to a new location at 4 Riverside Quay in Southbank. Here's what he had to say about the new workplace...

Curating the right mix of tenants as a commercial property owner can transform a great space into a valuable cultural experience for the people within that space. The centrality of people to the workplace has become a much talked about topic within the commercial real estate industry. Savvy property owners, in a bid to stand out in the real estate landscape,  are filling their buildings with likeminded businesses that can leverage each other at a business level, together with the right blend of retail and hospitality amenities.

The result is a space that not only provides the day to day services tenants require, from food outlets to dry cleaning services, but also a carefully curated mix of office tenants that can provide professional services to each other. 

​For BRM, our services have always aimed to reach beyond the transaction itself. We put people at the centre of everything we do, from workplace consulting, to project management, workplace design, and in this case, property advisory.
 
Yes, property is about “closing the deal”, but many are quick to forget that the “deal” involves people, from the people who are making the deal, right down to the people who will be occupying and working in the actual space. For this reason, we see relationships as paramount to commercial property. Without stable and trustworthy relationships, a company facing a change in location, organisational structure or even the layout of its office desks, will encounter great difficulty.
 

BRM’s design, property and project management team came together to assist law firm Kalus Kenny Intelex in their recent move from the Como Centre to 4 Riverside Quay in Southbank. 

​BRM’s multidisciplined skills meant that the firm’s entire move from initial property search, right through to the design of the new office and handover of their previous space was overseen by the one property service provider. The result was a smooth transition to a new workplace in a brilliant location, with different corners of the BRM team across every facet of the move. KKI was able to settle in and enjoy freshly designed new offices with peace of mind, knowing that BRM’s property team was taking care of the handover of the previous space. 

It is quite commonly known that Landlords are responsible for costs and maintenance of safety requirements in retail premises in Victoria.  This is the case under both the Building Act 1993 (Vic) and the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic).

There has been some contention about how the two acts operate, which both apply in the case of retail premises.  The main question most landlords ask is: Can such obligations can be contracted out of or passed on to the tenant?

A recent Advisory Opinion in 2015 has helped to clarify the position of the law in regards to these issues.  While Advisory Opinions are not legally binding, they are highly persuasive to Tribunals and Courts in hearing such decisions, especially given that there are many cases in support of the conclusions reached.

Nextt is a leading provider of disability support services, enhancing the quality of life for many Australians. BRM Projects is no stranger to the folks at Nextt, having provided property strategy, search, fitout and accommodation strategy services as far back as 2015.

This week we sat down with Natalie Gillam, Business Transformation General Manager at Nextt to talk about her workplace and their latest experience with the BRM team.

​In today’s workplace landscape, the opinion of the worker counts for a lot. In fact, organisations are increasingly involving their staff in decisions that were once reserved for leadership. The workforce is largely made up of millennial workers who are used to having significant influence in the way they work, rather than being dictated to by archaic organisational structures. 

​The workplace has evolved incredibly – from a time when physical skill and labour were the main focus, to today’s landscape, dominated by technological advancements. It’s safe to say that the idea of work, and the worker, has undergone quite the transformation over the centuries.
 
So how do we prepare for the next step in the evolution of the workplace? The answer may be simpler than we thought.
 
In the current economic climate, businesses are pro-actively changing in response to the growing expectations of their workers.
Now that people are defining the future of work, we need to examine their needs, their values and their purpose. In doing so, companies are following all kinds of ‘workplace trends’ to attract top talent. But the successful workplaces are those that have three core elements at their centre: Technology, Design and Culture. Each element on its own is a kickstarter to a better workplace, but when used in support of each other, they are a recipe for a brand new paradigm of work, possibly the best we’ve seen so far. 

​‘The workplace of tomorrow’ is a term that most organisations are striving towards these days. It seems that everyone wants to hitch a ride on the workplace wellness bandwagon with companies adopting practices from agile working, to yoga and nap pods.
 
The real workplace of tomorrow, however, will be shaped by much more than a passing trend. In fact, the working landscape has already changed dramatically over the past decade and rapid changes continue to happen before our eyes. So how do we keep up? The answer may be simpler than you think…