​These days most organisations are aware of the role that property plays in supporting their business. However, a common mistake occurs when the choice of properties is presented as the final offer, without flexible solutions to address changing business needs. Many businesses believe that what they see is what they get without properly understanding a property’s potential.

​What are the steps we’re taking in 2020 to make the workplace more inclusive?
 
Across Australia workplaces are adopting practices and designs that celebrate the individual differences of the worker. Where diversity was once unique to the common workplace, it has now become a legal responsibility, with laws in place to ensure all types of workers are accepted. But these days, workplace design goes far beyond legislation. 

As with last year, people are the central focus in commercial property. Bricks and mortar matter less as the experience of the worker becomes everything. With tech disruption, political upheaval and climate anxiety on the rise, commercial landlords are beginning to hear what people want. Read on to see the key workplace elements that landlords have started to deliver.

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. 

​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. 

BRM has absolutely loved working with Engine House and we've enjoyed watching this awesome co-working space expand into its new location in Balaclava, Victoria. Engine House represents everything that is great about the changing landscape of today's workplace. We recently sat down with one of its founders, Rod Janover to talk about his experience of building the ultimate in co-working spaces.

​When it comes to commercial property, change is inevitable. Leases will end, companies may grow and other issues, both external and internal, will rear their heads, forcing businesses to adapt and move forward. It goes without saying that stability and trustworthy relationships are paramount during these periods of change. 

Having a property advisor who can deliver a relocation project and fitout after years of guiding its client through various changes is uncommon, but BRM Projects provided this exact service to its client, Roads Australia ,and the results speak for themselves.

Discover how over 10 years of advice and project delivery from the same commercial property provider helped Roads Australia through some challenging periods…

​We love working on new projects with our existing clients. Optalert, is an exciting client, who has developed a technology that acts as an early warning drowsiness detection system. As its technology has grown and the company itself is increasingly becoming trusted by major global companies, its needs are changing, especially in the workplace itself and the property it occupies.
 
From our early property advisory work with the then new CEO Scott Coles in 2014, to the fitout of Optalert’s new offices that same year, BRM Projects has continued to act as Optalert’s trusted property partner throughout all of the its changes over the past few years.
 
Here is a preview of just some of the work BRM Projects has carried out for this fascinating company:

Client: Kennedy Partners
Location: Melbourne, CBD
 
This family law firm, based in Melbourne, had been practicing from the same premises for 25 years. When Kennedy Partners decided to employ the Property Strategy services of BRM Projects in late 2016, it was facing a ‘Stay or Go’ decision.