Transforming Heal’s, Dutch high-rise housing and innovation hubs
Apr 11, 2024
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Discover the transformation of London's historic Heal's department store into a contemporary office space. Learn about the housing crisis in the Netherlands and the rise of high-rise living. Explore the strategies for creating successful innovation hubs and the challenges faced in monetizing them.
Transforming buildings around end-users fosters innovation and creativity.
Creating engaging physical workspaces boosts collaboration, productivity, and employee well-being.
Deep dives
Transformation of an Old London Department Store into Office Space
A historic London department store, Heels, has been transformed by General Projects from a retail space to a hub of vast office space. General Projects' CEO, Jacob Loftus, emphasized the focus on redesigning and reinventing buildings around end-users, steering away from the conventional real estate approach. The project aims to create a diverse office community while retaining Heels' British design legacy, fostering innovation and creativity. The unique and quirky building features varied office spaces to cater to different businesses, ensuring a vibrant and inspiring environment for work.
The Trend Towards Working in Office Spaces
Amid discussions about remote work, there is a noticeable shift back to physical office spaces for collaboration, creativity, and team engagement. Companies recognize the importance of inspiring work environments that encourage in-person interactions and boost productivity. The focus is on creating offices that employees desire to be in, promoting collaboration and innovation. The need for engaging physical workspaces is highlighted to enhance employee well-being and productivity.
The Dutch Housing Crisis and Innovative Solutions
The Netherlands grapples with a severe housing shortage, aiming to construct a million new homes by 2030 to accommodate population growth. Space constraints have led to innovative solutions focusing on building upwards and on water. Projects include high-rise constructions and floating homes to address housing needs. Rotterdam, for instance, combines reclaiming land from water with skyscraper development, transforming the city's skyline. Innovative approaches such as these are vital in addressing the housing crisis.
Creating Successful Innovation Hubs through Design, Programming, and Community Building
Anuk Brown, from Natural Networks, highlights the key elements for successful innovation hubs: creating space for collaboration with diverse stakeholders, understanding community needs, impactful programming, and ensuring commercial viability. Brown underscores the importance of soft skills, community management, and strategic planning in fostering innovation hubs. Her research emphasizes the role of hospitality skills in hosting dynamic spaces and orchestrating interactions among differing professionals. Design, programming, collective identity, and commercial thinking are identified as crucial pillars for thriving innovation hubs.
We explore the newly transformed spaces in the historic Heal’s department store in London, investigate the new building frontiers required to tackle the Netherlands’ housing needs and find out what makes an effective innovation hub.