Is lockdown unlocking real estate’s true potential?

LISTEN Adaptability. It is a word that is being used increasingly during the coronavirus pandemic. Everyone has had to adapt to a new way of living and a new way of working. Businesses have had to adapt to a new way of operating, of communicating with their employees, their suppliers and their clients. And we will continue to have to adapt. Adapt to coming out of this crisis and all the other crises we face – and will continue to face – going forward. But that adaption is showing us just what is possible and exactly what can be achieved. It is revealing how we can be more efficient in the work that we do, how we can make work more accessible to more people, how we can create balance and understanding and how, ultimately, we might be able to create a built environment that is progressive and inclusive. “I think there’s a huge strength in adaptability, which applies across the board, in terms of adapting to new situations, adapting to new challenges,” says Sarah Bissessar (pictured left), senior estimator at Willmott Dixon Interiors. Bissessar is having to adapt to home-schooling and keeping her children educated and entertained while still working hard with the Future Female Leaders training programme. It’s a time management challenge, she says, but one that is teaching her about the importance of finding space in your day to just be. She is learning that it is okay to not constantly be on the go. “For me it is about all how efficiently we use our time,” adds Savills associate director of development Laura Mackay (pictured middle). “And it’s become quite clear that we can engage with people in meaningful and personal ways without meeting in person, which can enable us to get more done more quickly.” Mackay is keen to see how the world adapts post-lockdown to this learning around efficiency. “It will be interesting to see how we actually use our time [post-lockdown] and how much time we spend travelling around,” she says. “I think a lot of us probably feel like we travel around a lot when we don’t always need to. That would be a big change.” Bissessar hopes that the realisation that we don’t always need to physically be in a place to do our jobs and be successful might mean that the industry embraces flexible, agile and remote working more widely and in a way that opens up the industry to more people, particularly more working parents. Suzan Ucmaklioglu (pictured right), an architect at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, recognises that lockdown has not been easy for everyone. That there are many people across the country and the world who have struggled to work remotely, but for some it has given them access to working and communicating in a way they may not have had the opportunity to do previously. She says: “What we are all going through during this lockdown is giving us an insight into what more and what else is possible. What we are all experiencing now is living in an environment that is not ideal for the vast majority of the population, but there is a smaller minority of people who are actually gaining access to things in the world that they usually wouldn’t have been able to. “We now have an opportunity to review the ways in which we are collectively disadvantaged and use this increased insight and empathy towards a more progressive, inclusive, built environment. “There are so many different things we are learning,” she adds, “and although collectively we’re going through the same thing, our experiences are hugely different and everyone has different challenges they’re facing. We need to be mindful of that and empathetic towards that to continue being successful.” To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette