On Tuesday 28th November, the 10th National Business Post Property Summit took place at the Radisson Blue Royal Hotel in Dublin city.

The conference was attended by STW Managing Director, Ronan Phelan, who took part in a panel discussion with Ronan Corbett, Head of Offices with Cushman & Wakefield Ireland on the office marketplace and emerging key trends and requirements.

Ronan spoke about the importance of placemaking in office developments and creating places that people want to be – not just for work, but for living and leisure. The concept of a 15-minute city was discussed in terms of how it could aid the return of people to offices, improve vibrancy in areas which can otherwise be vacant outside office hours, and create a better sense of community and quality of life overall. They discussed how flexible working and hybrid/ remote working is changing office design, and how this creates an opportunity to create workplaces that are more inclusive, catering for diversity and making our buildings more accessible for all. They also spoke about the suitability of redeveloping or retrofitting some of our older office stock, both for occupant comfort and for achieving sustainability targets, and demand for new Grade A, energy efficient offices.

The event included panellists and presenters from each sector, as well as investors and other stakeholders, who discussed the changes to the market post-COVID, as well as the challenges of climate change, economic challenges presented by rising inflation and interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty. The summit gave a broad overview of the current state of the market through a series of panel discussions and case studies exploring challenges and opportunities facing us today and looking ahead to the coming years. The morning session focussed on planning and the residential sector, with the afternoon given over to the workplace, senior living, retail, hospitality, and the industrial sector.

Thank you to Ronan's fellow panellist Ronan Corbett, Ivan Yates who chaired the event, iQuest and the Business Post for inviting us to take part.

To learn more about the range of Scott Tallon Walker Architects commercial work, visit https://www.stwarchitects.com/our-work/

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