The incoming president of the British Council for Offices has warned the industry not to 鈥渘avel gaze鈥� during tough times and focus on innovative office design and construction

Gary Wingrove, head of construction programme management at BT, said design should incorporate the latest technology and provide facilities for social networking.

He said: 鈥淥ffices are no longer about what the 50 year olds want. We need to be finding out what the people in their teens and twenties want as they鈥檒l be the ones using them.鈥�

He urged designers and developers to talk to firms such as Microsoft and to visit universities to gauge opinion among future office workers.

Offices are no longer about what the 50 year olds want. We need to find out what teenagers want

Gary Wingrove, BCO

The theme for the council鈥檚 conference next year will also be about catering to the 鈥淔acebook generation鈥�.

Jack Pringle, director of Pringle Brandon, said: 鈥淭he Facebook generation talk to 20 people at one time while playing a video game, listening to music and doing 鈥檞ork鈥�. It is this generation that will set the agenda for the office of the future.鈥�

Meanwhile, at this week鈥檚 British Property Federation conference, one panel discussion warned developers they could become a 鈥減olitical target鈥� for the coalition government.

Ben Page, chief executive of market research company Ipsos Mori, said: 鈥淥nly 20% of the public trust business leaders, and sectors with large amounts of capital could become political targets.鈥�

George Pascoe-Watson, a partner in Portland PR, added: 鈥淔inding yourself in this position is a real possibility for any group perceived to have a lot of money at the moment. It wouldn鈥檛 hurt you to lose some through taxation.鈥�

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