New York was the location for last week鈥檚 annual conference of the British Council for Offices
The British Council for Offices (BCO) decided to let the location do the talking at its annual conference in New York last week, opting for a slimmed-down programme, but more than 30 tours of local landmarks.
The skyline of Manhattan is, after all, all about offices. The 54-storey Bank of America eco-skyscraper, Foster + Partners鈥� Hearst Tower and the UN building were among those to open their doors. But the highlight was a trip to Ground Zero and 7 World Trade with developer Larry Silverstein.
New York has more in common with the London office market than any of the BCO鈥檚 previous conference locations, which include Barcelona, Paris and Dublin, but the city鈥檚 ambition, like the buildings, dwarfs anything on the London scene.
The conference鈥檚 keynote speech was from Daniel Doctoroff, the deputy mayor. He set out Plan NYC, which, among other things, aims to make the city the first truly sustainable one in the US.
It includes a congestion charge zone covering half of Manhattan, building 245,000 homes by 2030, cleaning up all contaminated land, expanding commercial development into Queens and Brooklyn and planting a tree 鈥渙n every part of every street where it鈥檚 possible to do so鈥�. Global warming emissions would be cut 30% by 2030 鈥� New York produces 1% of the US鈥� carbon emissions and 0.25% of the world鈥檚.
Later, in the developers鈥� debate, Frances Ives, the chairman of quantity surveyor Cyril Sweett, asked how US construction managed to be more efficient.
Steven Roth, chief executive of Vornado Realty Trust, one of the largest developers in the US, had some advice: 鈥淲e have a roving team of inspectors who go all over the world to make sure our manufacturers are meeting standards and deadlines; we deliver materials in the middle of the night, so trucks can get in easily; and we get occupiers in the bottom floors while we鈥檙e still building the 45th and up.鈥�
There was also a focus on architecture, perhaps because the chairman of the BCO is Gordon Carey, of Carey Jones architects, but also because of the list of big names designing in the city.
The conference closed with a 鈥� baffling at times 鈥� session on design with Rafael Vi帽oly, Graham Stirk from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Marilyn Taylor from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The conference hotel was the Waldorf-Astoria on Park Avenue, an art deco classic, although some among the 650 delegates felt its faded glamour could be refreshed. Still, it's hard to imagine that Brussels, next year鈥檚 venue, will live up to all the glitz.
Talking points
The BCO鈥檚 first conference outside Europe presented delegates with a dilemma 鈥� obey your body clock and retire early, or drink late into the night to dull the pain?
America鈥檚 LEED green building standard is more stringent than it's UK equivalent BREEAM, but the arctic air conditioning in the conference hall told a different story
Delegates took full advantage of the exchange rate to fit as much retail therapy as possible around the programme.
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