Lord Foster, the world-renowned architect behind projects including the Gherkin, Wembley Stadium and Tower 2 at New York’s World Trade Center talks about how hard it is to influence a world where architects are unable to “tell people what to do” and explains why his motto will always be “The only constant is change”.
Speaking at this week’s BCO conference in London, he said: “There is a natural resistance to change, but the story of society is about progress.”
On the subject of office design he said: “With standards being raised in terms of levels of expectation then I think the trend you will be seeing, which is already apparent, is that to attract the best people you have to provide good facilities.
“Instead of one party being desperate for a job and taking it at any price and any circumstance, in more and more of the sector you are seeing talented, younger groups who will pick or chose where they work based not just on how much they are being paid, but the quality of the environment. The lifestyle that one company will offer over another.”
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