It looks like we are in for a hot spell, which is great for weekends, bank holidays and lazy days by the sea.
Not always as pleasant, however, for London commuters having to spend weekdays in warm offices filled with computer screens, artificial lighting and tightly packed desks.
Landlords with empty London office space to let are blowing their trumpets about air conditioning (if they have it) and asking their letting agents to turn the temperature right down to exaggerate the cool temperature.
When prospective tenants depart, the cooling is turned back to “normal” in order to save life of their condensers, cost and of course the planet.
A growing number companies renting office space in London list air conditioning as a “must have”.
Unfortunately, cooling is often pretty inferior for lots of reasons, notably the simple fact that London has historically had a pretty temperate climate, so landlords have not spent the time designing as good air conditioning solutions as they would if they were in Australia or Dubai…
So without further ado, here are the 5 main issues air conditioning entails:
- Cooled buildings in town are often sealed, so windows can’t be opened do you really want to be breathing in recycled air? It has been medically proven that air conditioning speeds up the spread of illness throughout buildings.
- Balancing can be hard so staff will need shorts and T shirts at one end and duffel coats 40 feet away!
- Some systems allow for zoning to take account of personal preferences, while in many others the boss will select his/her preferred temperature and everyone else will have to put up with it.
- More environmentally aware office occupiers prefer to put up with the British summer, as it is good for the environment and good for employees.
- Bringing in more flexible summer dress code options is a very viable and more cost effective solution, as Michael recently blogged about.
With hotter summers and high office density, cooling is probably here to stay. Our advice at Find a London Office is to check the a/c system before you take a lease.
For more essential tips and advice, have a look at The Knowledge - and for answers to your questions about London office space, check out our FAQs.
Ian Kitchener
Ian has advised Central London office occupiers for over 20 years - fighting their corner and making sure they get a great office on the best terms. He has a diverse client following, often working with creative companies.
