Modern lives are all about being digital. It influences how we socialise, interact with businesses, and learn. In addition, now more than ever it also affects how people work and commercial architecture. However, digital transformation can be tough for many businesses. With the right support though, it is easier to make positive changes.

Look at the fundamentals

Before you make a single change, you should ensure you know the fundamentals. You must understand how to move to digital, what you need to be able to do, and how it will impact the architecture. There are a number of important things to look at here, including your vision for the building, the architectural decisions, and the context.

Simplify

The main thing to keep in mind with digital transformation is it can be really complex if you let it. Even a small change could mean using all kinds of new systems with different technologies and tools. When you consider people and how they will use these assets to do their job, it can get even more complex.

The trick is to try to simplify as much as possible. To do this you need to have the right knowledge. It is a good idea to keep the end users in mind and make usability as easy as possible.

Manage costs

A move to digital can be very costly. This can increase as the size of the commercial architecture does. For example, the price of updating a single office will always be less than doing an entire block.

There are a number of things you need to think about here. Firstly you must consider the cost to change the infrastructure and introduce new tech. Then, you need to plan for things like software and data costs, tools, mobility, governance, and integration.

Innovation

One of the great things about digital transformation is you can introduce changes that will allow further growth in the future. The goal should be to facilitate ongoing progress. This in turn can allow more innovation, improved capabilities and create even more value.

A big part of this should be to keep an eye on emerging technologies. For example, AI may not be something you think will be useful in your building at the moment. However, in the future it could be vital. So, it is a good idea to monitor how the tech develops.

Mobility

A foundation of the digital landscape is it is incredibly mobile. Even a small part of this mobility can be useful in commercial architecture. You should think about how you can use tech to allow this. However, you must also think about things like the lifecycle of the equipment and security.

Talk to us about digital commercial architecture

Coffey Architects has a lot of experience designing and modernising commercial buildings. Our goal is to make sure each one will offer the best value. Part of this is thinking about digital needs and future proofing. We can support our clients with this.

So, if you would like to speak to us about a project, please get in touch. We can help you design the perfect piece of architecture.