AT chats to… Frances Brown from Cundall about being on the lookout for inspiration and fresh ideas, not having enough hours in the day and getting excited about exploring Milan.

What brings you to BCO Conference/What do you hope to achieve?
The BCO conference is one of my favourite events of the year. It is a chance to catch up with many people who I have got to know through the BCO over the years and meet some new people too. I am also very interested in what will be said on stage and in visiting buildings in a city I haven’t been to before. I hope to gain fresh ideas to bring back to my day job in my role as Workplace Sector Lead at Cundall.

What are you working on at the moment?
Project-wise, as a Building Services engineer, I am working on a couple of deep office refurbishments in London and a series of portfolio decarbonisation projects. I am also working on Cundall’s strategy for our Global Workplace sector for the coming years. I am hoping to get inspiration from the conference for ideas on how our business can shape itself over the next few years to serve this market sector for our clients.

What stops you from doing the work you want to do?
I am lucky enough to be doing the work I want to do. What stops me doing more of it is probably market conditions and the limited hours we all have each day.

What sets the BCO conference apart from the other high-profile gatherings in the industry calendar?
For me, the BCO conference has a good blend of interesting content for workplace enthusiasts like myself and provides a gathering for a community that lives on outside of the conference. As a member of the research committee, I am involved in the BCO’s activities throughout the whole year and I feel a lot of ownership of what it produces and stands for – I am part of it and therefore feel like the conference is a celebration of all that.

What do you make of the choice to hold this year’s conference in Milan?
Whilst I think it is positive that in recent years, the conference has been held in the UK and Ireland, which has helped increase NextGen participation and reduce the carbon costs of travel, I think it is exciting to be further afield this time. I have not been to Milan before, and I am looking forward to learning about its architecture and culture. There is a real sense of celebration and excitement this year. I think we learn more from diverse cultures that can help to enhance our product back home.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?
The opportunity to create something brilliant, both within Cundall and for my clients. Designing offices is an exciting and evolving space at the moment with a changing type of work for us engineers as we drive down carbon in existing buildings as well as new ones! There is lots of room to learn and grow. I also enjoy meeting up with my industry friends and my colleagues. For me, work is about learning, and empowering people!

And what keeps you awake at night?
Working out what might be around the corner and how our business needs to adapt to serve our clients needs, I would like to be able figure out what is coming and ensure we are prepared.

Frances Brown is a Partner (Building Services) at Cundall and a member of the BCO Research Committee.