Rapid technological change is transforming human behaviour and the natural pace of design innovation is struggling to keep up. How should we respond? Hames Sharley’s managing director Caillin Howard has a few ideas.
Howard has been at the helm of Hames Sharley for the last seven years. During this time, he has redefined the firm’s value proposition and expanded the business to one which employs a 200-strong multi-disciplinary team around Australia and expects to grow its headcount by a further five per cent this year.
The interdisciplinary practice was recently ranked 94th in the World Architecture 100 list for 2022. This list also features several of Hames Sharley’s recent projects: Fishermans Bend in Melbourne, NEXTDC P2 in Perth and Marrickville Metro in Sydney.
Howard has steered the Hames Sharley ship during a “tumultuous time” – but he is quick to emphasise that COVID-19 was “an add on” to what was already an era of exponential change.
“I don’t think we’ve ever seen a period of change like this since the Renaissance. Technology is driving rapid behavioural change and I’m not convinced everyone understands the times we are living through.”
The Renaissance did more than inspire new perspectives on art. As painters and sculptors engaged in a bold new realism, scientists revolutionised the way we looked at the world. Chemists discovered gunpowder. Mathematicians dreamed up new financial trading systems. Explorers circumnavigated the world. New inventions gave us pencils, paperbacks, parachutes and prosthetics.
But the rate of technological change today is hard to get our heads around. The past 30 years of technological evolution can be illustrated in one exponential curve. Moore’s Law, conceived by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore in 1965, observes that computing power doubles in capacity each year. This means next year our technology will be twice as good as what it is this year.
“Tomorrow is not like yesterday but thank goodness it’s not. We have a clean sheet of paper and a chance to question things,” Howard says.
Living in an exponential era makes predicting the future a challenge, especially for those in an industry responsible for designing buildings and places that may still be around in a century’s time, or longer. But Howard, a natural optimist, sees opportunity everywhere
“As the world becomes more virtual people are searching for more authentic experiences, connections and relationships.”
Technology performs with ease the transactions that once also generated social value and forged human connections, like the conversation with the supermarket cashier, the bank teller or even the travel agent. As we make these transactions quicker and easier, a void remains. “We are robbed of social interaction. And as each transaction gives us back less social value and joy, we search for it in other places.”
The property industry can step up with new richer, more rewarding experiences of place. “Designers play a unique role in questioning how we develop places and spaces that respond to changed behaviour.”
How can property leaders respond? Hames Sharley is investing in several areas: design methodology; data, analytics and artificial intelligence; and people – “because we are a people-centric business”.
“We will continue to chase down data and artificial intelligence opportunities to augment specific processes because that will enable us to invest more time into thinking and interpretation – which is where our value lies.”
Howard doesn’t like the word “disruption”, which he says implies change is “negative, aggressive and against us”.
“As a community we are seeing change as another load to bear, rather than as an opportunity to explore and take advantage.”
Australians are “battle weary” he concedes. “But the challenges and opportunities in the market were here before COVID. Now is the time to lift up the head, push back the shoulders and look at this amazing opportunity we have before us.”