Betapoint: Unlocking Sasol’s potential and building their future
GLA, Asset Magazine Interview
Betapoint knew early on that Sasol would eventually occupy a beautiful, potentially award-winning building. They also realised that unless that building actually delivered on a more meaningful vision and strategy, they would have fallen short in their primary objective of achieving something truly client-centric and sustainable. This was the challenge that faced Betapoint Managing Director, Adam Sargent, and Director, Michael Griffiths, both of whom were instrumental throughout the journey to develop Sasol’s new leased R2 billion global head office in Sandton.
The landmark building, one of a number of flagships changing the face of Johannesburg’s new CBD, was occupied by 2,500 Sasol staff over a period of six weekends late last year. Recently the project won the Best Interiors, Best Corporate Office and Best Overall Project awards at the 2017 SAPOA Convention. In addition, the building has obtained a Green Star SA Five Star rating for design and is expected to achieve the as-built rating shortly, a further endorsement for everyone connected with the project. But beyond these achievements, and now in the immediate post-occupancy period, just what lessons can be learned from such a complex undertaking?
“Property has always been in the top two or three expense items on your income statement. It’s a cost centre, and is often viewed as a necessary evil. But the reality is that, in today’s work environment, it is essential to create a truly enabling space for your employees, customers and other stakeholders, if you want to get the very best results.” Adam concurs: “Over and above brand enhancement and cost optimisation, employee engagement and value proposition were core objectives from the very outset, informing every choice we made.”
Importantly, Sasol bought in to Betapoint’s ambitious proposal, and this was clearly articulated by David Constable, the former CEO, who said in 2016 that “Sasol’s new corporate head office will transform the way we think about our work environment and how to best leverage individual and team strengths. Every aspect of the building is geared towards delivering an exceptional experience, and to enable high performance.” Betapoint’s approach and methodology was perfectly suited to Sasol, who were looking to reinforce their position as ‘an innovative, sustainable and global chemicals and energy company.’ Betapoint’s specialist real estate and facilities management advisory expertise, combined with their deep project, relocation and change management capabilities, offered Sasol a partner with the right mix of big-picture strategic thinking and at the same time a team with the ability to roll up their sleeves and tirelessly focus on translating ideas into action and ultimately, into results.
In 2012, Sasol’s Johannesburg-based head office operations were spread over 17 buildings, creating the impression of a company with a fragmented corporate image, with inconsistent building operating models and service levels, a scarcity of building technologies, inefficient energy profiles and a sub-optimal occupant and visitor experience. The solution was Sasol Place, Sasol’s new global headquarters, with Betapoint driving the concept and business case, the development and lease transaction and all aspects of the tenant project through to post-relocation operational optimisation (GLA, issue 4, February/March 2017).
Fast forward to mid-2017, and one wonders whether the vision has in fact been achieved. “One of the most noticeable contrasts, if you visited Sasol’s previous buildings, is the level of energy you pick up from people in Sasol Place. In the past, people were far more isolated within small pockets of space, whereas the new building design creates an effortless inter-connectivity” says Adam. “The focus on driving workplace satisfaction levels up, to ensure improved employee engagement, has been a critical success factor. Wellness, comfort, collaboration, convenience – all of these design principles have resulted in a far better, more effective work environment” he continues.
In order to ensure the highest levels of functionality and convenience, the building has been designed to be almost self-contained, with an art gallery (exhibiting Sasol’s impressive contemporary collection), indigenous landscaped gardens, an impressive restaurant operated by a dynamic in-house team, a state-of-the art fitness centre, a pastry shop, a Sasol Delight inspired convenience store, a dry-cleaner, car wash, an auditorium, business lounges and a range of seminar, conference and training rooms.
“It was all about understanding the client’s strategic drivers” says Michael. “You need to understand where their business is going in order to be able to develop and deliver the best, or most appropriate, solution.” Adam agrees: “Early on the project team knew they had the chance to aim for an award or two, but ultimately we were most driven by making a truly significant and sustainable impact on Sasol’s business. We analysed Sasol’s business strategy and culture, in order to ensure we added maximum value at every stage of the project journey. Sasol Place had to be part of a long-term vision for the company and not simply a great building.”
Another critical approach Betapoint implemented on the project was the need to proactively plan for the post-occupancy period. Long before they relocated Sasol to their new headquarters, Betapoint understood it would be essential to take a holistic, integrated view in assessing whether the vision had ultimately been achieved. “It’s important to make sure there isn’t a rushed handover after occupation,” says Adam. “The immediate post-occupancy period is particularly critical, in our view, because this is the period when the most significant organisational and operational change is being experienced. New processes, systems and behaviours are all needing to be embedded in order to achieve the longer term vision and business case. We think many project teams tend to try and demobilise too quickly, often while the occupier is typically dealing with the realities of snagging and building-tuning processes, made more challenging due to the fast-track schedule pressure many local projects are increasingly put under.”
“This is quite different to our London experience,” says Michael, where Betapoint has been busy with a regional head office design, build and relocation project since 2016. “There is an ambitious target of zero snagging post-practical completion on our project there – although, in all fairness, our London project is far less complex compared to the 67,000m2 Sasol Place.” Despite some differences, Betapoint uses the same successful methodologies and approaches in the UK as they do here. Adam adds: “We invest significant time in understanding our clients in order to ensure we are best placed to align their real estate and business strategies. We don’t believe turn-key should mean generic, or that bespoke should be simplistically equated with high cost. Every business is unique in some way and we believe this creates opportunities to add additional value, as long as the team are prepared to push the boundaries along the way and never settle for less.”
But whether it’s sunny Jozi or rainy London, one lesson Betapoint emphasises strongly, is that sound commercial principles remain a key foundation for overall project success. “One of our core philosophies is that our team must always assist our clients by thinking strategically, holistically and in a long-term sustainable, performance-enhancing way,” says Adam. “We don’t just look at rentals and escalations,” says Michael, “we search for every possible way to generate win-win situations for the landlord and the occupier, to find ways to better partner and solve problems smartly. We look at hard and soft measures, such as productivity, utilisation, satisfaction – we view the building as an investment and want to get our hands on the underlying data to back the theory up, we want to measure as much as possible so that we can constantly find new ways to help our clients improve.”
What lies ahead for Betapoint in the future? For Adam, “it’s been fantastic to expand our project base internationally, helping us to keep a close eye on global best practices. We’ve absolutely confirmed our skills are transferable and in some cases, our approach has shown us that in highly mature markets there are ways we approach challenges that can add greater value for our clients, than simply sticking to the tried and tested way of doing things.” Michael agrees with the benefits of Betapoint’s successful international exposure, adding that “of course, we very much want to grow here in South Africa and in Africa, to build a greater awareness of the value that many occupiers might lose out on if they adopt a generic or default approach.”
The team at Betapoint are unanimous that the future for landlords and developers is less property-centric and more client-centric. They also see the property sector evolving fast and increasingly adopting a more professional services driven approach, with technology disrupting all facets of the industry. “At Betapoint we see significant untapped potential for our clients to leverage their real estate strategies and property investments for higher overall business performance,” Adam says. “We fundamentally believe this requires working with a partner with both deep business and property expertise. With our track record and holistic skill-set, and our passion to unlock value for our clients, we are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.”
http://www.glamag.co.za/issue7/index.html?page=26
Adam Sargent and Michael Griffiths speak to Asset Magazine: http://bit.ly/2w2TGQX