Tech designers say the offices of the future could serve your favourite coffee, keep you at the perfect temperature and make sure you never miss a meeting again.

Smart technologies can transform buildings from inert repositories of inactive services into hyper-connected delivery machines.

Experts at Schneider Electric have produced a report on the possibilities of smart buildings.

It found that 83 per cent of industry leaders agreed smart buildings have an important role in future business strategy, but just 43 per cent would actually invest in moving to a smarter building.

Schneider Electric says the hallmarks of a smart building are:

  • Centralised systems for the control and maintenance of lighting, heating, cooling and networks
  • An integrated app for office workers to customise and take control of their environment
  • An network connecting devices, sensors and other systems to optimise the building
  • Open software architecture for the future adoption of new devices, sensors and systems
  • Air, light, space and activities to support a healthy lifestyle
  • Occupancy monitoring so that space can be adapted, reconfigured and re- zoned when needed

The full report is accessible in PDF form, here.