We have defined the term and heard those in the know talk the wellness talk. But what about the reality of the concept? Emily Wright and Janie Manzoori-Stamford investigate how three buildings from around the world are poised to demonstrate the powers and benefits of wellbeing
The new kid on the block
It just looks so cool. Rising up like a geometric diamond on an otherwise uninspiring business park, The Edge really is just that – a building at the cutting edge of modern design, technology and wellness.
Deloitte’s Amsterdam HQ also happens to be on the edge of the city, but that does not stop thousands of people from flocking to it every week. “Our staff can choose which office they work in,” says Erik Ubels, chief technology officer of OVG Real Estate in the Netherlands and Deloitte’s former chief innovation officer. “We have people who live in Rotterdam, where we also have an office, commuting here just to be in this space.”
And it is not just Deloitte staff who have been inspired by the app-controlled, PLP Architecture-designed building. “Huge businesses from around Amsterdam and beyond want to book desks here,” says Thimon De Jong, a future strategist based in the city. “This is where all the corporates want to be, just to get a taste of a new way of working. And they will travel for the experience.”
While not officially a Well-certified building, the Edge has been designed to the very last detail with the people who spend time within its walls in mind. How they feel, the effect of the bricks and mortar (or rather glass and light levels) on their health and happiness has all been
at the heart of the design process.
And now the Edge is proving something crucial for the wellness agenda; that people are prepared to travel – and travel significant distances – for a better, healthier workplace. Even when they have alternatives on their doorstep.
So what exactly is it about this building that is pulling in the crowds?
Walking into the 15-storey atrium gives a bit of a clue. It is truly show stopping, but not just for the hell of it. It has been designed to make walking into the building as relaxing and calming an experience as possible. Mainly because it is light, but not too light: “The atrium is purposefully north facing,” explains the project architect Ron Bakker, a partner at PLP Architecture. “This means it is a daylight space, not a sunlight space so it is light but not hot. And the shape of the building has been specifically designed so that 60% of the office space gets full daylight.”
As the central element of the building, the atrium does not just deliver on sustainability targets – this building was awarded a BREEAM score of 98.4%, the highest ever until last month – but also on wellness.
“A really clear step on from sustainability is wellness,” says Bakker. “The Edge leaves people feeling energised. Deloitte tells me people will travel for miles to work here and I think a lot of that is down to the fact it is also a smart building with an app that people can use to create their ultimate working environment.”
The app works in a number of ways, all of which are designed to make navigating the building a better experience. From guiding staff to particular workspaces which will best suit their plan for the day or the week, to navigating people from space to space based on their calendars and diaries.
And with an emphasis on new, exciting work stations – a working deck which juts out into the heart of the atrium and suspends in mid-air is the most booked space in the building – The Edge has been meticulously planned to keep its occupants energised, engaged and on the move. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
“The app also connects you to the building,” says Bakker. “You can adjust the lighting and temperature of the workspace you are in. It also knows when the beans or milk are running low in the coffee machine, for example, so that issues are addressed before they become problems.”
The app aside, The Edge is a prime example of a modern building responding to staff needs in ways which, while simple, are largely yet to catch on across the board.
Subsidising the cost of healthy food – which is often more expensive to source and provide – by making fried food more expensive might cause some to raise an eyebrow.
But it is an innovative solution to a problem that many businesses face as staff demand healthier meal options.
As for the question of commercial benefits, Bakker, Ubels and De Jong – the latter who has no vested interest in the success of this building – all make the same point. People are choosing to travel huge distances, often bypassing local branches of their office on their doorsteps, to work here.
And it is not the building’s location on an uninspiring business park on the outskirts of Amsterdam that is inspiring them to make the trek.
The original
Natural light fills the space and timber flooring is aligned to draw the eye towards a panoramic view. A floating central staircase punctuates clean lines and open space while a long row of plants lends a sense of vitality to the colour palette of warm, neutral hues. So far, so Grand Designs.
Yet this is no Huf Haus in the Home Counties. This collection of modernist aesthetics is on display at CBRE’s 48,000 sq ft global corporate headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles where it forms just one facet of a very different design agenda: wellness.
CBRE moved into its new HQ in November 2013 and at the same time became the world’s first commercial office to be certified under the Well Building Standard pilot programme.
One of the biggest concerns around wellness and the certification is that it will become rapidly dated. So what better place to visit than the first certified building to see how these initiatives have fared two and half years on?
Onno Zwaneveld, executive vice-president at CBRE, credits Delos boss Paul Scialla (see p76) with the idea of creating health-focused buildings.
“Paul had the idea that there was a way to make the built environment healthier for its occupants through research, technology and design,” says Zwaneveld. “He worked with Columbia University Medical Center and their studies showed a correlation between designs and materials, and health benefits.”
The standard, administered by the International Well Building Institute and certified by Green Business Certification, outlines performance requirements relevant to occupant health in the built environment in seven categories – air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.
For CBRE, these criteria were met through the likes of easy access to filtered water stations throughout and electromagnetic field shielding around mechanical and electrical equipment. The biophilic design approach includes 1,000 plants and shock absorbing flooring was implemented to reduce impact on joints.
And specially designed antimicrobial treated surfaces prevent the spread of germs while a centrally located staircase encourages fitness as well as collaborative working – a target of CBRE’s Workplace360 strategy.
Lighting plays a significant role. Sensors set 15ft from the windows adjust and maintain the brightness inside according to the weather outside, while the colour quality of the circadian rhythm lighting changes throughout the day in order to fine-tune the production of melatonin in the body.
Zwaneveld explains: “We have really bright light that has a lot of blue in it. It suppresses melatonin and makes you feel more focused. By 3pm the amount of blue in our lighting decreases so that melatonin can naturally occur.”
This wellness approach to office design has generated enormous interest; Zwaneveld estimates the number of visitors keen to see what has been achieved at CBRE has reached around 20,000 since launch. “We have disrupted the way people are using space and looking at space in the marketplace,” he says.
Crucially, every measure remains relevant today. The avoidance of more gimmicky, physical additions with an emphasis on more subtle, invisible elements such as the light sensors mean the building’s Well characteristics have stood the test of time.
But the million dollar questions remain: has the health of CBRE’s employees improved? Have they been won over by the option of gym balls for chairs and treadmill desks? When EG visited, neither of these initiatives were in use but there were the odd few that opted to get the benefits of standing at their desks rather than sitting.
That said, so much of the wellness design that has been crafted into this office environment requires little to no active participation. As Zwaneveld points out, people can benefit just by being there.
The staff certainly seem to think so. A post-occupancy study conducted 14 months after launch found that 83% of employees felt more productive in their new building, while 92% felt the new space had a positive effect on their health and wellbeing.
CBRE is so confident in the results that it plans to pursue Well Certification for at least 100 buildings worldwide that are either managed by or associated with the company, while 50 employees will pass through the Well accredited professional programme.
And Zwaneveld adds that, contrary to popular belief, the cost of introducing a health agenda into the office environment, particularly in a new site, is minimal – it comes down to where you choose to spend your money. It is not necessarily about making more expensive choices, he says, it is about making better choices.
The next big thing
Sir Stuart Lipton is not messing about. The man known for developing projects that are one step ahead of the curve – think Chiswick Park, W4, Broadgate, EC2, and Paternoster Square, EC4 – has now put wellness at the heart of his next major scheme, 22 Bishopsgate, EC2.
As the City’s next significant tower rises from the ashes of the ill-fated Pinnacle development over the next three years, Lipton has plans for it to eventually become the UK’s first Well-certified building. And, as the plans attest, his ambitions are on a major scale.
The 62-storey tower will be punctuated with amenities to promote health and wellbeing including a gym complete with an altitude room for high intensity training, a healthy street food market, a bonsai garden, a tea lounge and a spa with a steam room, aroma room and salt room.
By working closely with PLP Architecture and workplace guru Despina Katsikakis, Lipton believes that 22 Bishopsgate will represent the future of London’s modern office development: “The key here is sociability,” he says. “That plays a huge part when it comes to wellness. Which I believe is the next big thing.
“We have all become workaholics. The first thing we do when we wake up in the morning is look at our phones. The work/home balance has shifted to such a degree that we need to make buildings more sociable and places that people want to spend their time. Times have changed. And 15 years ago it might have been considered indecent to be holding a coffee in a meeting. Now everyone understands the social and economic benefits of having a coffee with your colleagues. You are downloading info, it is more relaxed, and you are more efficient and less stressed.”
On top of using large spaces to create zones for social interaction and integrating an incubator space, there are a number of other major targets the team behind the creation of the tower are focused on in the quest for the Well certificate.
Karen Cook, founding partner of PLP Architecture, explains: “The exterior of the building is relatively sober,” she says. “A lot has been spent on the amenities and the interior aspects required to deliver them. Well is obviously a big part of that. The certification has seven different categories and then there is a points system within each one. Some have very little to do with architecture such as providing appropriate nourishment – though obviously we need to provide the space for these outlets.
“We also need to include bigger plant space for machinery in the basement to accomplish a higher rate of air exchange to improve air quality. For natural light we have 3m high ceilings on two-thirds of the floors and then they go down to 2.9m at the top of the building where there is more light.”
There is enough shared space to comfortably accommodate a workforce predicted to be around 12,000 – plus their visitors – and then there are shared spaces open to the public.
For many working in the property sector, one of the big questions around wellness is whether it is really worth the fuss. Is it here for the long run or simply a passing fad?
When the likes of Lipton are not only on board but putting the concept at the heart of one of the most visible, high-profile and iconic new developments in London, maybe it is time to take notice.
• To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@estatesgazette.com or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @estatesgazette
• To send feedback, e-mail Janie.Stamford@estatesgazette.com or tweet @JanieStamford or @estatesgazette
- Features editor’s comment: what is wellness?
- Briefing: Swapping the lift for the stairs
- All well and good: making the workplace more healthy
- Workplace wellness: the main players
- Healthy profit: the value of wellbeing in the office
- Buildings on the cutting edge
RELATED LINKS:
- Roundtable: building connectivity
- Shard leasing director James Goldsmith is leaving to take on the same role at 22 Bishopsgate, EC2
- City protects Pinnacle site from rights to light claims
- Boris approves 22 Bishopsgate
- Sir Stuart Lipton talks to Damian Wild about the new thinking behind 22 Bishopsgate, government failures, and a rethink on Silvertown Quays
- Lipton’s City comeback puts people first
