Yesterday, team CWI had the privilege of a private tour of Engineering firm Cundall ‘s new London office in St. Pauls. This is the first office in the UK submitted for the new WELL Business Standard, which unlike LEED and BREAM, is fully focused on human health and wellness. These standards, which relate to factors not only like air and light, but also nutrition, fitness and comfort, reduce absenteeism and markedly shows an increase in staff retention, crucial elements for thriving business, whose staff are the most expensive assets.
The research team told us about all the challenges they faced specifying furniture and finishes with low VOC’s (carpet is BOLON, by the way!) and creating clean air when they are only provided with a limited amount by the landlord. They are trialling plants to see how they work in different light temperatures, and how much oxygen they create at what times a day… very technical and with measurable health results.
This kind of thinking is going to be crucial moving forward as cities get busier, life gets more hectic, and pollution increases. If you can keep your staff happy and healthy, your business will grow. Makes perfect sense.
All of the materials used have to have appropriately low levels of VOC’s, be easily cleaned with similarly human-friendly solutions, and the design itself is Biophillic, with studies show has a positive impact on workers mental and physical health.
I could go on.. but if you want to learn more, just give me a bell, or check out the WELL Building Standard website.
gallivant 