Slough: The Porter Building is officially one of UK's healthiest offices

The partnership between Landid and Brockton has achieved WELL Building Standard certification for The Porter Building, making the 120,000 sq ft development in Slough one of the UK’s healthiest office buildings.

The WELL Building Standard is an international performance-based assessment methodology grounded in medical research that is exclusively focused on human health and wellbeing in the built environment.

The standard has become a key marker of new office design in the US, and an increasing number of major UK office developments currently under construction are registered for the rating. However, The Porter Building is the first in the country to achieve WELL Core and Shell certification, attaining a rating of Gold, the second highest possible.

Designed by architect tp bennett, The Porter Building launched in November 2017 and has been developed to maximise the wellbeing of its occupiers, with abundant natural light, fresh air, specially filtrated drinking water, healthy eating options, indoor planting, noise reduction measures and a layout aimed at encouraging movement around the workplace.

According to a range of studies, a focus on enhancing workplace wellbeing has significant positive impacts on productivity. For example, improved air quality can enhance cognition by as much as 61%; drinking ample fresh water can increase productivity by 14% and an office design that enhances movement can boost productivity by 12%.

Chris Hiatt, Landid director, said: “Wellness has become an increasingly important part of workplace strategies in recent years, reflecting a wider cultural shift towards greater healthier lifestyles. Now with The Porter Building, we have embedded wellbeing into the design and construction of the building itself. It is a lovely space to be in, with lots of natural light, fresh air, planting, and a range of other special features that are designed to make the building a healthy place to work.

“As the first building in the UK to achieve WELL Core and Shell certification, The Porter Building sets a new bar for the design and development of offices. The workspace will positively impact on business performance, through staff retention and attraction, wellbeing and productivity and will meet the aspirations of the very best talent. We expect that in five years’  time all new office buildings will be seeking WELL certification, in the same way that new buildings today are expected to adhere to the highest sustainability standards. Wellbeing will simply become part of the language of office design and we are very proud to be playing a leading role in that transformation.”

Rick Fedrizzi, chairman and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), said: “The Porter Building’s WELL certification at the Gold level demonstrates outstanding leadership. Our mission at IWBI is to bring human health and wellness to the forefront of building practices, and it is industry leaders like Landid and Brockton Capital that are putting people at the centre of design decisions and helping to advance this movement in the UK and globally.”

CBRE and Knight Frank are the letting agents for The Porter Building.