UK Green Building Council

The UK Green Building Council’s (UK-GBC) mission is to radically improve the health and wellbeing of their working environment in a highly sustainable manner. The organisation refurbished its headquarters in London, with a design team drawn from its membership and the aim of challenging industry thinking as to what is achievable in a small scale fit-out.

Cundall  joined architectural practice Barr Gazetas, working closely with the client and leaseholder, The Building Centre, on refurbishing the office space. Cundall drew on its experience of WELL gained from the certification process of their office fit-out, to respond to a demanding brief for a workplace that enhances the health and productivity of the co-located UK-GBC and World GBC teams, and delivers excellent environmental performance.

The brief aimed to balance the health, wellbeing and productivity of the 25 regular office users with outstanding resource efficiency within a restrained budget. Cundall provided advice on sustainability, health and wellbeing, and building services engineering for the office fit-out. Where possible, we reused and enhanced the existing systems, conserving the embodied energy, whilst improving the environmental and energy performance of the space.

Some of the features proposed included:

• An imaginative reuse/repurposing of the existing fit-out materials to create meeting spaces and furniture
• An innovative, low-tech enhanced natural ventilation strategy
• Upcycled furniture from reclaimed sources for break-out / informal working areas
• A full height living wall with planting specified to improve air quality

Targets:

• Achieved the lowest measured fit-out carbon footprint in UK
• 98% of original fixtures and finishes reused and repurposed, each with an 'end of lilfe' plan
• 99.4% of construction waste diverted from landfill
• 75% of materials to be from recycled sources
• A responsible sourcing plan was developed for all new materials, which took an integrated view of the environmental impact including carbon profiling
• Air quality maximised in line with the relevant WELL Standard requirements, including the minimisation of VOCs from materials used, and the provision of ample fresh air
• Reduced energy used per employee for lighting and small power by 40% by 2020 compared to a 2013 baseline, and the overall performance (including HVAC) should equal or better best practice benchmarks
• At least a 10% improvement in staff satisfaction with the office environment
• Designed and delivered with reference to appropriate elements of BREEAM, WELL and SKA

The fit-out was completed in October 2016.