Does this building contains the healthiest work environment and architectural design in Australia?
It may not seem like it from the outside, but if the building's latest certification is anything to go by, then its workspace is something to be admired.
The building, located at 200 George Street in Sydney, is the EY Centre and headquarters to real estate giant Mirvac.
This week the EY Centre received the highest standard in healthy workplaces in the world - a GOLD certification from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI).
The WELL certification is the first one ever to be awarded in Australia. Only 5 other companies in the world have achieved a GOLD WELL Certification.
Mirvac’s headquarters also achieved a 6 Star Green Star Interior rating, further contributing to the sustainable credentials of the building.
Mirvac CEO and Managing Director Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said they were extremely proud to have their headquarters' Australian design achieve the first GOLD WELL Certification in the country.
"We aspire to set the benchmark for innovative, healthy workplaces in Australia. As a leader in this space, we can better support our customers’ goals to build sustainable workplaces of the future," she said.
IWBI CEO Rick Fedrizzi presented Mirvac with the WELL Certification at the Gold level and said Mirvac has given architectural design the health and well-being focus of WELL, adding to the Sydney skyline a world-class project that visually captures the warmth and vitality that WELL strives to deliver.
"But even more importantly, by putting humans at the centre of property design decisions, the Mirvac team has underscored how building science and bio science can work seamlessly together to deliver a higher level of health and well-being."
Architectural design and the WELL Building Standard
The WELL Building Standard is an innovative evidence-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring the performance of a building’s features that focuses primarily on the health and well-being of occupants.
It is secured by achieving credits across seven categories including air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. Some of the innovative features to achieve these credits within Mirvac’s workplace at 200 George Street include:
Fitness
Mirvac’s new headquarters has been open for eight months and in that time the new BOSSA survey has recorded a significant increase in employee’s IEQ satisfaction scores. The BOSSA measurements for overall performance, health and productivity improved by 35 per cent since the previous survey. Noise distraction and privacy scores improved 50 per cent and spatial comfort scores similarly increased by 50 per cent.
To achieve the 6 Star Green Star Interior rating Mirvac had to perform at a high quality across the nine categories of management, indoor environment quality, energy, transport, water, materials, emissions, innovation and land use and ecology.
Despite their current achievements, Mirvac said they aren't done. The EY Centre is also targeting a 5 Star NABERS Energy rating and 4 Star NABERS Water rating.