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Arup’s Melbourne workplace awarded Platinum WELL Certification

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Trish Sunga Trish Sunga Australasia Press Office,Sydney
12 November 2019

Arup’s Melbourne workplace has been awarded Platinum WELL Certification by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) - the highest level of certification for buildings and organisations showing world leading commitment towards occupant health and wellness.

Arup Melbourne is one of the first workplaces in Australia and globally to earn the distinction. It is also one of the first professional services and engineering consultancy workplaces to achieve Platinum WELL Certification under WELL v2.

Melbourne workplace awarded WELL Platinum Certification Melbourne workplace awarded WELL Platinum Certification
Finola Reid and Ken Fong (centre) receive the Platinum WELL Certification for Arup's Melbourne Workplace from the International WELL Building Institute's Jack Noonan and Rachel Gutter

WELL is the premier building certification programme focussed on enhancing people’s health and wellness through the buildings where we live, work and play. WELL centres arounds ten categories of building and organisational performance - air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind and community.

“

Achieving Platinum WELL Certification for our Melbourne workplace is testament to the integrated design process we undertook to ensure it would support the health and wellness of our people today, and in the future. ”

Joseph Correnza Joseph Correnza Australasia Board Member, Melbourne Workplace Project Director

Features of the workplace that helped achieve WELL Certified Platinum rating include:

Enhanced air quality achieved through material selection, good mechanical system design and the installation of an e-water system which prevents chemicals in the workplace and airstream.

Mindful eating promotion through a dedicated communal eating space encourages staff to come together to eat. Featuring and promoting facilities to cook healthy meals with portion-sized crockery choices, there is also a wide selection of complimentary vegetables and fruit available for staff.

Physical activity spaces to promote and support movement through additional end of trip facilities designed into the tenancy, a dedicated wellness space with programmed classes and retreat space.

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Mental health promotion including mental health training for leaders, workplace mental health first aiders, regular educational talks and a wellness library with display references in communal eating space.

Sound mapping to separate zones to optimise for different work activities and styles. Selection of finishes and materials in the rooms also control reverberation time and the sound insulation performance, with acoustic planning undertaken early in the design process.

Thermal comfort optimised through a temperature gradient across the three floors to cater for personalised needs.  100% activity-based working enables staff to move between temperature environments to suit personal needs.

Circadian lighting has been integrated into the ‘up’ component of the up/down lighting solution and features programmable RGB lamps which can adjust colour temperature to reflect circadian rhythm.

“

A dedicated Community and Place team was formed to keep us accountable to our own wellness standards, along with internal committees which touch on aspects of wellness in a holistic way. This has formalised our ongoing approach and commitment to wellness, and ensures we build on momentum and increase the impact through regular monitoring. ”

Finola Reid headshot Finola Reid Melbourne Office Leader

Created after seven years of rigorous research and development involving leading physicians, scientists and industry professionals, the WELL Building Standard is a performance-based certification system that marries best practices in design and construction with evidence-based scientific research.

WELL is grounded in research that explores the connection between the buildings where people spend much of their time, and their health and wellness.

To be awarded WELL Certification by IWBI, Arup underwent rigorous testing and a final evaluation by Green Business Certification Inc, the third-party certification body for WELL.