Where you work can greatly impact your physical and mental health. The importance of supporting an individual’s wellbeing in the workplace has been moving up the agenda in recent years but lockdown has pushed it and the environment to the top.

Covid-19 has shown that employees can successfully work from home and, in some cases, it has changed perceptions of what makes a healthy work/life balance. People make a business and it is imperative that the future office is sympathetic towards wellbeing and provides a reason for employees to visit. 

Savills Office FiT survey found that 49 per cent of respondents believe their physical health improves when working from home; 41 per cent believe a mix of both office and homeworking is best for physical health, while only 10 per cent think their physical health is better when in the office. 

Similarly, only 18 per cent of respondents thought their mental health was best met in the office. However, this varied depending on age group, with a multi-generational workforce experiencing different challenges. Communication, relationships, profile building and access to an environment that best suits a person’s working needs are all key here.

This suggests landlords and occupiers need to go a lot further, beyond the changes already underway, to allow employees to maintain a good level of health when working in the office. The majority (60 per cent) of respondents think a mixture of both working from home and being in the office is needed in order to achieve optimal mental wellbeing.

The redevelopment of Cavendish Square in London’s West End by Reef Group, which we’re advising on jointly with CBRE, will set a new precedent for how high-quality design and new technology can enhance wellbeing in mixed-use developments. Reef’s 280,000 sq ft scheme will include office, retail, leisure and medical space in a vibrant, subterranean environment with a focus on health and wellbeing. 

Set over four continuous circular floorplates, the building’s design minimises requirements for traditional lifts while encouraging impromptu social interaction as employees travel round the building loop. Biophilic design linking to Cavendish Square Gardens will deliver a wellbeing focussed experience, more sympathetic to employees post-Covid needs. 

With construction due to commence in 2021, Cavendish Square will be a pioneering project combining design and technology to help deliver enhanced wellbeing. In a post Covid-19 world, the businesses that innovate and elevate wellbeing within their buildings will be well-placed to attract and retain the best talent. 

As many of us look forward to returning to the office, we also carry new expectations for how the buildings we work in and the businesses we work for can support wellbeing. Cavendish Square is inventive and unlike anything we’ve seen in London before.

Not all offices can be repurposed in a similar fashion but landlords need to consider what changes they can make to ensure their buildings are healthier places to work from going forward.

Further information

Contact Hunter Booth

What can we learn from the Big Homeworking Experiment?