Our UK headquarters in Chepstow is up for yet another award, and it’s probably the most prestigious one yet. The 350,000 sq ft building has been shortlisted by finalists, Rio Architects in the Commercial category for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) 2019 awards.
We’ve got to wait a while to find out if we’ve won of course, but just being nominated is a tremendous accolade for the team at Rio Architects who were behind the design.
What RICS have recognised, along with the British Council for Offices and Wales Property Awards previously, is that the design of the building makes it a really great place to work. Studies such as Gensler’s Workplace Index and The Leesman Index, as reported in Forbes magazine, make a very clear link between the physical space of a workplace and business performance metrics.
And HR companies such as CIP HR repeatedly stress that employees who enjoy and like the environments they are part of are more engaged, productive, happy and healthy. Their research confirms what we already know - a well-planned workspace can make it easier for people to complete tasks more quickly and effectively, work together more collaboratively and creatively, and has a positive effect on health, wellbeing and engagement.
The areas which they point out as being crucial are all those which have been recognised in our HQ, namely a well planned workspace, considered ergonomics, positive environmental design and the provision of different types of working spaces.
We know that our HQ looks great from the outside but what matters more to us is that it works great from the inside too. If you’d like to come and see for yourself at any time, we’d love to welcome you. Just get in touch.
