A net zero £2bn development with napping pods and breathwork classes hopes to encourage Gen Z workers to the office.
The Round building in London is being designed by architecture firm Foster + Partners as a “destination for social wellbeing”.
The development will be fossil fuel-free and net zero on carbon emissions, with air and water filtration to reduce toxins.
It will include traditional workout facilities such as a gym and pool, and will also give people access to music and art classes, breathwork, movement and medication classes, as well as access to clinically based nutrition.
The Round building is being designed by architecture firm Foster + Partners as a “destination for social wellbeing”
Foster + Partners
The US based developer Hines seeks to attract employees who wish to live a healthier lifestyle with the new project.
The building will be located at Bankside near Blackfriars Bridge, replacing the former Sainsbury’s headquarters.
It will be made up of a 45-storey office building and two residential towers of 40 storeys and 22 storeys, with a total of 433 homes.
Residents will be able to take advantage of a 300-seat auditorium as well as a children’s play area. There will be 20,000 sq ft of creative and cultural space, including pilates studios, therapy rooms and nap pods, as well as digital detox areas.
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In addition, every desk within the 800,000 sq ft office will have an outside view.
Ross Blair, the Senior Managing Director and Country Head of Hines UK, explained that the development was being designed to make people feel better after leaving than when they arrived.
He said: “We’ve tried to focus on what we can do to that office environment, such that being in the office is aiding your wellbeing as well as the other things that you would typically go off and do that you think of as wellbeing.”
“That’s everything from the quality of space, natural light, fresh air and an abundance of amenities [to engaging] with local communities, be that in the form of charitable endeavours or mentorship programmes.”
Every desk within the 800,000 sq ft office will have an outside view
Foster + Partners
“If you look at all of [the big] businesses … there’s as much collateral on their websites about what they stand for as a business and what socially good citizens they want to be, as there is frankly about what they do as a business,” Blair added.
He claimed companies use real estate to show the world that they stand for, and are using it as a hiring tool.
He added: “With most big buildings under development, people talk a lot about how it is the latest green building in London. But environmental credentials are now taken for granted by occupiers, that any new building of any scale, being developed by any developer of any quality, is going to achieve those things. So, we’ve been thinking of ways to differentiate the product we’re offering beyond that.”
The building was bought by Hines alongside the National Pension Service of Korea in 2021 for about £208m.
Work will begin this summer and is set to finish by 2030.