CBRE unveils state of the art UK HQ, setting new standards in workplace design and employee experience
CBRE UK Advisory Services, has today unveiled its new headquarters at Henrietta House, London, W1 following an extensive redevelopment programme. The new design delivers a world-class workplace experience for employees and clients that facilitates new hybrid working patterns and promotes wellbeing, collaboration and productivity.
In 2018, CBRE partnered with landlord Lazari Investments and leading design and architectural practice MoreySmith to deliver its vision for a workspace that would provide a blueprint for future office design and more agile working patterns. CBRE has occupied Henrietta House since 2011 and under the terms of a new lease extension to 2036, Lazari funded the redevelopment and extension of Henrietta House to CBRE’s own specification. Experts from over 20 different CBRE teams have advised on the project including Planning, Advisory & Transaction, ESG & Sustainability, Digital Strategy, Project Management and Occupier Workplace Strategy.
The re-design for the entire site developed by MoreySmith included a 40,500 sq ft major architectural new-build extension to the rear of the building taking the total footprint to circa 144,500 sq ft to accommodate approximately 2,000 employees. MoreySmith’s innovative human-centred design prioritises employee wellbeing by maximising natural daylight throughout and new amenities including two professionally run on-site wellness studios, over 260 cycle spaces and outside terraces on the first and seventh floor.
Further new amenities include a large employee café, talent training space, an innovation studio, a tech bar, a library, returning new parent facilities and a dynamic pitching suite and presentation facilities. A new ground-floor entrance and reception area will include new dedicated lounge for visiting clients and the installation of a new two-storey retail façade enhances the street presence on Henrietta Place and Welbeck and Wimpole Street.
A variety of different workspaces across five floors include meeting, breakout, and collaboration areas and quiet zones allowing employees to choose how they wish to work in line with hybrid and agile working practices. A visible central rotunda staircase has been installed to promote ease of movement throughout the floors.
With digital enablement at the heart of the building, Henrietta House will use a variety of smart features including an integrated community app – CBRE Host, occupancy monitoring, energy usage and efficiency, mobile personal IT equipment, digitally-enabled meeting rooms for mix-mode meetings, and indoor air quality monitoring through CBRE Breathe.
The building aligns to CBRE’s own ESG strategy and is on track to achieve BREEAM Excellent which recognises the building’s environmental performance as being amongst the top 10% of UK non-domestic buildings, delivering on CBRE’s ESG agenda to be a net zero business by 2030. In addition, the building will submit to become WELL Certified Platinum, the highest rating level in the WELL Building Standard. Henrietta House will become one of the UK’s largest WELL Platinum, fully fitted projects.
This landmark project was driven by our desire to create the optimum workplace experience for our people. Collaboration and connectivity are at the heart of our culture and so it is incredibly exciting to be able to bring our 2,000 London-based staff together into our new state of the art workplace in one of the best locations in the West End. The variety of different workspaces and fantastic amenities prioritise wellbeing and productivity and allow our people the freedom to choose how they work in line with our adoption of new hybrid working patterns. Being able to offer this level of flexibility with a first-class workplace experience gives us a significant advantage in the war for talent and retention as we continue to grow our business.”
The redesign of Henrietta House has been a transformational project which we are really proud of. This will be an amazing place for people to work and enjoy, and I know CBRE will be happy, successful and thrive in this new environment. I’m personally very excited to showcase this project which is a culmination of many years of work. We have designed every element with people at the heart of all of our thinking, carefully curated from the architecture through to the furniture, art and graphics. A new façade up to the second floor has been a key part of the renovation, alongside the creation of beautiful, natural light filled atriums, and an innovative new build at the rear with staircases bringing connectivity across the 19,365 sq ft floor plates. It has been fantastic working with CBRE and Lazari to create the very best, and inspirational building.
We are very proud, and it has been a pleasure to collaborate with both CBRE and MoreySmith to provide an outstanding benchmark in office retrofit and sustainable design, transforming the 144,500 sq ft commercial space for our clients/tenants, CBRE, into a stunning office facility providing the highest level of service, amenity, and tech enabled provision in an environmentally friendly framework. This forward thinking workspace maintains our long term vision for the building set within our immediate 2.2 acre (c. 400,000 sq ft) Wigmore Street Estate. It will set an exacting standard and template for future developments within the wider Lazari 3.2 million sq ft portfolio.
For more information visit the Henrietta House web site here.