1 - Offices that prioritise occupant wellbeing and sustainability are commanding rent premiums of 4‑8% and deliver significant productivity gains over their life.
2 - Multiple studies show that investing just 2% more up front in healthier buildings can yield up to tenfold returns across a building’s lifespan via higher productivity and fewer sick days.
3 - To stay competitive in a high‑vacancy market, designers are shifting from amenity‑driven gimmicks to evidence‑based strategies, integrating healthy building standards, biophilic design and digital test‑fit tools like laiout to deliver quick, code‑compliant plans that reduce carbon and accelerate decision‑making.
High vacancy and flight to quality: After years of hybrid working, global office vacancies remain elevated; Manhattan’s office availability rate is still 14.7% despite improvements. Demand is concentrated in trophy buildings, leaving Class B assets struggling. Designers must therefore create spaces that justify premium rents through superior experience and sustainability.
Healthy buildings command premiums: Research compiled by Propmodo shows tenants willing to pay 4‑8% more for WELL or Fitwel‑certified spaces. Early studies found that spending 2% extra on green design could produce returns up to ten times greater over a building’s life. Better day lighting leads to improved cognitive performance in schools and offices, and improved air quality reduces sick days.
Landmark case study – Lombard Odier HQ: Herzog & de Meuron’s new 71,202 m² headquarters consolidates 2,000 employees from six sites and accommodates up to 2,600 people. The design embraces transparency and flexibility, aiming to maximise views of Lake Geneva and integrate interior spaces with the surrounding parkland. It forms part of Geneva’s Champ‑du‑Château masterplan, which includes housing, a park and underground parking.
Performance‑based design proves results: Wellington Place in Leeds became the first projects to complete the NABERS UK Design for Performance process, achieving a 5‑star rating for energy efficiency. The rating was delivered through collaboration between investors, consultants and occupiers, showing that early modelling and performance targets can meet ambitious carbon goals.
Flexibility over sheer amenities: Tenants want lease structures and spaces that can adapt quickly to uncertain headcount. Coverys’ recent lease restructuring in Boston shows how occupiers are choosing flexibility, subleasing and space reconfiguration instead of relocating. Designers who create modular, reconfigurable offices will help landlords reduce risk and retain tenants.
Healthy and sustainable offices are more than just well‑located desks – they are a complex balance of daylight, air, collaboration zones, services and compliance. laiout was built to give designers the tools to orchestrate that balance quickly, then refine with design intent and taste.
Model wellbeing principles: When you create a plan in laiout, the platform automatically honours code requirements, escape routes and circulation widths. Mirroring the Lombard Odier HQ’s emphasis on views and transparency, shifting workstations towards windows improves air flow and wellbeing.
Quantify flexibility and reuse: Need to compare modular partitions versus fixed walls or test how many focus booths you can add without compromising flow? laiout visualises these scenarios in seconds. It also calculates the embodied carbon impacts of different material choices so you can weigh the benefits of reuse and circularity against spatial efficiency.
Collaborate on decisions: Because laiout runs in the cloud, architects, engineers, landlords and tenants can iterate simultaneously. You can present multiple scenarios, a biophilic concept with more green space, a hybrid plan with fewer desks and more collaboration zones, and instantly compare occupancy capacity, cost per square metre and projected carbon footprint. This transparency accelerates consensus creation.
Q1: What defines a “healthy” building?
A healthy building prioritises occupant wellbeing through good indoor air quality, natural light, thermal comfort, acoustics and access to nature. Certifications like WELL and Fitwel provide frameworks for measuring these attributes, while NABERS UK focuses on energy performance.
Q2: How can designers reduce embodied carbon in office projects?
Start by reusing existing structures and materials where possible. Choose low‑carbon products, avoid over‑specification and design for disassembly, so components can be reused later. Tools like the RICS Whole Life Carbon Standard and NABERS UK benchmarking help quantify reductions.
Q3: How quickly can laiout produce test fits to help evaluate such requirements?
While traditional space planning can take weeks, laiout can create multiple layouts in seconds. Integrated metrics mean designers can compare options instantaneously to confirm their baseline requirements, and then design, helping projects forward.
Sustainable design is no longer a “nice‑to‑have”, it’s table stakes for buildings that attract tenants and justify premium rents. Use laiout to transform your ideas into compliant test fits in seconds. Book a demo here and explore how laiout helps designers create healthier, more sustainable offices with confidence.
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