by Brianna Crandall — November 21, 2014—Global property advisor CBRE Group and wellness real estate pioneer Delos were recently awarded the prestigious H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator’s Award from CoreNet Global, the worldwide association for corporate real estate professionals, economic developers and service providers. The partners were recognized for the innovative design of CBRE’s Downtown Los Angeles corporate headquarters office, which is the first office in the world to be WELL Certified by the International Well Building Institute under the pilot program in November 2013. IWBI was founded by Delos founder Paul Scialla in 2012.
The Global Innovator’s Award recognizes excellence and innovation in corporate real estate. Since 2000, the award has honored the “game changers” in the commercial real estate industry—those individuals and companies whose work, ideas and best practices elevate the practice of corporate real estate.
A result of seven years of rigorous research in collaboration with leading physicians, scientists, and industry professionals, The WELL Building Standard focuses on seven categories of building performance: the mind, comfort, fitness, light, nourishment, water and air. The CBRE corporate headquarters office features more than 50 wellness designs and elements within these categories, including: circadian rhythm lighting, hydration stations, live plants, exercise promotion, sit/stand work stations and desks built atop treadmills.
Wellness is a core component of CBRE’s global “Workplace360” workplace strategy initiative, which in addition to the Downtown Los Angeles headquarters office, has now been implemented in 20 other offices around the world. Designed to optimize the health, wellness and productivity of its occupants, each office features a balance of private and collaborative workspaces designed to support the way employees work through enhanced flexibility, mobility, technology, productivity and wellness.
“One year after moving into our new work environment, 92 percent of employees said the space has created a positive effect on their health and well-being and 90 percent said they would not choose to go back to a traditional way of working. This feedback from our employees is a tremendous validation of our workplace approach,” said Lewis C. Horne, president of the Greater Los Angeles and Orange County Region for CBRE, who along with Laura O’Brien, Onno Zwaneveld, Lenny Beaudoin and Beth Moore, led the implementation of the WELL initiative in the Los Angeles office.
“The office is a place where people spend a lot of their time, and by investing in employees—and especially in their health and well-being—companies will be better positioned to win the war for talent, and better able to make their employees truly productive,” said Mr. Beaudoin, senior managing director for workplace strategy at CBRE, who accepted the award on CBRE’s behalf, along with Ms. Moore, workplace strategy director.
Read more about this groundbreaking project in the May/June 2014 issue of the LEADER magazine. The CBRE Web site also offers a case study with details about its new headquarters, a video of the office unveiling, a Google tour of the office, and more about CBRE’s Workplace Strategy: Americas team of advisors.
