Member Article

Arup’s visionary Sheffield office achieves prestigious environmental accreditation

Engineering and design consultancy, Arup, has been awarded an industry-leading environmental accreditation for the fit-out of its new Sheffield office in St Paul’s Place - achieving the first Commercial Sector Office SKA Gold rating in the city.

The Arup office SKA Gold rating was awarded for excellence in sustainable design. Up to 99 percent of waste from the project was saved from going to landfill and 100 percent of work stations, light fittings, storage cabinets and even plants were refurbished and re-homed; with equipment being donated to local charities and schools. In addition, building materials were sourced locally, reducing CO2 emissions for the project.

Critical to achieving SKA Gold accreditation was being able to demonstrate that the design contributed positively to staff wellbeing. Flexible and collaborative breakout zones, with advanced acoustic engineering were recognised for providing a sociable environment without disturbing other employees.

Jim Bell, Sheffield Office Director at Arup, said, “Having a positive benefit to society is fundamental to Arup’s mission, so we wanted a tool to help guide us through our fit-out design and construction. Using SKA enabled us to make informed decisions and allowed us to create an innovative new office, whilst focusing on, staff wellbeing, sustainability and environmental impact.”

Arup appointed fit-out and refurbishment specialist, Overbury, working alongside Rider Levett Bucknall SKA Assessors, to deliver the new creative space. Philip Westwood, Director at Overbury, commented, “One of the key outcomes from this challenging project has been the ability to achieve these standards through early planning and collaboration, and consequently breaking down the perceptions of associated high costs. Commercial space doesn’t have to be mediocre and there are huge benefits from taking into consideration the sustainability of office space.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rachel McMaster .