Charter Hall Group has been awarded WELL Certification at the Gold level for its landmark Adelaide office tower GPO Exchange, by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI).
Designed by Hassel and Fitzpatrick + Partners, GPO Exchange comprises a 20-storey A-Grade commercial tower alongside the restored heritage-listed Telephone Exchange Building.
The building, located in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD, offers smartphone security access, ‘club-style’ end-of-trip facilities and electric vehicle charging stations – creating one of the smartest buildings in Australia.
The building’s outstanding design and Charter Hall’s strong tenant customer relationships has seen GPO Exchange attract high calibre tenants including BHP occupying 11,600 square metres for 10 years and the South Australian Attorney General’s Department occupying 12,230 square metres for 12 years.
IWBI administers the WELL Building Standard™ (WELL), a performance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.
Projects pursuing WELL Certification can earn points based on performance outcomes for various policy, design and operational strategies and can achieve one of four certification levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
GPO Exchange is the first-ever project in South Australia to achieve WELL Certification.
The following initiatives were introduced to lift GPO Exchange’s WELL rating from Silver to Gold:
- Introduction of a green cleaning protocol focusing on the use of non-toxic cleaning materials to maintain healthy indoor air quality for occupants;
- Attention to the design of high touch surfaces to enable them to be deep cleaned regularly to mitigate transmission of bacteria and viruses;
- Introduction of specific cleaning equipment and storage of chemicals to enable the highest degree of cleanliness in the building;
- Ongoing testing of building water quality;
- Introduction of food policies that support the use of healthier eating choices;
- Introduction of food policies that require nutritional information to be provided to occupants so that healthy eating choices are more easily made;
- End-of-trip facilities enabling cycling to work and running during lunch breaks to support the physical health of occupants; and
- A report highlighting biophilic design features incorporated into the building to support the health and wellbeing of occupants.
GPO Exchange was also recently awarded a 5.5 Star NABERS Energy rating, 5 Star NABERS Water rating and 5 Star NABERS Indoor Environment rating.
“GPO Exchange is raising the bar for commercial sustainability in South Australia and has set a new benchmark for workplaces in this State. This incredible milestone is recognition of that,” said Charter Hall Development Executive, George Roussos.
“This leading-edge South Australian-first result could not be achieved without the efforts of our project team – construction partner Built, project manager RCP, architects Hassell and Fitzpatrick + Partners, building consultants Floth, and the entire Charter Hall team,” Mr Roussos said.
“I look forward to working with our team to target Gold WELL Certification for our latest Adelaide development, 60 King William Street, along with 6 Star Green Star, 5 Star NABERS Energy ratings and 6 Star NABERS Waste rating.”
The Gold WELL certification for GPO Exchange follows the portfolio WELL accreditation that Charter Hall received across its Charter Hall Prime Office Fund (CPOF), Charter Hall Office Trust (CHOT) and Charter Hall’s workplaces.
Together, these portfolios consist of close to one million square metres of real estate and places Charter Hall as one of the first organisations globally to receive this scale of WELL accreditation.