Helvar recently received confirmation from the International WELL Building Institute™ IWBI that our WELL certificate according to standard version 2 at GOLD level has been approved!
The Helvar HQ project is the first new and existing interior to receive WELL certification according to the standard version 2 in the Nordic countries, and is the fifth to be certified in Europe.
In 2016 the Helvar headquarters were moved to Espoo. The relocation project provided a perfect opportunity to also improve working conditions and take other aspects into account, for example, increasing movement with the use of electric desks to encourage standing, and also to improve office accessibility. The office location was chosen based on the following criteria: easy commuting, building age, access to natural light and nature, capability to support sports, and open plan areas that enhance socialising and communication. The location also offers support for exercise with excellent cycling routes, bike parking, and saunas, a gym and showers accessible on the top floor.
The office renovation was designed to exceed the typical criteria and especially exceed lighting standard requirements to increase employee wellbeing through optimum lighting. With Helvar being a lighting controls specialist, we installed our own solutions in the office. Helvar employees (otherwise known as Helvarians) are now literally living under their own lighting. Smoothly controlled high lumen outputs offer an opportunity to, for instance, support concentration and give an energising boost of bright light during the dark winter months.
The office is split into acoustic areas to allow spaces for social, semi-social and quiet work. Hot desking is the house rule with the intention for Helvarians to sit in a different seat each day. There is a capacity of desks for around 70% of the total number of employees which meets the demand well. With Helvar’s flexible working policy, it is a rare occasion that the office is fully occupied.
The Social Kitchen is the heart of the Helvar HQ. The space is used for a variety of purposes from taking mini breaks, to running presentations and events, and challenging each other in a match of fuss ball or a game of table hockey. The atmosphere has become more relaxed and employee diversity has improved through new talent hunting during the past few years. Helvarians have provided excellent feedback on the working conditions. Feedback is valued highly and collected twice a year to enable further improvements.
WELL building standard offers an excellent framework to design a people proof workplace. Helvar HQ was designed with such a forward-looking mindset that it was relatively easy to adapt the office in its existing state to improve the conditions in order to meet and achieve the WELL concept features. The WELL certification project gave the Helvar HQ a chance to cross check and improve ideas to develop the existing concepts further.
This is a proud moment and a great achievement for us all at Helvar to have our headquarters become officially WELL certified. Later on, the Helvar WELL project team will be organising a number of WELL events at the Helvar HQ which include a tour of the office, so we welcome you to join us in celebrating our WELL certification!