COURTESY CBRE 28 BCBUSINESS NOVEMBER 2017
"T
here is no elevator to success. You
have to take the stairs." That message
is inscribed at the base of the stair-
case in the Vancouver oce of
CBRE Group Inc., a
global real estate services •rm headquartered in
Los Angeles. Encouraging physical activity is one
reason the workspace has received Well Building
Standard certi•cation, which measures the e…ect
of oce design on employees' health and wellness.
The International Well Building Institute, based
in New York, assessed the interior across seven
categories: air, water, nourishment, light, •tness,
comfort and mind.
CBRE's 28,000-square-foot
oce, which occupies four Œoors in Oxford
Properties Group's
MNP Tower at 1021 West
Hastings Street, is also the •rst multiŒoor cer-
ti•cation in Canada. The Vancouver branch of
Chicago-based global architecture and design •rm
Perkins+Will Inc. designed the project.
Three years ago, with several leases due to
expire across Canada,
CBRE began rethinking the
design of its oces. "We know how important
the workplace is to our employees," says Ashley
O'Neill,
CBRE's VP, corporate strate™y, Canada.
"And being real estate advisers, we wanted to also
be a showcase for what's possible for our clients."
Moving from one Œoorplate to four means that
all 124 employees now sit near a window. Every-
one from new hires to senior executives has the
same setup: a sit-stand desk with two monitors on
adjustable arms, a laptop, a docking station and a
wireless headset so they can easily move to other
locations. There is carbon-•ltered water within 100
feet of workstations to encourage better hydration.
Numerous soundproof meeting and telephone
rooms break up the space, which helps with
acoustics in general as well as removing the dis-
traction of people talking. Among more than 100
wellness features,
CBRE upgraded the ceiling tiles
to increase noise absorption and installed white-
noise diodes throughout the oce to dampen
background sounds.
"We want to be a leading adviser in real estate,"
O'Neill says. "We want to have the best talent and
retain and attract the best teams. It made sense to
jump in with two feet."
■
Café Culture
Coffee and a
communal café
in one central
location encourage
staff to leave their
desks and eat
meals together
OFFICE SPACE
Working Well
CBRE Group's Vancouver office is the
first workplace in B.C. to achieve Well
Building Standard certification
by Felicity Stone
