Landsec is one of the largest commercial property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom and has a strong commitment to social value and creating places that make lasting positive contributions to communities and the planet.

Landsec approached Ekkist to create Commercial and Residential Health and Well-being development briefs for their existing and future development sites. Using the Ekkist Design for Well-being® framework and Landsec’s 3 core principles (sustainable places, connecting communities and realising potential) as the starting point, Ekkist created two briefs to guide how health and well-being would be considered, delivered, achieved and evaluated holistically throughout the development process.

Commercial Health and Well-being Design Brief

Health and well-being principles are at the very core of Landsec’s design process for commercial sites. By focussing on this, environments can be provided which can help to boost productivity, reduce absenteeism and add long-term value. Ranging from the impact of materials to biophilic design principles, to the way that the design team work with both natural and electric light, the underarching aim of the brief was to help support the creation of some of the healthiest and most enjoyable places for people to work.

This will ultimately create offices designed to be resilient to change, which continue to perform to the high standards that they were designed to, and are continually reviewed and evaluated through ongoing monitoring and post occupancy research, ensuring that design for well-being is fully considered.

Residential Health and Well-being Design Brief

Health and well-being is also at the core of Landsec’ design process for residential and mixed use sites. With the goal of creating healthy, happy, and future-proofed homes and communities, the homes designed to the residential health and well-being brief will support occupants across a range of demographics and aim to improve people’s overall quality of life. This will be achieved by considering what it means to create a healthy home, from the built fabric, to the consideration of amenities, fitness opportunities and the planned operations and management of residential and mixed use developments.