25 February 2020 – Australia’s tallest engineered timber office building, 25 King, has achieved Queensland’s first WELL Core and Shell Certification at the Platinum level, in addition to its 6-star Green Star Design and As Built rating, representing world leadership in sustainable design.

The prestigious distinction was awarded through IWBI’s WELL Building Standard (WELL), which is the premier building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and wellness through the buildings where we live, work and play. 25 King earned the distinction based on seven categories of building performance – Air, Water, Light, Nourishment, Fitness, Comfort and Mind.

Designed and manufactured by Lendlease and owned by Impact Investment Group, Aurecon were the structural engineers, building services and acoustic engineers and ESD consultants for the building, as well as the anchor tenants. The project team also included architects Bates Smart.

The ground floor plus nine-storey timber commercial tower features open and flexible office space complemented by exposed timber structures to create a contemporary and creative studio environment.

25 King’s extensive use of innovative and sustainable building materials provides a natural aesthetic to enhance the health and wellbeing of its building occupants, as well as state-of-the-art technology to deliver a true workplace of the future.

The low carbon timber structure is designed to achieve a 74 per cent saving of embodied carbon, ability to reduce energy use by 46 per cent and a 29 per cent reduction in potable water consumption, a key element of wellbeing in all its forms.

Designing with people at the centre

Aurecon CEO, William Cox, said that, when designing the building with Lendlease, the aim was to create a building fit for Aurecon’s future ready vision and team.

“25 King’s technology, materials, sustainability, technical excellence and people-centred design exemplifies a future ready mindset and has pushed the boundaries of what was previously thought possible regarding sustainable structures,” Cox said.

“We partner a great deal with Lendlease across a range of sectors and this strong working relationship enables our combined teams to achieve exceptional results as demonstrated by 25 King.”

Lendlease Managing Director, Development, Matthew Mears, said that the achievement was significant in delivering both economic and health and wellbeing benefits.

“The performance of an office building can deliver direct economic benefits to investors, tenants and the community which is why we’re dedicated to developing next generation workplaces where healthy outcomes create long-term value for everyone,” Mears said.

“Investing in the wellbeing of employees leads to a better employee experience, which ultimately drives customer engagement and satisfaction. This successful outcome would not have been possible without the support of many people, especially our tenants and investors, who continually showed a willingness to work in partnership with Lendlease.”

In bestowing the award, International WELL Building Institute Chairman and CEO Rick Fedrizzi commented that 25 King demonstrated exemplary leadership in design and innovation.

“This extraordinary building exemplifies how leadership and innovative design can unite to deliver an iconic workplace that puts people first. It’s early adopters like Aurecon and Lendlease who pave the way for the entire  movement to advance human health and well-being everywhere.”