Local enterprise

Eighty per cent of the new office interiors, designed and fitted out by Claremont, were sourced in Yorkshire. For instance, the client reception desk is from J Carey Design of Skipton, the staircase is by MM Developments of Sheffield, soft seating from Connection of Huddersfield, and desking and storage from Staverton in Rotherham. Within the offices, wall prints and glass transfers depicting iconic scenes of the region feature heavily.

Support for the local economy is a key theme of the development. Many of the retail, catering and leisure amenities are local, from independent coffee shops like the Sociable Folk café to fitness facilities such as L1 Fitness, which, owner Kyle Harris explained, is inspired by the type of all-day fitness offering he’d seen when working at London’s Canary Wharf.

Says Clifford: “What I like about the retail presence on this site is that it is all very individual, as they’ve made their own statements in terms of design. We’re finding that Wellington Place is beginning to attract organisations to relocate into Leeds city centre, and what attracts them is the campus and community atmosphere, which is resulting in footfall starting to build at weekends.”

SUSTAINABILITY AND WELLBEING
Sustainability is fundamental to the development. For example, during the construction process 99.6 per cent of the building waste was recycled, and the materials were sustainably sourced. Each completed building is designed to assist in achieving corporate social objectives and help to lower the overall occupation costs by the inclusion of low energy technology. This ranges from façade solutions exploiting the movement of the sun to a fully integrated building management system that automatically tunes mechanical systems to reduce energy use.

According to Clifford, the presence of energy usage meters within each building is providing invaluable data on how much power is being used by each occupant – including spikes in energy use. “This all goes back into the energy management system,” he says, “which means you’re not just running the buildings, you’re running them efficiently – which is also saving the occupiers money. Zero per cent of waste is sent directly to landfill, as our onsite waste segregation service promotes maximum recycling and minimal landfill disposal.

“We’re also going to start tagging the bins, as ideally what we’re heading for is allocating bins per occupier. This means that when waste bills come in we can split them more fairly and clearly among occupiers. We will have also engaged a new compact bailers service, which will reduce waste pick-ups from five to two per week.”

The development also helps individuals to contribute towards sustainability through a series of transport incentives, which offer customers free cycle storage, free bike hire, car club schemes, and an electric car charging port to help encourage alternative methods of travel. Wellington Place’s proximity to Leeds station is proving helpful.

Open space is an important element of the development, and the site boasts some of the best eco-credentials in the city. Explains Clifford: “I came here at the end of 2005 when only building 1 and building 2 had been completed. We began the masterplan [to add to the building portfolio] and then we hit the economic downturn. But despite this slowing down in the construction process, we concentrated instead on the sustainability side by digging up the concrete and putting in grass and allotments as well as beehives.”

Today, employees based on the site have access to urban garden allotments and biodiverse landscapes, including outdoor seating and green spaces which are particularly popular in the spring and summer months. The development also offers free bike hire and, for those cycling to work, access to showers and drying rooms in each building. “With lunchtime knitting clubs, free street food events and our very own workplace choir, our initiatives encourage customers to interact and step away from their desks, and promote wellbeing,” says Clifford.

He believes that community spirit is what sets Wellington Place apart from other developments. Events such as the monthly street food event and the Christmas lights switch-on take a great deal of planning by the Wellington Place team.

“The role of the facilities team in this is predominantly focused on communication and health and safety,” he explains. “We do a survey every year to see how we’re doing, but on a day-to-day basis we know all our customers – and they all talk to us on both a formal and informal basis.”

In the long term, the success of the development looks set to boost the city’s booming commercial office sector and help reinforce a growing reputation as a popular business location.