Charles Darwin House gets BREEAM refurbishment

Charles Darwin House, home to the British Ecological Society (BES), the Society for Experimental Biology and the Biochemical Society, has evolved from 1950s black hole to having a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) excellent rating.

The office needed significant refurbishment, according to Dr Hazel Norman, executive director of the BES.

“When we first came to view the building it was a bit of a black hole with little natural light,” said Norman. “The transformation now means that all 70 staff across five floors enjoy access to natural light and the stunning ground-floor reception and the conference suite now benefits from full-length windows.”

The first thing visitors to the office see is a bespoke plastic resin reception desk embedded with green grass.

All toilets and sinks are adapted to ensure low water usage and a water-monitoring and leak-detection system alerts staff to any problems. Employees are encourage to cycle to work, so the toilet area incorporates showers and lockers.

The office car park has been abolished, the space converted to accommodate bike racks.

The transformation was executed by sustainable office specialist Morgan Lovell. The firm took a similar approach to the one adopted for its own office in Noel Street, London (a stone’s throw from Businessgreen.com’s office). In 2008, Morgan Lovell’s office achieved BREEAM excellent rating and in its day was the highest BREEAM score in the UK for an office refurbishment. It also achieved awards from BIFM and BRE Global.