Oktra’s London Office Receives 2 Star Fitwel Certification

We have recently received the welcome news that our London office has been awarded a two-star Fitwel certification.

This makes us the fifth office to receive the award in the UK and one of 95 accredited offices in the world. With only thirteen other offices in the UK registered with Fitwel, we feel proud to be paving the way for national wellbeing standards.

What is Fitwel?

With people spending nine hours a day in an office on average, there is a growing acknowledgement that office design should do more to inspire wellbeing in the workplace. The new focus upon wellbeing is also being fuelled by the changing face of the workforce. Wellbeing has become an increasingly high priority for millennials, and there is now a pressure on employers to respond to this in order to attract new staff and retain talent.

Founded in 2017, after having been developed in consultation with health and design experts, Fitwel is a means of quantifying and encouraging the creation of healthier spaces. Fitwel’s assessment process involves measuring a building against each of the following categories:

1 Impacts Community Health
2 Reduces Morbidity + Absenteeism
3 Supports Social Equity for Vulnerable Populations
4 Instils Feelings of Well-Being
5 Increases Physical Activity
6 Promotes Occupant Safety
7 Provides Healthy Food Options

Fitwel aspires to support physical and mental wellbeing; in practical terms, this means encouraging workplaces to provide greater accessibility, a wide range of facilities and different types of spaces for communal and work activities.

Our assessment

We already had a number of systems in place to promote wellbeing in the workplace. In particular, our multipurpose room received approbation from Fitwel as it allows us to host a variety of activities. On a monthly basis we utilise the space by holding yoga and boxercise classes, along with lunch talks on topics such as meditation and mindfulness. We welcome activity suggestions and survey our employees twice a year to gauge their needs.

We also benefited from our location which offers a range of parks and amenities within walking distance. In order to improve our score further, we installed more active desks and created a clean air policy, installing five monitors throughout the office that continuously measure the air quality.

Having gone through this process, we feel well placed to assist our clients should they wish for their office to be certified. We are proud to also now have two in-house Fitwel ambassadors to help expedite the process!