Sustainability and wellbeing strategies have been an integral part of Spaces at The Spine’s design process. The building housing our venue has been built to incorporate the WELL Standard concepts, making it the healthiest building in the North West and one of the healthiest in the UK.

Wellbeing

The WELL Building Standard is the premier standard for buildings, interior spaces and communities seeking to implement, validate and measure features that support and advance human health and wellness. It was launched in 2014 by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and it is now recognised as a leading tool for quantifying health and wellbeing features of built environment.

The standard consists of ten concepts – Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community.

The building design incorporates all these concepts to create a happy and healthy environment and to optimise the health of our colleagues and clients. The WELL Standard includes biophilic design features including the use of repeating patterns in nature which have a naturally calming effect on the mind.

 

The introduction of plants at various levels throughout the building will also improve air quality and the naturalistic environment uses a natural colour palette. The building’s design echoes that of a tree rising through the building, with earthier colours for the lower floors that merge into greener, leafier colours and patterns and the introduction of blue tones on the upper floors.

Sustainability

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Spaces at The Spine, and our day-to-day business operations reflect our initiatives to minimise our impact on the environment.

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) was the first royal college to receive Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of our commitment to sustainable working. The certification followed a reduction of 30% in the RCP’s total carbon footprint over the previous 3 years as well as switching our electricity provision entirely to 100% renewable energy.

In April 2021, we also ended all investments in fossil fuel companies, 2 years ahead of the deadline originally set in our new climate policy released at the beginning of 2020.

As a new build, we had the opportunity to incorporate sustainability throughout our venue from the design phase. Some of the sustainability features you will find at Spaces at The Spine include:

• Smart building management system to regulate temperature and lighting – the system responds to external lighting conditions and saves energy by automatically turning lights off when rooms are not being used
• Optimisation of space layout to ensure maximum exposure to natural light
• Use of LED lighting, saving 50% of energy costs compared to traditional lighting
• Filtered drinking water accessible within the entire building
• Some of the flooring and wallpaper in our events spaces are made out of 95% recycled plastic bottles, and low VOC paints have been used throughout the building
• All wood, including furniture, is sustainable hardwood

Sustainable catering at Spaces at The Spine

Spaces at The Spine works with caterer CH&Co to ensure our catering and food provision aligns with our sustainability pledge. CH&Co is deeply committed to operating in a socially responsible and sustainable way, and it has been awarded three stars by the Sustainable Restaurant Association for its commitment.

From using local and seasonal produce to promoting plant-based and vegan dishes on all our menus, serving sustainably-caught fish and sourcing ‘wines with a conscience’, we are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our operations.

Sustainability accreditations and awards

The Spine meets or exceeds a number of sustainability measures that make the fit-out of our floors BREEAM Excellent. BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for buildings, measuring the sustainable value of a building in a series of categories (Energy, Healthy & Wellbeing, Innovation, Land Use, Materials, Management, Pollution, Transport, Waste and Water).

In November 2021, our building won the ‘Environment and Climate Award’ at the Innovation in Business Awards by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. The awards celebrate the spirit of innovation that has driven the recovery of many local businesses during the pandemic.

More recently, Spaces at The Spine scooped Gold in the ‘Venue Sustainability Award’ at the Conference & Events Awards 2022. Speaking of our entry, judges commended our continued commitment and impressive sustainability credentials, describing our venue as ‘a benchmark for others to measure themselves against’. Read more here.