On average, we will spend approximately 84,365 hours at work in our lifetime. With that significant chunk of time in mind, working somewhere that negatively impacts your wellness is not an option.
And, yet, for many modern professionals, this is unavoidably the case. According to The Champion Health Workplace Report, in 2023, 67% of professionals reported moderate to high levels of stress at work, while 35% stated that this stress was having a negative impact on them and their health.
At Myo, we do things differently. Coming into work shouldn’t be a hassle, and existing in the workspace throughout the day should not be a drain on your well-being — emotionally, physically, or socially.
Read on as we shine a spotlight on how we’ve integrated wellness into our workspace at our St Paul’s offices.
Wellness at work
From commuting and managing workload throughout the day to the journey home, the workday can be stressful if wellness is not considered at every stage by the employer.
For many professionals who work or commute to London, separating the bustle of the city from their workloads can be a challenge. However, we believe that a well-designed office environment is the core component needed to cut through the noise of the city and carve out a place for productive, focused activity that makes employees feel good about their work.
How do we prioritise wellness at our St Paul’s offices?
When creating all of our office spaces across London, we keep employee wellness front of mind — alongside environmental considerations, functionality, and flexibility, of course.
Integrating wellness at every level — from the soft furnishings to the windows and ventilation — we’ve created spaces that directly target the WELL Platinum certification. What’s this? WELL is a rating system for the characteristics of built spaces that impact people’s health and well-being, including lighting, temperature and air quality. Find out more about WELL here.
Quality furnishings
First of all, we work with the best architects and designers to ensure that our offices exude luxury, calm, and tranquillity. A lot can be said about the impact of soft furnishings and interior design on the mood and feel of a workspace.
At our St Paul’s offices, we worked in close collaboration with Basha-Franklin to produce a working environment that instilled quality, calm, and comfort in its design.
Despite the bold design, St Paul’s pays close attention to the layering of high-quality materiality through texture, pattern and architectural form to produce joyful, inspiring surroundings. A far cry from the beige high-rise office blocks of times gone by.
Spaces for a quiet moment
We understand that work can be a busy place at the best of times — an overwhelming one at worst. That’s why we have built-in mindfulness at every corner of our St Paul’s offices.
Sometimes, the hectic bustle of a working office can lead to mental overload and, naturally, workers need a space to decompress between meetings or just take a quiet moment for themselves. Be it preparing for proposals or just sitting quietly, we anticipated this need and created spaces across all floors of St Paul’s accordingly. Most notably, we’ve worked on acoustics – upgrading them to reduce noise and distraction.
The second-floor reception area has a welcoming lounge for sitting and soaking up the day, and all three floors have a multitude of stylish, versatile shared spaces. However, workers can also book private meeting rooms or work in one of our quiet nooks. As well as this, there are spacious, calm kitchens and tea points for when a cuppa is needed for a moment of serenity.
Unique to St Paul’s, we also aim to bring the outside inside, with plenty of outside space on our terrace. Sometimes, a lung full of fresh air after being in an office all day can do you the world of good.
Optimal working environments
Building on the above, as part of our commitment to our WELL Platinum certification, we have honed in on a triangle of working environment criteria that collectively promote wellness — light, air quality, and biophilic design.
Ample natural light
There’s nothing worse than harsh, artificial lights overhead. We’ve all experienced the flickering and buzzing lights at work — and the headaches that ensue. Keen to offer a far more natural lighting set-up, our Myo St Paul’s offices have windows everywhere to let in as much sunlight as possible (with blinds to reduce dazzle, of course). In fact, 70% of our workstations offer at least 5m of glazing. Looking out at the skyline is a core feature unique to working in London — and we’ve highlighted this.
Biophilic design
According to a study conducted by the University of Technology, Sydney, having plants in the office results in a 37% fall in reported tension and anxiety; a 58% drop in depression or dejection; a 44% decrease in anger and hostility; and a 38% reduction in fatigue.
With figures like that, as well as aesthetic benefits, it was a no-brainer to incorporate greenery at every turn in Myo St Paul’s. Aside from green being a calming colour (according to colour therapy principles), there are also numerous air purifying benefits that come with biophilic design, leading us nicely to our next point.
Ideal air quality
Lastly, we have worked hard with our architects to ensure that the air quality in our offices is as healthy and clean as it can be. We understand that working in a regular office all day is often associated with stagnancy, stale air, and stuffiness. So, we made sure not to be a regular office. With demand-controlled ventilation on every floor, plus additional filters that remove harmful pollutants, we’ve maintained good air quality across the board. This not only helps employees feel refreshed but promotes alertness and awakeness, too.
Encouraging physical wellbeing
We wanted to make it as easy as possible for those renting office spaces at Myo St Paul’s to move their bodies. So, we began outside the office — with the commute.
Previously, cycling to work has been a hassle for many London-based commuters due to a lack of sufficient, safe, secure facilities for storing their belongings. As such, we built numerous end-of-trip facilities into our workspace to make sure that bikes and e-bikes/scooters can be stored safely and that workers can get changed and comfortable before a day of work.
This elimination of the barriers to walking or cycling to work encourages workers to try it more, allowing them to reap all the benefits of a morning cycle. What’s more, we also offer a range of fitness classes on-site as we believe that you shouldn’t just be exercising your mind at work.
Social well-being and workplace enrichment
Lastly, to us, the concept of ‘wellness’ extends beyond the mental and physical and finds a place in the socio-cultural too.
An office that helps its workers learn and experience more is a good one in our book. We have a number of rotating art exhibitions to bring colour, joy, and excitement to the transitional spaces in our office — walls, corridors, and waiting areas — often based on social and environmental causes.
Similarly, we offer a range of year-round inclusivity initiatives along with a host of other campaigns that focus on creating a fairer, more equal society. It’s all of these little things that help foster a more enriched, engaged workplace experience — feeding into a holistic, well-rounded idea of wellness.
Want wellness in your workplace?
If employee well-being and a healthy working environment are high priorities for your business, you’ll be right at home at Myo’s St Paul’s offices. Come and see our thoughtfully designed space for yourself by booking a tour. Or, delve into the details in our brochure.
Looking for a different location in London? We’ve got you covered with luxury rentable offices in a number of prime spots from Bankside to Liverpool Street. For any further questions, contact our friendly team at [email protected] or by calling +44(0)20 3876 6690.
