SAY Studio, a Dubai-based design and architectural consultancy, said it has successfully turned a building within Emaar Square into the only commercial WELL Health-Safety Rated Space in the Middle East and Europe regions.

 

The WELL health and safety seal was received from the international WELL-building institute, the global authority on healthy buildings. The space is also awaiting confirmation of a Gold grade WELL certification.

 

A major player in the region, SAY Studio has been offering services across multiple sectors, including workplace, hospitality, F&B and residential. 

 

The Dubai consultancy said it had completed the WELL project worth over AED100 million ($27.2 million) within Emaar Square for an undisclosed client and handed it over to them last year. 

 

With designers at the firm having worked with clients such as Dewa on its net zero footprint office space, Adidas’s award-winning, wellness HQ and big names in the technology space such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google, designers at SAY Studio were tasked with undertaking the design of a brand-new 16,000-sq-m headquarters under the theme “office of the future”, the first health and wellbeing focussed project of its kind for this client.

 

The client has offices in 157 countries around the world and the overall design concept for the project was to represent the client’s global presence. 

 

"We achieved this by designing each of the floors with subtle references back to different pivotal locations. The objectives were two-fold, to maximise productivity and staff wellness, and more specifically staff health and safety, which has globally come under scrutiny since Covid-19 hit and is now an element of WELL accreditation which is being heavily promoted," explained Laila Al Yousuf, Design Director at SAY Studio.

 

She pointed out that WELL Projects are required to meet certain, high-level criteria across a broad spectrum of categories and this project required an in-depth understanding of both the built environment, and the operational requirements in order to accomplish this. 

 

The project began in March 2019 and took 19 months to complete. It consists of ground to five floors, plus the roof terrace. It is the largest and most adventurous of its kind across the region and for the brand, globally, said Al Yousuf. 

 

SAY Studio continues to focus on ground breaking commercial projects with blue chip clients, while gathering momentum in sectors such as hospitality, mixed-use developments and biochemical, she noted.

 

"It’s been a privilege to work on the first health and safety rated commercial space and we are really looking forward to applying our now extensive knowledge on the subject to more of our clients in the near future," she stated.

 

The WELL Health and Safety seal can be seen on buildings which have set out to prioritise end user’s health and safety. This includes measures such as cleaning and sanitising procedures, air and water quality control, emergency preparedness programs and health services, she added.-TradeArabia News Service