Prudential Singapore’s new corporate office – PRU Workplayce – is one of the offices that was certified under the BCA-HPB Green Mark for Healthier Workplaces (GM HW) scheme. The scheme was jointly developed by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Health Promotion Board (HPB), to recognise work places that place emphasis on both the quality of indoor environments as well as the health, comfort and well-being of its occupants.

Caring about the health and well-being of employees is a growing global concern among top employers. Subsequently, staff welfare has become a major value proposition for the adoption of green buildings and interior spaces. The BCA-HPB GM HW certification aims to provide a clearer and stronger business case for office sustainability by placing the occupants’ well-being at the forefront of office design and daily operations. The scheme also seeks to create a supportive environment through the establishment of workplace health structures, policies and programmes.

Collaborative workzones and immersive thematic meeting spaces inspire creativity and autonomy.

To be awarded the certification, workplaces are evaluated on green and workplace health initiatives including sustainable office design, operation and management, energy and resource efficiency and indoor office environment. PRU Workplayce featured strongly in these key green and health initiatives and went a step further to create an innovative and biophilic forest-themed workspace designed to promote creativity, collaboration, autonomy and flexibility. The design is human-centric and highly interactive: the open pantry is a hive of social activity and proudly disposables-free, with employees enjoying specially curated nutritional menus. Throughout the office, nooks for relaxation and respite abound including rest-pods and a mothers’ room, while meetings and ideation sessions are held in immersive-themed environments.

The open pantry area is a social and interactive hive with healthful menus and an eco-friendly disposables-free policy.

Behind the motivation for PRU Workplace was Prudential’s aim to be “a responsible employer, where we operate sustainably, encourage an environmentally-friendly work culture and put our employees’ well-being first.” Further elaborating on PRU Workplayce’s features, Prudential representatives share that “our workplace, the first of its kind in the local insurance industry, prioritises wellness and eco-friendliness. It has nature inspired, activity based working spaces that promote creativity and collaboration. Our work culture advocates for environmentally-friendly behaviours such as recycling, and healthy behaviours such as nutritious eating and regular exercise. We want our people to be healthy and well, as well as play an active role in the community.” 

In terms of promoting a healthier lifestyle among its employees, Prudential has a Staff Recognition Committee (SRC) that arranges fitness, mental and emotional wellness related activities. A wide range of activities – from yoga to boxing at the office, to outdoor activities such as bouldering – are organised to help keep employees fit. Prudential has seen attendance for such activities skyrocket, with an average increase of 150% since January 2019 and five times more sign-ups for outdoor activities during the same period.

A lush green tunnel and calming water passageway makes transiting through spaces like a walk in a park.

Encouraging employees to create healthier habits was not without its challenges. One particular challenge was in implementing a tough disposables-free policy at the café, led by a ‘DO environment’ campaign. Prudential eased the transition from using recycled disposables to zero disposables by providing each employee with attractive biodegradable lunchboxes and reusable cups. After the campaign launch, Prudential saw a 900kg reduction in waste in one month. Feedback is also continually gathered to help inform and improve future ‘go green’ initiatives.

Group photo of the Prudential team involved in the project.

Such initiatives have helped Prudential’s employees to quickly adapt to a more environmentally-friendly way of consuming food and beverages. Recycling has become a habit among employees with the reported bulk of plastic items recycled increasing from 33kg to 174kg within just one year.

Environmentally Sustainable Design consultant, Farizan d'Avezac de Moran, Senior Partner of GreenA Consultants.

Environmentally Sustainable Design consultant, Farizan d’Avezac de Moran of GreenA Consultants remarked, “The BCA-HPB Green Mark for Healthier Workplaces certification has unified all the project’s objectives. It is never easy to create a balance between work and healthy living. So the drive is to assist, remind, encourage and share the knowledge and impact of what we take as secondary to be as important as our work focus.”