Lloyds Banking Group has opened a new all-electric office in the centre of Cardiff, creating a new workplace for more than 2,500 colleagues.
The new office at John Street has been designed with sustainability, accessibility and flexible working in mind and forms part of the Group’s wider investment in its UK property estate.
The building uses all-electric air-source heat pumps instead of traditional heating methods and is designed to save around 422 tonnes of CO2 every year.
According to Lloyds Banking Group, that saving is equivalent to growing 7,000 seedling trees for 10 years.
The office has also achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and features solar panels and demand-controlled ventilation.
Planting and living walls have been incorporated throughout the building as part of its environmental design.
Inclusivity and colleague wellbeing have also played a major part in the development of the new workplace.
A Changing Places toilet has been installed close to the main entrance and will be available for use by both colleagues and members of the public.
Kitchens within the office areas have been adapted to be wheelchair accessible, while returning parents will have access to a dedicated room.
Separate contemplation spaces and Wudu facilities have also been included.
The building has been designed to provide a range of different working environments, including flexible work areas, meeting and collaboration spaces, a work café and an events space.
There is also a roof terrace overlooking Cardiff city centre.
The mix of spaces is intended to give employees greater choice over where they focus on individual tasks, hold meetings or work collaboratively with colleagues.
Sharon Doherty, Chief People and Places Officer at Lloyds Banking Group, said:
“When colleagues say, ‘this is where I work’, I want them to say it with real pride. John Street gives our teams in South Wales a brilliant new home that is modern, inclusive and designed to reduce its environmental impact.
“From the all-electric heating and solar panels to spaces designed around different colleague needs, this is a workplace that has been thought through properly. It will bring more than 2,500 colleagues together in the heart of Cardiff, and I’m excited to see them make it their own.”
The Cardiff development is the latest stage of Lloyds Banking Group’s wider programme of investment in its UK property estate.
The programme is focused on creating fewer, better-equipped offices in key locations across the country and has already included new or refurbished workplaces in Leeds, London and Halifax.
The Group said the opening of the John Street office also reaffirms its commitment to Wales.
