New HQ for WWF

Welcome to the new HQ for WWF - winner of the British Council for Offices' innovation award for 2015! Read more here WWF 2015

WWF's new Woking headquarters, built to a BREEAM 'Outstanding' rating, sets new standards for sustainable offices – as might be expected from a leading conservation body.

The facility's energy performance is a 60% improvement on the requirements of Part L of the Building Regulations, and it will use 67% less energy than a typical office building.

A feature of Willmott Dixon's approach was the creation of a 'carbon budget' to run alongside the cash budget. Every product was scrutinised for carbon content, and rejected if it would 'blow the carbon budget'. Carbon savings identified during the construction stage will total 5,500 tonnes over the building’s life.

Facilities

The two-storey, 3,666m2 building is the headquarters for WWF-UK. It was built on a brownfield site – an existing car park – and sits on a raised podium, so the car park could be retained. The building houses open plan office space and a visitor centre, accessed via a new footbridge over Basingstoke Canal from the town centre. There is also cycle parking, improved pedestrian access, and a public garden piazza.

See case study here

Groundworks

The groundworks were complicated by petrochemical contamination. This meant checking contamination levels of all the soil, as the earthworks progressed, with any containing fuels and oils taken off site.

For the foundations, driven precast concrete piles were used rather than augured piles, to minimise the spoil leaving site.

Two renewable energy features were installed as part of the groundworks. One was a ground source heat exchanger, which required 16 bore holes, over 100m deep. Willmott Dixon also fitted three earth ducts, a tricky job which involved excavating between the piles.

These banks of 900mm-diameter concrete pipes – each between 1.5m and 2.5m deep, and 60m long – meet under the centre of the building. Air is drawn through the earth ducts, warming or cooling.

It is a fantastic eco-building that shows not only how it is possible to use our planet’s resources wisely, but also helps us all connect with the natural world.

Sir David Attenborough, ambassador, WWF