A London office building in the heart of St James's has been recognised with a landmark double-certification.

The Marq, a development from The Crown Estate, has become the first new-build project in the UK to achieve both a BREEAM New Construction Outstanding rating for its shell and core and the WELL Gold Certification.

Designed by John McAslan and Partners/Rolfe Judd, The Marq is a 46,000 sq ft building offering six floors of modern office space and two flagship retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floor. It is the first completely new build office building to be delivered in the St James's neighbourhood since St James's Market in 2017.

This BREEAM Outstanding certification for its shell and core places The Marq within the top one per cent of UK new non-domestic buildings, positioning it as an innovator. With its WELL Gold Certification, The Marq is just one of six projects - five Gold certifications, and one Platinum certification – in the UK to achieve this standard.

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Simon Perks, Senior Development Manager at The Crown Estate, said: "The Marq's double-certification demonstrates our commitment to creating places which nurture people's health and wellbeing. To achieve these standards, we've sought to embrace innovation throughout the design process and in doing so set a new standard for best practice on future projects."

The Crown Estate worked together with Skanska to adopt a holistic approach to sustainability and wellbeing at The Marq ensuring both were integrated throughout the design process. This delivered a building of an exceptionally high standard that supports the health and wellness of the people that work in and visit it. Key features include exceptional indoor air quality and access to natural light, as well as optimised indoor lighting and responsive heating which can be tailored to individual needs without adjusting overall temperatures. 

The building reduces its impact on the environment by using a combination of photovoltaic panels, solar thermal water heating and air source heat pumps, to provide 14 per cent of the energy demand for the building. The team used building information modelling (BIM), to design the air handling unit and ductwork systems that pressurises the reception area.

Richard Kirkpatrick, Project Director, explained: "The team excelled themselves with their engagement with the WELL Gold certification and it meant that the stringent requirements were met. This included the supply chain working with us, which was paramount when we selected and procured the low volatile organic compound materials. All the materials that needed to meet the standard were identified and checked for their levels of air emissions before being purchased and delivered to site. This means the air quality in the building is kept to exceptionally high standards."

(CM/JG)