More Than A Landlord: Real Estate Giant Helps Companies Create Sustainable Workplaces

As global momentum gathers pace to fight climate change and improve employee well-being, many companies are returning to the drawing board to make their workplaces greener, healthier and more productive than ever before.
 
Today, workplaces must be more than just a place to work, says Sharon Teo, head of workspace management at CapitaLand Investment (Singapore), one of Asia’s largest diversified real estate groups.

“While a sustainable workplace can protect the environment, it goes beyond that. It can also boost the well-being of employees, their morale, improve productivity, and even attract new hires and retain existing talent. These are all important factors that contribute to a company’s success,” she says.

“CapitaLand has experienced an increase in demand to build more sustainable workspaces, and the trend will likely gain even more momentum in the future.”

Designing or remaking a workplace is a major endeavour. Therefore, it is important that landlords are supportive in helping companies bring their workplace visions to reality.
 
CapitaLand, a major landlord of commercial and industrial properties in Singapore, is well placed to offer tenants the options and flexibility they need. Two tenants, Schneider Electric and Grab, share how they built their ideal workspaces with the help of CapitaLand.

Putting Sustainability at the Forefront

French multinational company Schneider Electric moved its Singapore operations into its current premises in the Kallang industrial belt, in the fringe of the Central Business District.

The nine-storey building known as Kallang Pulse serves as the company’s headquarters for the East Asia and Japan region, as well as a “live demo” of its capabilities in energy management and digital automation systems.

The company retrofitted the building with various green features, including solar panels on the rooftop, and charging stations for electric vehicles. One of the main features is the 5,000 smart sensors that collect data on the building’s internal conditions. 

The data helps Schneider Electric make real-time decisions that optimise employees’ comfort, such as adjusting the temperature and lighting to the ideal levels, ensuring optimal oxygen availability, and managing noise, says Yoon Young Kim, Schneider Electric’s cluster president for Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.

In addition, data on occupancy levels of different spaces in the building help employees to decide on where they want to work for the day. “It is something that when they enter the building, they know which floor is more fully occupied, which floor is less occupied, so they can choose the floor that is less occupied if they want to be a little bit farther from crowds,” Kim says.

Compared to conventional buildings, the smart sensors have helped Schneider Electric to create a much more conducive environment for employees to work in and be more energy efficient overall, he adds.

Retrofitting an existing building with state-of-the-art green technology comes with many challenges. “But with the flexibility and support offered by CapitaLand during early stages of planning, we were able to make this brownfield building more sustainable through digital technology – keeping in line with our sustainability goals,” he says.

The efforts paid off for Schneider Electric. The use of renewable energy and smart technologies turned its Kallang office building carbon-neutral in 2021, and the company received multiple awards for its smart and green building, including the BCA Green Mark Platinum and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum Award with Intelligence and Health and Wellbeing badges under the Green Mark Scheme in 2021.

And more recently in November 2022, it received the prestigious Leadership in Sustainable Design & Performance (Commercial) Award at the recent World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Buildings Awards. This marks the first time that Kallang Pulse has been recognised internationally.

Employees have also been keen to take visitors to the company’s innovation hub located on the ground floor of the building, where Schneider Electric showcases its latest innovation. 

This shows that employees are proud to be working for a company that leads by example in being environmentally sustainable, says Kim.

Schneider Electric also makes an effort to engage its employees to create a welcoming environment. Having conducted a survey to learn what employees want in the workplace, the company is looking to fulfil some of the requests such as larger screens and more parking space.

The company engages a barista to brew a selection of freshly-made coffee for all employees every workday. Meanwhile, a well-being and recreation team organises activities such as durian day, juice days, and various sports and community engagement events to help Schneider Electric employees connect with one another. 

“The environment should be very receptive and inviting,” Kim says of Schneider Electric’s vision for its office in Singapore. “Health and well-being are important elements for us.”

A Workspace for Collaboration and Productivity

Grab envisions its Singapore headquarters to be an all-in-one destination where employees can be productive at work while having access to facilities that support their well-being.

The Southeast Asian technology company moved into its new campus in one-north in 2022. The nine-storey building spans over 42,000 sq m and can house up to 3,000 “Grabbers” or Grab employees.

“We wanted to bring all Grabbers under one roof and design a workspace that encourages both cross-team collaboration and individual deep work. We also believe that Grabbers should be able to bring their full selves to work, whether bringing their children along or integrating exercise into their workday,” says Ong Chin Yin, its chief people officer.

One of the employees’ favourite spots is the open-air Sky Garden where they can enjoy lush greenery without leaving the building. It is a place to unwind after a tiring day, but also where discussions and gatherings can take place.

Grab also built spaces that cater to employees with different interests and needs, such as a fully equipped gym and yoga room for the fitness enthusiasts, as well as a play area called Kidzone where employees, who are parents, can supervise their children while at work.

In terms of work, the campus offers a variety of work settings, from open desks for team collaborations, cockpits for two-person discussions and phone booths for individual calls. Such a design recognises that employees perform a variety of tasks daily, and may need different settings and environments to do their work.

Employees were not the only ones that Grab had in mind when designing its headquarters. The company also made sure to set aside spaces for engaging with users and merchants. 

These include a UX Lab where focus groups are held to gather user feedback on Grab’s products and services; and multi-purpose spaces where partner events are held, ranging from conferences to share insights reports with GrabAds clients to merchant workshop sessions on the use of digital tools.

From the Sky Garden to Kidzone, a UX Lab for focus group discussions and a fully equipped broadcast studio for video production, incorporating spaces of such varied purposes within one building meant that Grab needed to customise the layout and design of its new headquarters. And it is thanks to landlord CapitaLand that much of the company’s vision, which places employee collaboration, productivity and well-being as top priorities, came to fruition.

“CapitaLand was flexible in the building architecture, which gave us room to work on bespoke internal layouts that have enabled us to carve out spaces well suited for Grabbers,” says Ong. “We’re also pleased that the building is Green Mark GoldPlus-certified, and on top of that, it’s 100 per cent powered by renewable energy, through our purchase of renewable energy certificates.”

Workplaces that Prioritise Employees

Working closely with CapitaLand, Schneider Electric and Grab have successfully crafted sustainable workspaces that suit their employees’ needs and appeal to them. 

The green features in the former’s premises not only make the employees proud but also help made the office a more conducive and eco-friendlier one, while the latter’s campus is designed with its workforce in mind, giving the Grabbers a place they truly want to work at.

Having a workplace with the right mix of physical facilities has allowed both companies to focus on building the softer aspects of business that are equally crucial to succeed, such as community building and corporate culture – all in view of their well-being.

And CapitaLand says it is ready to support its tenants in building their desired workplaces.

“We don’t see ourselves as just landlords; we see ourselves as partners to our tenants. We truly understand that business needs differ for various companies, and this is why we provide an end-to-end solution to support these needs,” says CapitaLand's Teo.

“This goes beyond the physical workplace: we provide conducive and sustainable environments from wellness spaces like parks and fitness facilities to curated community events – all in view to make their ideal workplace come alive.”

Source: The Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Learn how you can build your next dream workspace with CapitaLand.

Explore our diversified portfolio of properties here or get in touch with us now.

Talk to us about your workspace needs!