The Regeneration Pods are part of Mitie’s mental health and wellness initiative, and provide a tech-free meditative moment within the workday. Like the Living Lab, the Regeneration Pods provide a sense of shelter and refuge while also maintaining beautiful views to the outside. They are curated by a behaviour psychologist in Mitie’s team who trains staff on mindfulness and meditation.
The design challenge
How to create memorable experiences that can measurably reduce employee stress?
The design solution
The visual language of the pods reflects their function but also creates an anchoring identity for this corner of the Shard floorplate, giving a visual reminder of the importance of mental health and mindfulness was one of the key requirements of the design.
The Regeneration Pods also have a rich texture and material. Again following the structural logic that we see in nature, continuous ribs provide the overall stability, while individual vanes create the overall enclosure of the space. All of the complex forms were fabricated by master craftsworkers at Aldworth James & Bond, who combined high-tech digital fabrication with traditional hand-finishing techniques to achieve a silky and sensuous final result.
The soft seating within the pods are large enough for someone to lie down and rest, but also designed for sitting meditation. The additional cushions allow one to sit as if on a bench, but also take off the shoes and sit in a lotus posture.
As in the Living Lab, technology plays a role in the pods as well. Activating a pod with one’s access card begins a sound and lightscape that has been designed for mindfulness and reflection. A bell chimes three times to indicate the beginning of one’s fifteen minute period and again at the end to indicate it is time to return to the day-to-day routine of work.
A cactus garden surrounds the pods and again gives a direct connection with living nature in addition to the material and form of the experience.
Mitie have invested in the Connected Workspace imagining the future of the workplace. The wellness team that commissioned this project has pushed the boundaries of the architectural field with their determined commitment to bring together technology and biophilic design in a way that showcases a measurable impact on wellbeing. The decision to bring together specialist data scientists, technicians, designers, and academics through not only design but also operation and pilot study has resulted in something fresh and new.
This is markedly apparent when one looks at the Shard at night and sees the circadian lighting with its fiery glow in the midst of floor after floor of harsh white light.
The future of workplace design will include more sensors, more measurable metrics, and ambition to improve the experience for all. But ultimately design should be at the service of the human being, and finding ways to integrate the technology and data with beautiful and human-oriented design is the greater task.
This project for Mitie’s London HQ is a strong step in the direction of bringing together data and design, and working towards DaeWha Kang Design’s vision of measurably improving human wellbeing with designs of beauty and innovation.
Photos: Tom Donald for Aldworth James & Bond, 2018
