Stockland WELL ahead in health and wellbeing
Stockland leads the way for healthy, safe shopping centres achieving the WELL Heath-Safety Rating for eight retail town centres.
We pride ourselves on creating best in classs shopping centres where people can thrive, and where the health and safety of everyone is at the core of what we do. This is why we are proud to be recognised by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) as the first Australian property group to achieve a WELL Health-Safety rating for eight of our retail town centres.
Partnering with our retailers to embrace emerging megatrends
Stockland is committed to remaining at the forefront of emerging megatrends that are shaping the shopping experience. Shoppers are increasingly changing their behaviours and expectations in terms of shopping convenience, experience, safety, service and importantly wellbeing. We have a clear strategy and metrics outling how we will deliver a retailer and customer experience that reflects and responds to important new trends. The WELL Health-Safety Rating demonstrates this proactive approach.
The WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management was established by the IWBI to ensure that buildings were as healthy and safe as possible for humans, particularly in a post-pandemic world. It’s a way to ensure buildings follow best-practise procedures for creating and maintaining safe indoor spaces that promote human health and wellbeing.
Achieving the WELL Health-Safety Rating for eight of our town centres is part of Stockland’s commitment to creating connected communities with people at the heart of the places we create. It provides independent verification to our retailers and our customers that we follow best practise in all that we do.
Enhancing the customer shopping experience
We are proud of our reputation of having very high levels of maintenance and cleanliness of the facilities we provide retailers and customers, and know that this is a key part of why retailers enjoy operating in our centre.
Stockland Executive General Manager Town Centres, Michelle Abbey said: “Stockland wanted to adopt a world leading approach to wellness so that customers visiting our centres and people working within them knew they were occupying an environment that promotes their health and wellbeing”.
Ms Abbey continued “There is a community expectation that our centres comply with high safety and environmental standards, particularly in the wake of COVID and significant weather events”.
“Some of the strategies we have implemented are visible – like keeping spaces clean and sanitised – while others less so, like having best practice emergency procedures in place, as well as ensuring we have high quality clean air and water supplied within our buildings,” said Ms Abbey.
Other standards include stakeholder engagement and communication, food services reporting and ensuring best practise mental health and wellbeing support.
Best practise standards that retailers can rely on
The WELL Health-Safety Rating provides Stockland retailers (and their customers) with the reassurance that their retail spaces are clean and healthy, that the air and water quality are good and that emergency procedures are in place to keep everyone safe.
Jessica Cooper, chief product officer at the International WELL Building Institute congratulated Stockland saying, “With people at the heart of places it creates, Stockland leads by example in delivering connected communities and prioritising the health and safety of shoppers, retail staff and customers.”
Our commitment to continuously ensuring our shopping centres deliver experiences that delight customers also forms part of our how we partner with out tenants. Many of our tenants share our goals and the WELL rating provides a framework our retail partners can incorporate into their own business targets.
A world leading approach to wellness for customers and workers
To achieve the rating, Stockland worked collaboratively with a team of contractors, consultants, facilities managers, and retailers at each centre to assist them in implementing the best-in-class strategies.
Stockland achieved the Health-Safety Rating for town centres across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. This includes town centres at Hervey Bay, Birtinya, and Baringa in Queensland; Forster, Balgowlah, and Nowra* in New South Wales; Wendouree in Victoria; and Baldivis in Western Australia.
The achievement builds on Stockland receiving a WELL Health-Safety Rating for its offices and tenancies at Stockland Piccadilly in NSW and Durack Centre in WA as well as its Stockland Melbourne and Brisbane Head Offices.
“The certification of our centres with the WELL Health-Safety Rating is a testament to our belief that space has the power to help people thrive, and aligns with our core values and purpose, 'we believe there is a better way to live',” said Ms Abbey.
To enquire about leasing opportunities in one of our WELL Health-Safety certified Stockland Town Centres, contact one of our leasing team members today.