News Jul 5, 2019

Reaching New Heights in Boston with our Newest WELL-Certified Building

Read how our new space sets the gold standard for sustainable design and livability in this article.

View inside office at the John Hancock Tower, Boston

Inside the tallest building in Boston, Jacobs’ newest WELL™ - certified location at the John Hancock Tower or 120 Saint James, seats more than 200 employees. One of Boston Properties most iconic buildings, our office – representing our first U.S. WELL-certified office space and first WELL Gold certification – occupies the entire fifth floor, 49,000 square feet of the 790-foot-tall building.

WELL certifications recognize prerequisites and optimizations in seven categories, including air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. Here’s how our Boston office measures up in each category:

  • Air – we optimized building ventilations systems, construction materials and cleaning products chosen, to create a heathy indoor environment.
  • Water – Drinking water is readily available, filtered and tested to ensure healthy water quality.
  • Nourishment – All food served in the office is chosen for nutrition and with special diet options.
  • Light – Active work areas are closest to the windows. Operable shades and carefully chosen finish surfaces minimize glare. We carefully selected artificial lights and arranged them to provide a visually healthy environment.
  • Fitness – Our office is in a bustling urban environment with many active transportation and recreational fitness opportunities. We have showers and lockers in the office and organize events to promote exercise and fitness. All workstations are height sit-stand adjustable.
  • Comfort – We carefully and intentionally designed our office with noise adsorptive finishes surfaces and active sound masking to allow collaborative conversation and yet to minimize distractions.
  • Mind – Our staff enjoy our space and our office programs look after and promote our team’s overall wellness, in line with our Culture of Caring.

Our Boston office also earned LEED Gold Certification and a Fitwel 3 Star rating. While achieving any one of these is worth celebrating, achieving all three is a testament to the work our team’s done to truly create a company like no other – starting right in our own offices.

Within a half-mile of our chosen site at the John Hancock Tower, the local area boasts a density score of 64673.47 SF/acre and dozens of diverse amenities – one of the key elements to LEED accreditation. Within walking distance is everything from farmers’ markets to cycling classes; from museums, to bakeries. And for those amenities that are slightly less walkable, our office is steps away from a network of protected bike paths, as well as bus, subway and train networks that extend beyond state lines and offer more than 3,000 stops.

Additionally, our Boston office saves 27% more energy and 26.5% more water than comparable buildings and more than 91% of appliances (microwave, refrigerator, and coffee machines, etc.) and office equipment (monitors, printers, laptops, etc.) in the office are ENERGY STAR products that lower energy-consumption.

Not only did we create an open, collaborative space where our staff is inspired to do their best work, we also demonstrated that LEED, WELL and Fitwel Certifications – and their included benefits – can be achieved on budget and even with a fast project schedule. We completed both design and construction of our new office space in just nine months!

Launched in October 2014 after six years of research and development, the WELL Building Standard is the premier standard for buildings, interior spaces and communities seeking to implement, validate and measure features that support and advance human health and wellness. In addition to being Jacobs’ first U.S. WELL-certified location, the Boston office marks our second – of hopefully many – WELL-certified projects. Our first, the Jacobs Milan office, became the first WELL-certified building in all of Italy. In addition to our office in Boston, our Philadelphia office is also Fitwel certified and we’ve committed to certifying more offices under this program, which also focuses on health, productivity and occupant satisfaction.