By Juan Pedro Tomás

One Palace Place, a luxury residential building in London, is reportedly the world’s first residential property to be certified with the IMMUNE Building Standard.

Located in Westminster, One Palace Place incorporates 35 private apartments with a 24/7 concierge for residents, alongside a 312-seat theatre, a 120-seat studio, as well as a restaurant and bar open to the wider public.

The achievement of the IMMUNE certification was possible following the decision of Navana Property Group to implement a large majority of the 135 measures included in the IMMUNE Assessment Scoring Index.

Some of the measures include:

-aligning its policies to the IMMUNE standards at a corporate level, especially in areas such as business continuity, recovery, and wellbeing

-providing additional training to its onsite team and the dedicated IMMUNE Steward

-increasing the cleaning frequency of high touch and footfall areas such as access and exit routes, the entrance, lifts, stairwells, doors and handles with supporting signage

-enhancing sanitation regimes within the building both for its staff, residents, visitors, and contractors to keep them protected

-providing PPE equipment

-installing eight automatic hand sanitizers in the main entrance and lift lobbies on each floor of the building

Developed in Romania, the IMMUNE Building Standard was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in a very short timeframe, mid-pandemic, by a team of international experts in health, technology, architecture, construction, engineering and facility management. The certification is dedicated to office buildings and can also be adapted for buildings in use for hospitality, retail, health care, education, or residential purposes.

For the certification of a building, an authorized assessor in the field of sustainable design, development and certification of buildings, evaluates the building based on a complex set of criteria and awards one of the three IMMUNE labels – Strong, equivalent to 3 stars, Powerful, equivalent to 4 stars or Resilient, equivalent to 5 stars.

The IMMUNE Building Standard is based on practical investment in a Healthy by Design System (HbDS), which incorporates a network of specialized sensors that measure the indoor environment parameters such as air, humidity, temperature, or CO2 levels. Data on the building’s performance is collected in real time, empowering the building operator to verify and adjust the condition of the building to a healthy performance level to provide occupants with the space and confidence for a healthy living experience.

“Last year people probably spent more time at home than ever before, but while we’ve seen changes in the way offices, transport hubs and shops are managed to keep people safe, there’s been little discussion about what should happen in a multi-residential setting. People want reassurance, particularly as we learn to live with COVID-19 and prepare for possible future outbreaks. This is not about creating sterile spaces, but about making sensible design and management changes. IMMUNE certification shows our commitment as a professional property and asset manager to do everything we can to keep our customers healthy and well”, said managing director of Navana Property Group, Mark Fitzgerald,.