Koba Launches Manchester’s Healthiest Flexible Workspace

• Koba @ 100 Barbirolli in Manchester is the world’s first WELL Coworking Rated flexible workspace

• International WELL Building Institute and The Instant Group created rating for healthier workspaces

December 4, 2024 /3BL/ - Koba, the flexible workspace company creating premium, evidence-based sustainable workplaces, has achieved the world’s first WELL Coworking Rated flexible workspace at Koba @ 100 Barbirolli Square in Manchester, responding to growing demand for healthier workspaces.

In April 2024, the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), the global authority on advancing healthy buildings, organisations and communities, and The Instant Group, the largest global marketplace for flexible workspace, announced a strategic partnership to spur health and well-being practices in coworking and flexible workspaces. This has culminated in the launch of the first-of-its-kind healthy buildings rating for coworking operators.

The Koba team joined a pilot cohort of organisations and worked with IWBI and The Instant Group to help shape a pioneering leadership benchmark designed for coworking and flexible spaces – the WELL Coworking Rating. The collaborative cohort also committed to being the first to enroll in the new rating.

The new rating, derived from the researched-backed health strategies in the WELL Building Standard, includes nearly 50 features spanning all 10 concepts in WELL, including air and water quality, light, thermal comfort, movement and nourishment. The rating serves to validate and showcase how coworking and flexible workspaces meet evidence-based health and well-being measures, whilst also being integrated with The Instant Group’s platform to help occupiers make informed workspace decisions based on health and well-being. Prospective coworking and flexible workspace users will be able to search for the new rating and its associated data as they access more than 350,000 flexible workplaces on Instant’s digital platforms.

Rob Stewart, Director of Strategy and Sustainability at Koba, said: “We are proud to be part of a selected cohort of businesses that has helped to push industry standards forward as this is central to our mission and indeed part of our manifesto commitment to share our lessons and learning with the broader industry.

“For Koba and Manchester to be recognised as the first site and city globally to achieve the rating is just a genuine thrill. And for our residents, both current and future, it’s a sign that we are laser-focused on providing workspaces that are backed by evidence on health, well-being and sustainability. Koba was created before the WELL Coworking Rating was developed, so to receive the rating is true testament not only to our own vision, but the quality of our partners at Cast Interiors too.” continued Stewart.

Koba announced a partnership with AEW in April this year for its inaugural 30,000-sq-ft sustainable flex centre across two floors at 100 Barbirolli Square in central Manchester. Since then the Koba team has worked with leading office fit-out design and build specialists, Cast Interiors, to create evidence-based premium sustainable workspaces designed with a focus on circularity and re-use.

With work now complete, Koba @ 100 Barbirolli Square is fully operational with the dynamic new centre offering a range of meeting rooms, coworking spaces, studios and office suites to accommodate businesses of up to 200 people, with premium amenity, wellness and breakout areas.

Koba’s mission is to redefine flexible workspace by embedding sustainability at the heart of its offering and the company has ambitions to open three to four sites per year in outstanding commercial buildings in the UK’s major cities.

IWBI President and CEO Rachel Hodgdon said: “We proudly congratulate Koba for achieving the first WELL Coworking Rated workspace. Koba chose to pursue the rating to help deliver innovative health and productivity benefits to users of its flexible workspace at 100 Barbirolli Square. Its achievement will also inspire other coworking operators in the UK and beyond to provide healthy workplaces that support physical and mental well-being through the use of WELL’s science-backed strategies.”

Sam Pickering, Executive Director, Head of Sustainability at The Instant Group said: “The WELL Coworking rating enables occupiers to easily determine the health and well-being attributes of a specific coworking and flexible office space. Koba is the first workspace provider to achieve the rating globally and it is testament to their understanding and commitment to creating healthier workspaces that sees them achieve this accolade first.”

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS

About Koba

Koba is a dynamic, flexible workspace company creating evidence-based sustainable workplaces across the UK. Designed with sustainability at its core, each Koba workspace is constructed for forward-thinking landlords and occupiers who want to make a positive mark on the planet and its people. Working with integrated delivery partner Cast Interiors and sustainability leader Drees & Sommer, Koba has created a manifesto for creating incredible workspaces across the UK and strives to back this up with tangible evidence every step of the way. www.kobaspace.com

About the International WELL Building Institute

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation and the global authority for transforming health and well-being in buildings, organizations and communities. In pursuit of its public-health mission, IWBI mobilizes its community through the development and administration of the WELL Building Standard (WELL), WELL for residential, WELL Community Standard, its WELL ratings and management of the WELL AP credential. IWBI also translates research into practice, develops educational resources and advocates for policies that promote people-first places for everyone, everywhere. IWBI is a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative, and helps companies advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the use of WELL. More information on WELL can be found here.

International WELL Building Institute, IWBI, the WELL Building Standard, WELL v2, WELL Certified, WELL AP, WELL EP, WELL Score, The WELL Conference, We Are WELL, the WELL Community Standard, WELL Health-Safety Rated, WELL Performance Rated, WELL Equity Rated, WELL Equity, WELL Coworking Rated, WELL Residence, Works with WELL, WELL and others, and their related logos are trademarks or certification marks of International WELL Building Institute pbc in the United States and other countries.

About The Instant Group

The Instant Group has been rethinking workspace since 1999 with over 500 experts working globally across more than 175 countries. Instant’s digital platforms constitute the world’s largest digital marketplace for flexible workspace listing meeting rooms, virtual offices, flexible office space and coworking memberships. Its global team advises on commercial real estate solutions from serviced offices to fully customised managed offices, and consulting services for portfolio and net zero strategies. Instant’s approach enables agility, hybrid working solutions and improved operational resilience for more than 250,000 businesses every year. Clients include Amex, Prudential, Booking.com, Shell, Jaguar Land Rover and Worldpay. Instant has global offices including London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

For media enquiries please contact:

Faye Binns at Space PR on 07793 401 579 or via email at [email protected]

Kate Johnson at Space PR on 07815 314 108 or via email at [email protected]

Andrea McKenzie at Space PR on 07714 988 989 or via email at [email protected]

FTI Consulting, The Instant Group: [email protected]

IWBI: [email protected]