Development of Offices – Social & Wellbeing v1.0 and Higher Education & Life Sciences (HE&LS) – Social & Wellbeing v1.0 schemes continues to progress.
Sustainability in interior fit-out and refurbishment projects has, understandably, focused on environmental performance. We need interiors that reduce waste, use resources consciously, support lower carbon choices and help buildings perform better over time, even in extreme weather, as the European summer 2026 has so clearly demonstrated. But the spaces we design, build and manage are not experienced by materials or products: they are experienced by people.
Social & Wellbeing schemes: ‘The Whole Human’
The new SKArating Social & Wellbeing schemes are intended to address impacts of fit-out and refurbishment projects on humans. Specifically, they look at how projects support physical, emotional and mental health, comfort, dignity, inclusion, learning, community and wellbeing across their full lifecycle.
Central to this approach is the concept of the whole human — the recognition that health, comfort and wellbeing are not only physical, but encompass emotional and cognitive needs. For the physical body, this may include air quality, lighting, thermal comfort, acoustics and ergonomic furniture. For the emotional aspects, it is the things that shape how a space feels and how people experience it over time, from quiet rooms, restorative spaces and community spaces to safe communication and a sense of dignity and belonging. For the cognitive mind, this may include clarity, wayfinding, sensory zoning, user control, accessibility, and the ability to work or learn without unnecessary stress.
All three sit within the scope of our developing project assessment.
SKArating Vision: Triple Bottom Line Framework
The Social & Wellbeing schemes form the first major step towards SKArating’s long-term vision of a triple bottom line framework — planet, people and profit — applied to fit-out and refurbishment projects. That means assessing projects through three interconnected lenses, or pillars: environmental performance (planet), which SKArating already covers; social and wellbeing outcomes (people), now in development; and economic and value (profit), to follow.
The benefit of a triple bottom line approach is that it encourages a holistic view of sustainability. In addition, integrating these three pillars within a single framework, rather than assessing each with different systems and methodologies, can help reduce duplication of effort, overlapping lines of responsibility, and the administrative burden of trying to run multiple, conflicting and costly certification systems on a single project. It is unsustainable and the reason it does not happen widely enough in the market. We aim to address these challenges with an affordable, scalable schemes range that sits directly within the trusted SKArating system.
What Is Happening Now?
Following a series of workshops completed in 2025, SKArating recently established an industry Research & Development (R&D) Team to take forward the workshop recommendations that informed the schemes brief. The professional team brings together expertise from a broad range of industry backgrounds including design, consultancy, project delivery, workplace operations and specialist technical areas. The work is being undertaken on a voluntary basis, continuing the collaborative approach that has always been central to SKArating’s development.
During the R&D phase, detailed research into specialist topics is being undertaken in order to draft the Good Practice Measures (GPMs) that will ultimately form the scheme requirements.
Contributors are currently:
- Researching evidence, standards and emerging good and best practices.
- Producing research notes to record sources, inform recommendations and scheme development.
- Collaborating through weekly team sessions and ongoing peer review activities.
- Drafting and refining proposed Good Practice Measures.
What Areas Are Being Investigated?
The R&D Team is currently developing and refining Good Practice Measures across eight proposed impact categories:
- Physical Design & Health (PH)
- Physical Design & Supportive Facilities (PDF)
- Design Character & Emotional Health (EH)
- Healthy Food & Water (HFW)
- Social, Community & Restorative Spaces (SCRS)
- Communication, Connectivity & Technology (CCT)
- Project Delivery & Operation (PDO)
- Education, Skills & Workforce Development (ED)
The intention is to consider impacts not only on building occupants, but also on project teams, subcontractors, facilities managers, supply chains, local and wider communities. This whole-life and whole-stakeholder perspective is a defining feature of the new schemes and reflects the growing recognition that social sustainability extends well beyond the building user alone.
Programme and Next Steps
The current programme remains focused on delivering the first full draft of the schemes for wider industry review through a public consultation stage later this year.
The project has progressed from industry workshops and exploration activities into the detailed Research & Development phase. This will be followed by steering committee engagement and approval, public consultation and final scheme refinement before publication and launch. The aim is to ensure the schemes are practical, proportionate and informed by the expertise of the wider industry.
Looking Forward
The development of the Social & Wellbeing schemes represents more than the creation of another assessment tool. It is a key step in SKArating’s broader ambition to provide the interior fit-out and refurbishment market with a practical, proportionate and holistic sustainability framework.
By placing human health, wellbeing and social outcomes alongside environmental performance and economic costs and value, the new schemes aim to help project teams create spaces that are not only resource efficient, but genuinely supportive of the people and communities they serve.
As the triple bottom line vision continues to develop, this work provides the foundation for the next chapter of SKArating’s evolution.
If you have any questions, would like any information for your project, or are keen to learn about becoming an Assessor, get in touch – we would love to talk.
Here’s to a new era of sustainable fit out.