15 Jul Greening Hammersmith: Metro Building
“Everything that we do, we try to make it as sustainable as possible.”
From car park to communal garden
In 2021, work began at Hammersmith’s Metro Building office space to transform its rear car park into a communal garden. Ten parking bays were converted into a green landscape that includes seating areas, flowerbeds and herb planters. Dotted amongst these are bug hotels, providing a safe space for creatures in winter. Meanwhile, bee watering stations are left out in summer to give Hammersmith’s pollinators a helping hand.
Metro Building’s environmental ethos doesn’t stop there: pesticides are never used in the garden. Instead, Metro relies on a resident ladybird colony, whose larvae act as natural pest control. For larger nuisances, Metro’s landscape gardener had to be even more creative, mixing lion poo in with the compost to frighten away foxes with the scent!
Award-winning spaces
In recognition of the transformation from car park to communal garden, Metro Building was awarded a British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) National Landscape Award, the same year as the completion of the green space.
Separately, Metro Building is also part of the Better Buildings Partnership – a collaboration of leading property owners who are working together to improve the sustainability of commercial buildings. Some initiatives already in place at Metro include the use of sustainable bamboo toilet products; and rechargeable batteries for festive decorations. On a larger scale, the office uses the principle of ‘free cooling’ – a process whereby naturally cool air is pumped into the building early in the morning, thus reducing the amount of energy used by the building’s cooling towers during the working day.
Metro Building also holds a Fitwel accreditation, in recognition of its efforts to support the health of its occupiers and employees. Indeed, it was the first in-use multi-let in the UK to be awarded three Fitwel stars.
Linking greening, wellbeing and community
When Hammersmith BID interviewed colleagues from the Metro Building team in June 2023, the intersection between Metro’s green spaces and its drive for wellbeing was plain to see. Entering the lobby, we were greeted by feature walls covered with ornamental moss. A communal table was filled with houseplants and on the end were canisters of water flavoured with herbs from Metro’s garden, free to tenants and visitors coming in from the heat outside.
Other wellbeing initiatives include a gym space on an empty floor of the building; lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers to express in comfort; and raising awareness about mental health through Metro Building’s newsletter. On the latter – the garden plays an important role, as a place for tenants to relax and meditate during the working day.
Meanwhile, during the BID’s visit, the reception area played host to a pop-up selling sustainable handmade candles. We were informed that all pop-ups sell sustainable products only and this ethos translates to other activities available to tenants. One such example includes a joint Christmas wreath making event with Hammersmith Community Gardens Association, using locally sourced foliage. Metro Building emphasised the importance of linking such activities to the local area and community organisations, wherever possible.
Reporting and accountability
Tenants are able to hold Metro Building to account, with the latter regularly reporting waste figures to tenants. They are also kept in the loop about upcoming environmental projects, such as the coffee waste collection scheme currently in the pipeline. Coffee grounds will be collected and upcycled into sustainable bioproducts – another example of a simple but impactful green initiative.
Additional Notes
These long-term sustainability initiatives demonstrate the commitment of Metro Building to the overall greening and cleaning of Hammersmith.
If your organisation also has a greening initiative you’d like to showcase, please don’t hesitate to email the team at Hammersmith BID.