Can an office Farm help you achieve WELL certification?

Amanda Pollard

Sep 7

6 min read

Healthy workplace considerations usually focus on air quality, natural light, comfortable temperatures or spaces that encourage people to move. But health at work can also be influenced by what we eat, our access to nature and the everyday behaviours our surroundings encourage. These areas are where workplace farming can play a significant role.

In our new Greener Workplaces whitepaper, in collaboration with MEP and sustainability consultancy CPW, we explore how urban farming can align with features of the WELL Building Standard and contribute to workplaces that support both people and the planet.

So, could an office Farm help support your WELL certification journey? The answer is yes, in more ways than you might expect.

What is the WELL Building Standard?

The WELL Building Standard is an assessment methodology designed to help organisations create spaces that enhance human health and wellbeing.

Developed by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), WELL v2 covers ten concepts:

Air
Water
Nourishment
Light
Movement
Thermal Comfort
Sound
Materials
Mind
Community

Projects are assessed against features within these concepts to see how much they contribute towards an overall WELL rating.

For our Greener Workplaces whitepaper, two WELL Accredited Professionals from CPW's sustainability team assessed how the Square Mile Farms offering aligns with the WELL Building Standard and its potential to support a building's WELL certification journey.

Their assessment identified several areas of alignment, particularly around nourishment and access to nature.

How can an office Farm support WELL?

An office Farm brings food production directly into a building, giving employees access to living edible plants and creating opportunities to harvest produce, learn about food and nutrition, interact with nature and eat together.

The whitepaper explores how these activities relate to a number of WELL features, including:

N01 Fruits & Vegetables
N04 Food Advertising
N07 Nutrition Education
N08 Mindful Eating
N11 Responsible Food Sourcing
N12 Food Production
N13 Local Food Environment
M02 Nature & Place
M09 Enhanced Access to Nature

Here's what some of these can look like in practice.

1. Making fresh fruit and vegetables part of the workplace

The WELL Nourishment concept considers the food environment within a building and how it can encourage healthier food choices.

N01: Fruits & Vegetables focuses on the provision and promotion of fruit and vegetables where food is sold or provided daily. An office Farm can make fresh produce a visible part of everyday workplace life. Instead of vegetables arriving unseen through the catering supply chain, employees can see leafy greens and herbs growing just metres from where they work and eat.

At one central London building, for example, Square Mile Farms has helped create significant food production on-site. A high-capacity basement Farm produces a constant rotation of crops for the building's chefs, while Farmwalls within the restaurant allow employees to interact with the produce. A rooftop allotment provides additional crops as well as a space for a weekly gardening club. The building went on to attain one of the highest ever WELL scores.

2. Improving food literacy

Understanding what we're eating and where it comes from is important, and that's where N07: Nutrition Education comes in. Our Urban Farmers and events team help to create activities that encourage people to engage with fresh food. These include live cooking demonstrations, pesto-making workshops, herbal tea blending sessions and classes teaching people how to keep supermarket herbs alive and create their own herb gardens.

Employees can harvest an ingredient, prepare it and learn about how it was grown, which offers a tangible connection between food, nutrition and health.

3. Encouraging more mindful eating

WELL's N08: Mindful Eating feature considers the provision of dedicated eating spaces and opportunities for people to step away from their workstations at mealtimes. While an office Farm itself doesn’t fulfill the requirements of this feature, Farms can be incorporated into dedicated eating areas, introducing biophilic design and creating conversations around food and healthy eating.

One of our clients has taken this further. Employees regularly harvest seasonal produce from their Farm and use it to prepare nutritious dishes for a shared picnic. The activity encourages them to step away from their desks, appreciate where their food has come from and eat together. It's an example of how something as simple as growing food can become part of the social life of a workplace.

4. Bringing responsible food sourcing much closer to home

How local can local food get? For one Square Mile Farms client, the answer is a matter of metres. Rather than buying basil through an external supplier, the organisation grows the basil required by its catering operation on-site. The herbs are harvested close to the kitchen and even feature in the client's signature house pesto, made using basil grown inside the building.

It's an example of hyperlocal food production that makes sourcing visible while reducing food miles and providing chefs with fresh ingredients.

5. Producing food in previously underused space

WELL's N12: Food Production feature considers the provision of space, infrastructure and tools for producing food on-site. This opens up the question of whether parts of our buildings could become productive rather than simply functional.

At one Square Mile Farms client site, a basement Farm occupies just 134 square metres. Yet the quantity of leafy greens, herbs and edible crops it produces would require approximately 1.5 acres of conventional farmland to grow. Produce travels upstairs to the restaurant rather than through a conventional supply chain, making use of an otherwise underused urban space while providing chefs with ingredients that can be harvested moments before they're used.

6. Connecting the workplace with the wider community

Workplace-grown food doesn't necessarily have to stay within the workplace. N13: Local Food Environment considers the wider area around a building. Square Mile Farms coordinates the distribution of produce from some client buildings to local charities and community organisations. In 2025 alone, we distributed more than 10,000 portions of fresh produce to charity and community groups.

This creates an opportunity for workplace food production to contribute beyond the building itself and connect an organisation's workplace and sustainability strategies with its local community.

7. Bringing people closer to nature

The potential WELL benefits of workplace farming extend beyond food. M02: Nature & Place and M09: Enhanced Access to Nature highlight how nature and biophilic design can be incorporated into buildings. Research referenced in the Greener Workplaces whitepaper associates exposure to natural design elements with reduced depression and anxiety, improved attentional capacity and better recovery from job stress.

But an edible Farm creates a different relationship with nature from conventional workplace planting. People can touch, smell, harvest and eat the plants.

At one Square Mile Farms client, food production has been woven throughout the workplace. Edible flowers replace traditional imported cut flowers in reception, chilli plants grow in stairwells, leafy greens are available in micro-kitchens on every floor and employees can spend time growing food in a rooftop allotment. Nature is part of employees’ everyday routines rather than something confined to a decorative planter.

Does installing an office Farm automatically earn WELL points?

Although WELL certification considers a building or organisation across a broad range of requirements, the CPW assessment demonstrates that workplace farming has relevance across many WELL categories.

Some Square Mile Farms activities can directly assist with particular WELL features, while in other areas a Farm may complement a wider workplace strategy rather than satisfy the feature itself. Every project is different, which is why anyone considering WELL certification should work with a WELL Accredited Professional to understand the requirements that apply to their building.

Creating workplaces where people and nature can thrive

As workplaces change, we’re expecting more of our buildings. Where previously offices were simply required to enable people to work, we now expect them to help employees live well.

Workplace food production is a practical way to address that question. It gives people access to fresh produce, opportunities to learn about food, experiences that bring them together and a connection with nature. And, as Greener Workplaces demonstrates, these benefits can also complement recognised frameworks for creating healthier buildings.

Want to explore the evidence in more detail?

Download Greener Workplaces, our whitepaper created with CPW, to discover how workplace farming aligns with features of the WELL Building Standard and explore real examples of these principles being put into practice.