Sydney University and the University of Technology, Sydney produced the Building Occupant Satisfaction Survey Australia (BOSSA) which measured 60 Australian buildings’ overall performance from the occupants’ perspective. The benchmarking survey asked employees to rate their satisfaction in terms of the building’s air quality, comfort, noise, temperature, connection to the outdoors, and its effect on their health and productivity.

National Australia Bank (NAB) Docklands topped five of the nine categories and ranked highest on all four indices that score buildings, placing NAB as the best workplace out of all the top-tier buildings surveyed. In particular, the survey revealed that NAB’s new work environment has led to a 17 percent increase in staff satisfaction and 11 per cent increase in staff productivity.

“As we reach the second anniversary of opening the building, it’s a great time to recognise how an innovative design and our commitment to flexible and agile working, has built a better workplace for our people and the environment,” says Michaela Healey, Group Executive People, Communications and Governance, NAB.

The workplace design was the result of a collaborative alliance between NAB, Cbus Property (developer), Woods Bagot (designer) and Brookfield Multiplex (builder).

“Woods Bagot’s approach to understanding the complex parameters of design, whether urban, architectural, behavioural or spatial elements, forces us to continually test and reassess the quality of our work and ensure that we design for how a space will be used over time,” says Nik Karalis, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Woods Bagot. “NAB’s ranking in the survey confirms that our performance based design and user experience approach has a tangible and quantifiable impact to those experiencing the environments we create.”

BOSSA has been running for five years and is an accredited part of the NABERS and Green Star ratings schemes used by building occupants and owners to comply with and benchmark against the system.