Sustainability & Wellbeing At The Heart of Jungheinrich’s New Milton Keynes Office

The transformation of Jungheinrich UK’s Milton Keynes HQ is complete and, consistent with the company’s ‘Environmentality’ approach to its materials handling equipment, it’s a building designed with productivity, wellbeing and sustainability at its core. In fact, the company is so proud of the finished result that it’s targeting awards recognition. 

Sherbourne House, the Milton Keynes head office of materials handling and intralogistics specialist Jungheinrich UK, was a place of low ceilings and dark spaces. Natural light was in short supply. It wasn’t an environment that supported productivity, wellbeing or sustainability.

Now, following almost three years of work, it is. And the facility has opened its doors. 

Built for excellence in sustainability

Constructed to the same 3,500 square metre footprint of the original building (and reusing its concrete base slab and steel frame structure), the new HQ incorporates a wealth of technology and tools to drive sustainability:

·       A 267kWp (at maximum power) solar array will produce 253,000 kw hours of energy pa. This should enable the site to run grid-free from April to September and will save 59t CO2e per year. That’s the carbon equivalent of driving 440,099 miles in an average car or boiling 668,884 kettles.

·       A 50,000l rainwater harvesting tank means the only mains water needed on site is for drinking and washing.

·       In addition to boosting wellbeing, a first floor lightwell created as part of the renovation, together with new skylights and windows on three sides of the building, is saving electricity by reducing the need for lighting.

·       Sensors not only turn off lights in areas of the building not in use; they also link with the aircon system, enabling localised zone control that ensures each area of the building only gets the heating/cooling it needs. 

Gareth Clarke, Head of Safety, Health, Environment and Quality at Jungheinrich UK said: 

“We have transformed the old, inefficient building into something that can support our journey towards net-zero.” 

A better place to work

In addition to supporting the sustainability of the business, Jungheinrich wants the new office to better support its people too.

Gareth said: “A well designed building brings us closer together. It makes us more collaborative. And it creates an environment that’s better able to support individuals, maximise efficiency and deliver what the business needs. Whether our colleagues need a workstation for their core activities, a place to focus and concentrate, somewhere to hold face-to-face or virtual meetings, or somewhere to take a phone call or a break, there’s something for everyone.”

Award-worthy innovation

Proud of the sustainability statement the new head office makes, Jungheinrich has put the building at the core of its submission for the UKWA Award for Excellence in Sustainability. 

Yet for Gareth, awards are far from the main driver of change.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the impact it has on our colleagues. It’s going to be a good place to work and a head office that reflects Jungheinrich as a business. I think it’s a powerful statement.”

Ends

Editors notes

 About Jungheinrich

As one of the world’s leading providers of intralogistics solutions, Jungheinrich has been advancing the development of innovative and sustainable products and solutions for material flows for 70 years. As a pioneer in the sector, the Hamburg-based family business is committed to creating the warehouse of the future. In 2022, Jungheinrich and its workforce of about 20,000 employees generated revenue of 4.76 billion euros. The global network comprises 11 production sites and service and sales companies in 42 countries, including at Jungheinrich UK’s HQ in Milton Keynes.

You can find information about the processing of your personal data by Jungheinrich UK here.