Perkins+Will | Year: July 2017 | Location: Berkeley, CA

Chou Hall is a completely student-focused building on the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business campus without any offices—only spaces for instruction and collaboration. Designed for (and recipients of) both LEED Platinum and WELL Silver certifications, Chou Hall has also received a TRUE Zero Waste Platinum certification, further demonstrating the school’s commitment to promoting both environmental and human health. 

The project team used the WELL framework to engage key stakeholders and develop a plan to promote health at the new business school building. By convening a diverse set of stakeholders, the project was able to leverage Berkeley’s University Health Services and the School of Business’s Haas Wellness Culture Assessment to inform the design and development of Chou Hall. This included aligning with the Haas Wellness Culture Assessment. 

Upstream planning also allowed the team to achieve synergies across the LEED and WELL frameworks concerning strategies focused on healthy indoor environments. Across all of their buildings, the Haas School of Business prioritizes superior lighting and daylighting, high-performance HVAC design and biophilic design. Moving forward, Chou Hall will use a variety of metrics to ensure the building is performing at a high level, including water quality, air quality and data gathered from robust annual occupancy surveys as part of their Wellness Culture Assessment.