Fujifilm has officially opened ‘Fujifilm House’, its new UK headquarters in Bedford, which boasts more than 30,000 square feet of working space.
In designing the new building, Fujifilm worked with the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, one of its corporate charity partners, to keep the environment around its UK HQ site as habitable as possible for plants, wildlife and animals.
For example, the trust advised on biodiverse landscaping, implementing flowers and plants to maintain habitats for creatures that live on-site, as well as encouraging more wildlife to the surroundings.
Additionally, by installing permeable slabs in the Fujifilm House car park, Fujifilm is able to nurture worms residing in the ground, prevent flooding and help maintain the water table. The company is in the process of adding bird feeders and bat boxes around the outside of the site, as well as installing bee hotels around the car park, which will provide a nesting space and shelter to bees and mini beasts.
The site’s 80 rooftop solar panels are able to generate up to 63,000 kW of electricity each year, saving an impressive 29 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. On a sunny day, the company claims they collectively generate enough electricity to sustain the whole building without needing to draw energy from the grid.
Meanwhile, the site’s interior is fitted out with intelligent LED lights, which are triggered by motion sensors, turning on when they detect movement and remaining off when rooms are empty.
The temperature in the main areas of the building – all inside areas except offices and meeting rooms – is maintained with a centrally controlled comfort cooling system, which is turned off overnight. To accommodate Fujifilm’s evolving company fleet, as well as anticipating the shift away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles, the car park at Fujifilm House has 16 charging points for colleagues and visitors to use, and there is capacity to provide double this number in the future as demand grows.
The toilets are flushed with water obtained by a rainwater collection and storage system, and toilet paper is made from completely recycled material. The toilet roll dispensers are made from recycled Tetra Pak packaging.
Andy Kent, divisional manager at Fujifilm, said, ‘It’s important for us all – at an individual and corporate level – to take steps to protect the planet. Our new UK headquarters further demonstrates Fujifilm’s commitment to sustainability across our business, and we look forward to developing our approach and innovating for a sustainable future from Fujifilm House.’