The Government Workplace Design Guide

The Government Workplace Design Guide is one of a suite of guidance documents and standards setting out the aspirations for our workspaces; what they look like and the experience we want our people to have. The guidance and standards are mandatory for central government organisations with property responsibilities. Other public sector organisations might find it useful for assessing themselves against the same guidelines.

The Workplace Guide is intended for use by anyone involved in commissioning, planning, designing and managing new or major redevelopments of government office estate. It is to be used in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architect’s Plan of Work 2020 and Government Property Agency (GPA) or departmental process plans at each project stage to communicate aspirations, design approach and standards.

The Workplace Guide supports the Government Functional Standard for Property, Govs 004: Property.

Annexes

The Architectural Annex supports the Design Guide by addressing building envelope and form, vertical transportation, finishes and fit-out, acoustics and structure.

The Net Zero and Sustainability Annex is a supporting document for the guide, and its requirements largely aligns with the UK Green Building Council Net Zero Buildings Framework to identify the steps and processes that new and refurbishment projects should undertake to deliver a Net Zero building. The annex takes a standardised approach whereby the targets and guidelines must be adopted by the whole portfolio of buildings within the government office estate and not only a single building.

The Historic Building Annex outlines the approach for handling our heritage assets; recognising the need to preserve our past, whilst developing a use for modern day requirements. This has been developed with consultation from Historic England.

Feedback

Feedback is welcome from all interested parties, including government suppliers or contractors, professional organisations, or wider public sector bodies. Comments may be sent by email to designguide@gpa.gov.uk.