At InterClimate Network’s National Summit in Portcullis House in 2018 we (Phoebe, Nicole, Nathalie, and myself) won the Leadership Prize for our work to raise awareness of environmental issues in Badminton School where we were sixth-form students at the time.

We were very grateful that the prize was a tour around an award winning sustainable building in London. Last week Helen Dewhurst, Corporate Sustainability Associate in Bloomberg New Energy Finance (and a volunteer for ICN) gave us a tour of Bloomberg’s London office. Helen took her time to show us the many innovative and sustainable features of the building, such as green walls and a large spiral staircase in the middle of the building that funnels hot air up through the building before it escapes through the roof.

The building achieved a 98.5% score against the BREEAM sustainability assessment method, which is the highest score ever achieved by any major office building. The ceilings are made from aluminium ‘petals’, acting as light diffusers, air conditioning units and sound absorption.  

We were also fascinated to learn about Helen’s role in Bloomberg; as all of us are studying Geography at University it was really helpful to learn more about a possible career path. Our minds were blown by how many sustainable details had been thought of, and we were thrilled to visit a Bloomberg office, especially Bloomberg’s European headquarters. 

We would like to thank InterClimate Network, especially Michila Critchley, for facilitating this amazing evening.