Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee

Chattanooga, Tennessee

When BCBSTN decided to unify operations within a single headquarters, the company seized the opportunity to design a healthier work environment for its 4,500 employees. A key design theme centers on the organization’s belief that physical and visual access to nature play a role in overall wellbeing. Located on 12 acres overlooking downtown Chattanooga, the campus’s five buildings radiate around a central plaza, which is also the starting point for a series of outdoor running and walking paths. A spine of skybridges provides easy movement between buildings.

Each building contains features specifically designed to promote health and wellness. On site common amenities include a fitness center, garden spaces, outdoor cafes and walking/running paths, providing numerous opportunities for employees to incorporate physical activity, healthy eating and contact with nature into their daily routine. Open-plan offices feature ‘encounter spaces,’ where employees meet, socialize and share.

BCBSTN tracked health metrics over the building’s first three years of operation. The percentage of employees achieving the recommended amount of moderate exercise each week increased by 50%. The headquarters was the second largest LEED Gold corporate project in the country when certified and provides an early model for workplace design positively impacting human health and wellness and the environment