Facilities
More information on the facilities available to you while working at Walter Bower House.
IT help point
The IT help point provides in-person support to staff. You’ll find the help point on the ground floor in the IT Services area, through the door to the right of reception. The service is open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm.
Contemplation room
There is a room on the ground floor available for activities that need quiet time away from work. This could include prayer, meditation, breastfeeding, expressing, emotional time-outs or just general quiet contemplation. You can also use the room for first aid or recovery.
The room is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please treat the space and others who need it with respect. It is not for work activities, phone calls or eating.
Food and drink
Tindal’s Café offers a selection of hot and cold meals, snacks and barista coffee. It is open from 8am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. It also features a free Brita Vivreau chilled still and sparkling water dispenser. The café is cashless and accepts card payments only.
The six tea prep areas and staff room have Zip HydroTaps which providee boiling and chilled water at the push of a button. The hot water is very hot, please be careful. Free milk, tea and coffee are also available in the staff room and tea prep areas.
The staff room is the place to prepare and eat your own home-prepared food. This room has microwaves, fridges, a dishwasher and plenty of space to eat and take a break from your work. For the benefit of your colleagues, please don’t eat food in the working areas.
The fridges are available for day use but are not designed for long-term food storage. They will be regularly emptied to keep them clean and efficient.
Gym
Open from 6.30am to 9.45pm, Monday to Friday, the gym is available for WBH staff with a full Saints Sport membership or Walter Bower House gym membership. Find out more about membership options on the Saints Sport website.
The gym has a selection of both cardiovascular and strength equipment, including:
- treadmills
- elliptical cross trainer
- running machine
- rowing machine
- indoor bikes
- multigym training station
- Smith machine
- workout benches
- dumbbells and stretch mats
For more detailed information about how to use the WBH gym safely and effectively, please check the terms and conditions you signed up to when you became a member of Saints Sport.
Library
The library on the ground floor of WBH holds print and audio-visual materials mainly from our research collections. Our teaching collections remain largely located in libraries in town.
You are welcome to browse and borrow the collections and use the small reading room, which has self-issue and printing facilities.
In the reading room there will be regular displays covering areas we hope will interest staff based at Walter Bower House. We are planning to make displays of fiction around different themes available for staff to borrow from. Please email [email protected] with further suggestions for displays in this area.
For a list of opening times and facilities, visit the library webpage.
Search the Library to find out more about our diverse and broad collection, including books on subjects such as human resources, business, management and finance, and you can also access our scanning service, which allows you to request an extract of material to be scanned and emailed directly to you, if copyright limitations allow.
Mail, deliveries and courier collections
The central mailroom delivers to WBH every weekday.
The WBH mailroom has lockers for each unit. In these you will find a mail bag or bags used to collect each unit’s incoming mail daily. These bags are also used for outgoing mail.
Individual units can decide how to use the mailroom to suit their own operational needs, for example, when to drop off and pick up mail each day and which staff members are responsible for this task.
Deliveries by courier can be signed for by WBH reception staff, who will contact the recipient for collection from reception as soon as possible.
If you are sending an item by courier, please leave your package with WBH reception, along with any required paperwork as soon as the booking is made as couriers will come to reception.
Rubbish, recycling and confidential waste
There are three bins at each tea prep area:
- dry mixed recycling for newspapers, magazines, cardboard, cartons, plastic bottles, cans, tins
- food waste
- general non-recyclable waste
There is also general paper recycling and confidential paper collection available at the print hubs.
Glass can be recycled at the main Guardbridge recycling point across the road from WBH.
Toilets, showers, changing rooms and drying room
There are 34 single cubicle toilets in the building. All cubicles are gender neutral and have their own sink and hand dryer.
There are five showers, two in the male changing area, two in the female changing area and one gender-neutral, accessible shower.
Lockers are available for you to use during the day or while working out. They are designed for temporary day use only. They will be emptied at the end of each day and any items removed will be kept at reception.
There is also a drying room on the ground floor to store and dry wet clothes.
Stationery
Staff can use the supply of stationery held in the cupboard behind reception. If you require a specific item, speak to reception staff, who may be able to order this for you.
Report a fault
Contact reception by email or in-person if you discover any fault with the facilities, such as a leaky tap or door issue.
Lost property
If you lose an item, please check with WBH reception in the first instance to find out if it has been handed in.
If your item is not at reception, please refer to the lost property webpage.