What’s the benefit? The Royal Pharmaceutical Society was in a tricky situation. Since splitting from the General Pharmaceutical Council in 2010, RPS was facing financial hurdles because of the substantial sums it was spending on its old headquarters in Lambeth (a district in central London), as well as on new product development and staff hiring and professional development. So, to remedy its woes, and bring new tangible and aesthetic benefits to members, the society has moved to a new headquarters in East London. The new building features a cafe, a library, a museum on the history of pharmaceutical science and medicine, a conference suite, an event space, universal WiFi access, solar panels, and more.

Why it works for members: For an overview of how RPS expects the new headquarters to serve its members, let’s hear from President Ash Soni, who sung the HQ’s praises in a blog post. “Our new permanent home is an excellent location to serve our members and enables the RPS to continue to represent and support the profession at the highest level. It’s a fantastic building which I sincerely hope will play a key role in drawing our membership community together, as well as integrating this community with our new neighbors—the community of Tower Hamlets.” Plus, members and staff will certainly be excited to be working at a permanent location, having been in temporary offices in London.

Other perks: Beyond the benefits within the new headquarters, RPS is also pleased by the monetary benefits the move has prompted. Treasurer and Chair of the Relocation Board Sultan Dajani announced that the move “brings a substantial saving of £500,000 a year in running costs for the RPS,” and that figure, combined with other steps the society has taken, leads to a sum of more than $1.57m in net capital that RPS says will be reinvested in its members.