The Cavernton Scale
The Cavernton Scale runs from the lowest to the highest state of interior quality, each level has clear symptoms and typical actions.
Morbid State, air and moisture conditions that contribute to illness and co morbidities, odour or irritation is often present, urgent triage and source control are required.
Compromised Balance, frequent spikes in particulates or VOCs, damp risk is plausible, basic routines or materials choices are working against the space, targeted fixes can arrest decline.
Ordinary Interior, acceptable on paper, often uncomfortable in use, looks fine yet produces fatigue, complaints or churn, good ground for measurable improvement.
Cultivated Wellness, sources controlled, airflow balanced, materials and routines chosen with care, conditions hold steady across seasons, the space feels restorative and marketable.
Natural Equilibrium, the indoor equivalent of post rain air, clean, calm and lightly energising, verified by measurement and lived experience, designed in on projects, maintained in operation.
A single, rigorous way to see how healthy a space truly is, then raise that standard with confidence. The Scale is the world’s first framework that evaluates interiors purely from a Return On Wellness (ROW) standpoint, then links those gains to Return on Investment.
Two properties can share the same budget and look identical at handover, yet diverge sharply in health and value. Conventional schemes audit paperwork and features, they rarely capture what people actually breathe and feel. The Scale was created to correct that, to measure the real interior environment and the wellness it produces, then guide change that compounds over time.
The method originated from decades of fieldwork in the Nordics and Germany, where building standards and expectations are exacting, compared to the UK and most parts of the world. That experience, combined with UK on the ground work since 2020, shaped a measurement and improvement framework that attends to the whole interior environment, not just the visible surfaces.
Return on Wellness, as defined by the Cavernton Scale
ROW is the compounding benefit created when a space actively supports human resilience and clarity. It shows up as fewer complaints, steadier occupancy, stronger reviews, lower maintenance and staff stability in managed settings. Cavernton pioneered ROW as an explicit measure, and the Scale is how we quantify it and manage it over time.
ROW is not separate from ROI, it is the same line with a better gradient. When interiors move up the Scale, income improves, avoidable costs drop, risk softens, and investors capitalise that stability into higher values.
Why this framework is unique
The Scale evaluates the total interior environment, then manages it dynamically, it is not a static checklist. It is also the only framework built expressly to measure Return on Wellness and to use that measure to steer design, procurement and daily operations. No other consultancy focuses solely on interior environment quality with this commercial and human clarity.
We do not certify for points, we prevent hidden failures and verify lived conditions, which is why our clients see faster financial effects at a fraction of certification cost or complexity.