Could 'healing offices' be the holy grail of workspace design?

From the purely functional and often drab to the imaginative, attractive and airy, the world of office design is undergoing a period of profound change. Bosses are increasingly switching onto the benefits of providing appealing and stimulating environments for their personnel. By being more responsive to the needs and preferences of their workers in this way, organisations hope to achieve a range of goals, from enhancing morale to reducing sickness absence and boosting productivity. One of the latest and arguably most interesting ideas is to create so-called ‘healing offices’. So, what exactly is this concept - and could it really be the holy grail of workspace design? Healing offices explained The company at the forefront of this trend is Dutch design studio D/DOCK. Its Healing Office® concept draws on research data and theories of environmental psychology in a bid to encourage positive behavioural changes, enhance mood and improve the lifestyle of personnel. The idea centres on a total of 10 indicators, including daylight, indoor climate, physical activity, nature, connectedness, autonomy, control and healthy food. According to D/DOCK, its approach could reduce rates of sickness absence by up to 30 per cent, increase productivity by as much as 20 per cent and even raise workers’ life expectancies by up to a decade. The design company also suggests that it could lower organisational costs. From concept to reality Putting its ideas into practice, D/DOCK has created the interior of The Edge in the Zuidas or ‘Financial Mile’ district of Amsterdam. The innovative tower, which recently won an Urban Land Institute Global Award for Excellence for its environmentally sustainable approach to design, is used by a number of companies and it has a very distinctive look and feel. Described by Bloomberg as “quite possibly the smartest office space ever constructed”, it is packed with more than 20,000 sensors and over 15 smart systems to optimise everything from cleaning to lighting and heating. Characterised by its soaring glass panelled walls and spacious, light-filled atrium, it is an homage to responsive technology. Individual offices light up when people enter and mobile phone apps automatically adjust temperature and brightness. Workers don’t have to worry about their phones running out of power either; these devices charge wirelessly when they are placed on desks. A hot-desking system means individuals don’t have designated workspaces. Instead, an app finds them a suitable place to go based on their personal schedules. This could be a regular sitting desk, standing desk, meeting room, work booth, balcony seat or an area in an enclosed room designed to optimise concentration. With only 1,000 desks for the 2,500 people based in The Edge, the idea is that conventional workspaces are only used when they are actually needed. From large, open meeting areas to tiny rooms featuring just a lamp and lounge chair, there are a host of other environments for people to utilise. The attention to detail in this cutting-edge office is staggering. A good example of D/DOCK’s meticulous approach is the mesh panels that have been installed between each of the floors to allow stale air to filter into the central open space, where it rises and escapes through the roof. The process creates a natural ventilation loop and helps to give the impression of being in the outdoors. Meanwhile, every work area in the tower is within seven metres of a window to maximise the natural light that people are exposed to. The building also contains games rooms, large flatscreens that can be synced with any laptop or phone and coffee bars with machines that remember how individuals like their hot drinks. There’s an on-site gym too, and an app that automatically tracks people’s workout progress. What do users think? The main tenant of The Edge is Deloitte. Speaking to the Guardian about its employees’ experiences in the tower, senior manager at the consultancy firm Harry Vlaardingerbroek said that unlike in offices previously used by the company, the new environment brings people together. He remarked: “Now no one has their own desk and we have open floors so you can work with colleagues with better comfort and climate.” Deloitte also suggested that worker absenteeism has declined since the firm moved to the new office. How to create your own healing office OK, so having access to multiple smart systems, tens of thousands of sensors and vast light-filled spaces might be a little on the ambitious side for a regular business, but if you’re keen to embrace the general concept of a healing office, there are simpler, smaller-scale and less expensive design ideas that you can employ. For example, perhaps you’d benefit from investing in some individual desk lamps to complement your overhead lighting. This will ensure that your employees have greater control over brightness levels at their workstations. You might also want to consider dividing your office up into different zones that are suitable for group meetings, informal discussions and individual work. Creating defined spaces like this and encouraging people to move between them will give your workers greater flexibility. If you have the space, it’s worth considering creating an on-site gym too. Even if it’s relatively small, this could encourage your employees to keep fit. Simple touches, like providing bowls of fresh fruit for your staff to eat, can bolster your office’s health credentials too. Also, bear in mind that workplace essentials such as office desks and chairs should be high-quality and provide maximum comfort. By making sure that workstations are spacious enough to comfortably accommodate computers, phones and stationery, and by ensuring that seating offers proper support, you will help to minimise the risk of your personnel developing back and neck problems at their desks. Whether or not you believe healing offices are the holy grail of workplace design, you could find you benefit from taking on board at least some of the ideas associated with this concept. As well as potentially making the working day more pleasant for your employees, these design touches could raise productivity and therefore boost your bottom line.

March 15, 2017 | View: 400 | Categories: ROOT