In terms of interior design, often the most mundane buildings are traditional office spaces. Functionality has a habit of taking precedence over livability and these buildings too often fall into the trap of becoming dull, lifeless and highly unsustainable spaces.
For a space that adults will spend a majority of their waking hours in, this traditional design plan is no longer acceptable, with modern workforces turning traditional office design on its head and reaping the rewards.
Examples of more extreme office updates include Google’s Googleplexes, which boast anything and everything from gyms, spas and laundry rooms to pool tables, volleyball courts and 18 complimentary cafeterias.
While these features may seem outlandish and progressive to say the least, they do include one element that is finding its way into even the most traditional of work spaces, brining with it remarkable results.
Greenery.
Green walls, interior gardens and the incorporation of plant life into the office realm is changing the way that workers feel about their working environments and boosting productivity levels.
In a study undertaken by the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University, researcher Virginia Lohr and her colleagues discovered that when plants were added to a computer orientated working environment tasks were completed more productively and stress levels were reduced.
Productivity levels increased by 12% with blood pressure readings revealing that the systolic blood pressure of study participants surrounded by plants whilst undertaking workplace tasks dropped by up to four points.
Further studies undertaken in the Netherlands, ‘the effect of healthy workplaces on the well-being and productivity of office workers’ by John Bergs, show that in addition to a productivity increase and stress reduction overall concentration improved in candidates that were working in a green environment.
Adding plants into a hectic and high pressure environment not only offer to offset a level of carbon output, which is generally raised in outdated, inefficient office buildings, but it can actually boost overall productivity.
In terms of office retrofits, adding a touch of greenery – whether it be by increasing potted plant presence or including interior garden atriums – is one of the simplest and most cost effective paths to go down.
With the overwhelming amount of positives associated with the green additions, it only seems like good business sense to make the conversion to a plant-filled work environment.
