Office design; From the ailing office to the growing office

Beyond health, wellness and productivity... personal and business growth in the office.

"Thanks to its plasticity, the brain becomes what we get used to: if we get angry all the time, the corresponding neural networks will be reinforced in the mind. If we cultivate altruism and emotional balance, the corresponding brain networks will be reinforced".

Matthieu Ricard, PhD in Molecular Biology from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Buddhist monk in a monastery in Nepal, translator of the Dalai Lama and recognised as "the happiest man in the world" following a study carried out by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sick Building Syndrome is "situations in which building occupants experience health effects and discomfort that appear to be related to the time spent inside the building and that disappear when they leave the building".

Symptoms that characterise ESS include "headache; eye, nose and throat irritation; dry cough; dry skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odours".

The emergence of Sick Building Syndrome has long been linked to the reduction of ventilation in buildings, driven by the desire in office design to increase energy efficiency in the 1970s and 1980s but this year we can dramatically expand the repertoire of the harms caused, not by a sick building, but by an unhealthy one, to workers and, conversely, the immense benefits that an informal, networked and dynamic office provides to employees and to the company. Let us recall, once again, that the first surveys since the pandemic began indicate that 70% of workers prefer a mixed office-home system for work.

If we agree that "the inner path, or happiness, is based on three pillars: a spiritual practice, whatever it may be; friends of the good and generosity" (Alexandre Jollien, philosopher) we will also agree that our offices can become the ideal place to develop these habits and become a variant of home, which is why the role of office design is so important. This also allows us to understand the modern company and its growth based on continuous self-reflection, partnerships with other companies and a caring treatment of employees, customers, society, the environment and the disadvantaged that must be reflected in office design.

It is the case that a growing body of evidence indicates a link between productivity and employee wellbeing and that discomfort substantially increases the likelihood of negative business outcomes, which can be observed in the form of direct health-related costs, as well as deterioration in business performance. There is a statistically significant relationship between successful health and productivity programmes advocated by HR and business profitability, understood as: better business outcomes, lower medical expenses, improved task effectiveness, and reductions in lost time.

Finally, supporting this evidence, Jan Karel Mak, CEO of Deerns says: "A sustainable building must be energy efficient, however, a building that improves productivity offers much greater savings. Twenty years ago we had tenants, now we have customers. In twenty years, we will have guests.