On July 23, 2024, the Murator Plus portal published an article answering the question “How does a modern office affect work efficiency?” The latest publication presents the PLGBC report “Healthy Green Offices”, which, thanks to cooperation with Horizone Studio, sheds light on the most important aspects of workspace design.
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A well-designed workspace increases employee efficiency
The office is a place that can significantly affect our creativity and well-being. The “Healthy Green Offices” report provides data confirming this thesis, indicating specific design elements that are crucial for employee efficiency and satisfaction. This is particularly important when a company gives up home-office and encourages a permanent return to offices.
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Sustainable office in the service of efficiency
The diverse needs of employees include a number of factors. The PLGBC report “Healthy Green Offices” created in cooperation with architects from Horizone Studio, indicates seven most important issues: air quality, thermal comfort, lighting, acoustics, office layout, access to nature and location. According to the authors of the study, these are the areas that should become key for investors, designers and finally employers renting office space. Why?
An improperly designed space significantly reduces work efficiency, which in the long run may translate into a decrease in the efficiency of the entire company.
For example, according to the research cited in the report, noise exceeding 45 decibels reduces employee productivity by as much as 66 percent, while disruption of the parameters that make up thermal conditions may result in a decrease in their productivity from several to a dozen or so percent. In turn, too high a concentration of suspended dust in the air translates into a 10% decrease in the efficiency of white-collar workers.
However, poorly functional and old-fashioned offices are becoming a thing of the past, and with the development of the “work-life balance” idea, employers are trying to adapt spaces so that they are as user-friendly as possible.
More and more institutions, organizations, companies and international corporations are recognizing the social, environmental and financial benefits of sustainable design of workspaces. Such offices are also a showcase for responsible and innovative organizations, often constituting a competitive advantage in the process of recruiting employees or searching for talent on the labor market – says architect Bartłomiej Kisielewski, Partner at the Horizone Studio architectural studio.
We value privacy
According to the “Healthy Green Offices” report, employees are generally satisfied with the appearance and functionality of the offices in which they work, but their point of view depends to a large extent on the characteristics of a given space. Thus, in the “private rooms” of people who were satisfied or neutral about their workplace, there were as many as 97 percent. The percentage of respondents placed in “open space” spaces with partitions and in shared rooms was comparable. The worst in this respect was typical “open space” without partitions – there the percentage of dissatisfied people was 20%. It is also worth noting that despite the current trend of arranging space facilitating strong cooperation, 85% of respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with the presence of a private room.
As for the shortcomings indicated by employees, they primarily lack rooms for individual work requiring concentration, as well as space intended for meetings in smaller groups. In addition, there is a need to increase the number of rooms for telephone conversations or telephone booths, because both people who are disturbed by other people’s conversations and people calling report such comments. This is particularly important in open space offices and with a mixed layout of space. Above all, in offices we value privacy or at least the possibility of having it at certain moments of work – says architect Bartłomiej Kisielewski.
Similarity to nature
The specificity and appearance of offices should not only reflect the company’s brand, but also have a positive impact on the well-being of employees. One of the design solutions that comes to mind is to provide an appropriate number of plants in the office, access to natural light, and consequently – a view of nature.
The results of the PLGBC survey included in the aforementioned report indicate, for example, that over 50% of respondents are not satisfied with the number of plants in their office environment. This has a direct impact on users, primarily on their productivity and creativity. This is indicated, among others, by a study by 4Nature System in cooperation with PLGBC and the Silesian University of Technology, conducted at the turn of 2018 and 2019 in 10 large companies (e.g. IKEA Retail, WSP Poland, Keller Williams Poland, or JLL).
The results showed that after 12 weeks from the introduction of mobile plant walls to offices, the percentage of positive assessments of these offices increased from 52% to 77%. The subjective assessment of their health condition, the level of fatigue and a significant improvement in concentration were also better.
Modernity instead of monotony
Access to nature is not everything, however, the diversity of space is also an important aspect. The PLGBC report indicates that 31% respondents consider their offices too monotonous. However, the answers given by users of new buildings – constructed after 2007 – differed significantly from the answers given by people working in older buildings.
Comparing them, it can be observed that in new buildings 61% of employees believe that they have access to a diverse work space. In turn, looking at the issue through the prism of building certification, it can be noticed that as many as 66% of users of green buildings believe that their surroundings provide a diverse work space.
Modern offices are designed with the diverse needs of users in mind, combining functionality with aesthetics and comfort. Key aspects such as access to natural light, high-quality ventilation, acoustic and thermal comfort and the presence of greenery significantly improve employee well-being and productivity. In addition, modern offices often offer flexible spaces that can be easily adapted to the changing requirements of the team. Thanks to the integration of advanced technologies and the principles of sustainable development, modern offices become places that support both the individual development of employees and the achievement of business goals – says architect Bartłomiej Kisielewski.
