How office space impacts employee well being?
Posted by Max House on December 9th, 2020
What is WorkWell?
Inspired by the human-centric design philosophy of the WELL Building Standard, Max Estates
has crafted the concept of WorkWell. From the amount of natural light in the building to the
quality of sound in the workplace, the WorkWell philosophy guides every decision taken at Max
Estates to ensure an environment that contributes immensely to the wellness of its occupants.
This design culture is in limelight across the commercial real estate sector even in these
turbulent times and for all the right reasons!
How can you implement WorkWell?
Here’s our take on simple and effective ways to include the concepts of WorkWell and
make your workplace better for you and your team.
Fitness
Regular exercise is the key to physical and mental well-being and has a profoundly positive
impact on work habits and mood. It relieves tension and stress, steadies the mind, allows for the
release of endorphins that regulate our mood and makes it easier to manage work schedules.
Repositioning the stairwells is an easy way to incorporate movement and exercise into your
workday. Taking stairs instead of lifts gets your heart rate going, burns calories, and tones the
body. You can design your office structure in such a way that the staircase is in a central place
inviting maximum footfall. Other ways of promoting movement include creating pathways for
long walks from the coffee shops to the lobby or use of aesthetic components such as timber
walls, beautiful sights of nature, artworks, along with calming music playing along the stairs.
Natural light
When it comes to lighting up an office, natural light is always better. No one loves working all
day under artificial lights. And what is better than soaking up some Vitamin D on a winter
afternoon (glare can be controlled in summers), tip-tapping your fingers on the laptop and
humming your favourite song? Natural lighting is an essential part of designing or updating any
smart workplace and has been scientifically proven to be beneficial.
People exposed to natural light sleep longer and better (at home, and not at their desks) than
those who aren’t. While every workstation can not be located close to a window, smart window
design and large open spaces promote more penetration of sunlight into the office space. You
can also move shelves and furniture that may block external light sources. Make sure you
prioritize work stations where people spend most of their prime access to natural light over
conference rooms which are comparatively less used. By designing with a focus on daylight and
bringing natural elements inside, you’ll create a healthy and productive workplace that is warm
and satisfying.
Comfort
Not sure what a ‘comfortable workplace’ looks like? Let's understand it better with the term
'ergonomics'. Ergonomics puts human anatomy and behaviour at the heart of design to make
sure the office is the best possible fit for the user, the environment and the task. While all of us
spend considerable amounts of time at work and don't want to invite any musculoskeletal
disorders over time, it’s important to promote good ergonomic design at the workplace.
You would be surprised to know how giving a comfortable makeover to desk elements can
make a big difference in overall productivity. With chairs being an important piece of furniture in
your office, here's what you need to look for in an ergonomic office chair - lumbar support, seat
depth leaving an inch or two between the back of your knees and the seat, chair height,
reclining ability, comfort and durability. Keep the monitor or laptop screen between 20 and 40
inches in front of you and make sure the top of the screen is at or below your eye level. If the
monitor is too high, it can strain your head, neck, and back. Keep a footrest if the desk’s
height requires you to raise the height of the chair. If you use the phone a lot, use a headset.
Air Quality
To be at your best, your workspace needs to be safe and healthy. While most companies are
willing to shift towards a more employee-friendly setup, it's important to realize how easily we
overlook poor air quality at the workplace. We tend to think of air pollution as something outside
our office premises. But the truth is, the air inside commercial spaces, offices, and other
buildings can be more polluted than the air outside. The air inside these areas may be polluted
by lead (in house dust), formaldehyde, fire-retardants, radon, even volatile chemicals from
fragrances used in conventional cleaners and dust. This is the reason regularly monitoring
indoor air quality is of utmost importance to ensure worker productivity.
Firstly, you can limit the air pollutants produced in your office by having air and heating units
cleaned to prevent pollutants from being reissued into the air. Keeping in mind that indoor air
quality is often much lower than outdoors, improved ventilation can be a step closer to better air
quality. More open windows and doors (when temperature and humidity levels
permit) will keep the air fresh and rotating. Get nature's indoor purifiers i.e. the indoor plants for
your office. They not only absorb toxins but are also great at making the workplace more
vibrant. Last, but not least, the right air purifiers.
Biophilic design
If there is one field where biophilic design is gaining popularity, it is in office architecture. Many
workers complain that offices are unwelcoming, cold and sterile places. This is certainly not hard
to imagine – just think of working in a bland cubicle, as opposed to working in an earthy space
resplendent with flowers and potted plants. Bringing the elements of nature into the workplace
has a positive effect on employee productivity, making people less stressed, more focused and
creative.
Follow the ‘bring the outdoors indoors’ mantra with wood and stone textures in the office space.
Putting ferns and potted plants at every corner, terrariums on individual desks, and koi pond
installations in the common areas are all great ways of bringing a bit of nature indoors. Beautiful
grained-wood desks, leather sofas, cushions made of faux fur, suede and raw linen, stone table
tops – the options are endless for those looking to mix and match textures.
Soothing sounds of water waves, winds, chirping birds in the background or cascading water
installations on the walls stimulating the soothing noise of a waterfall are great ancillaries for
setting up a peaceful work environment. In spacious offices, flowing water installations like
fountains, water walls and constructed streams are highly recommended as they add fluidity in
terms of sight, sound, touch and light patterns.
It takes no effort to remember the smell of soil in the rain, fresh-cut grass or a bunch of roses.
Given that scents trigger powerful memories in the human brain, using natural fragrances in the
workplace can induce the feeling of being outdoors. Fresh flowers, plant oils and fruit essences
can easily be diffused throughout office space to have an energising or calming effect. Including
lots of natural elements like wood, bamboo and stone, both in spaces where employees work as
well as in break areas, also aid our tactile senses.
How Max House makes it happen?
With a mission to deliver a truly unique quality of excellence and lifestyle to its customers, Max
Estates constructs commercial office spaces with design interiors that prioritize employee
wellbeing with the 'WorkWell' mantra. Max House's commitment to the Indian real estate
sector has shaped the design landscape of office design and infrastructure in Delhi in the last
few years.
Contemporary architecture and strong project execution are the two factors that have helped
Max estates deliver some stunning commercial projects. The LEED certification of Max
House, Okhla and Max Towers, Noida is a validation of Max Houses efforts to bring ecology,
biophilia, commerce and real estate under one roof.
Max House is now paving the way to rule the commercial real estate in the world-class
business city of Delhi with its upcoming project, Max Square. Designed to be IGBC Gold rated,
Max Square is a commercial office development scheduled to become operational in the first
quarter of 2023.
To know more about how WorkWell is a culture constant at Max House
