A connecting stair at the headquarters of Crimson Hexagon, a social media analysis software company, designed by Dyer Brown. Photo by Darrin Hunter, courtesy Dyer Brown.
Of the predominant trends now driving workplace design, two epitomize the aspirations of millennials and other younger workers: personal wellness and work-life balance.
Research shows that millennials “want to know, above all, that their company, managers and coworkers all care about their personal wellbeing,” concluded a landmark multigenerational studyby the Global Wellness Institute. “For this rising generation of workers, ‘caring’ is the very heart of workplace wellness.”
So for employers looking to attract and retain talent, creative ideas in making environments that support healthy, happy lifestyles are more than valuable. They are a key to long-term growth. Investments in health and happiness actually pay off – not only through staff retention but through documented reductions in absenteeism and healthcare costs and proven increases in productivity. In fact, Global Wellness Institute calculates the downside of “unwellness at work” for the U.S. economy at $2.2 trillion annually, or 12 percent of GDP.
“Workplaces combine multiple pathways for health risks – from exposure to indoor pollutants to lack of physical activity during work hours,” according to the nonprofit Center for Active Design. Of the average 1,700 hours per year that U.S. workers spend on the job, an increasing share are spent in wellness-related activities and environments. Over time the trend should boost employee health – and public health.
Against this backdrop of desire and need, it’s understandable that active design informs so many workplace choices by architects and designers. Based on Dyer Brown’s work across the United States with organizations large and small, nonprofit and for-profit, a number of best practices are emerging to address both personal wellness and work-life balance through active design. Here are a few favorites:
Active design works for all budgets. The basic idea behind active workplace design is to encourage movement, stimulate physical action, and vary worker postures throughout the day. This demands a rethinking of our offices and work areas, not merely commodity purchases (such as FitBits or treadmill desks) or an expensive intervention (like a connecting stair between two floors of a facility). Everyone may want the gadgets or a mezzanine café, but the first steps involve policies, programming, and personal options.
Start by rethinking work and how spaces are used. New ideas in work experience can help boost wellness. Activity-based working (ABW) – covered recently in Work Design Magazine – isn’t just a way to maximize space utilization and enhance employee experience. It can also “foster employee wellness – mentally, physically, and socially,” according to consultant Melissa Marsh. By locating workplace areas based on activities, designers can ensure that employees walk “from place to place many times throughout the day,” she says. On top of that are mental health benefits: “In an ABW environment, employees are able to choose the workspace that best suits their mood and current task.”
Encourage variety in settings, spaces and postures. Another primary concern for active workplace design emerges in the choice and configuration of furnishings, fixtures and equipment. The big takeaway: Variety encourages activity. As an example, Dyer Brown has researched and designed meeting spaces for clients like Fresenius Medical Care in Waltham, Mass., with deliberate choices to design around touchscreen monitors, make conference tables smaller and moveable, and use a mix of both lounge-style furniture and bar-height table options, so participants can choose to sit in an alternate posture or even stand for their weekly meeting, if desired. In this way, a conference room allows for varied postures and movements which keeps people focused and energized.
Create reasons to be active. The design of a workplace can only do so much; people need inducements to active behaviors and the destination places and postures that are healthy. So good workplace designs and organizational policies entice people with varied spaces, such as private phone booths or al-fresco terraces, with programming and layout ideas that encourage lingering. In a workplace designed by Dyer Brown in Dallas, for example, we located fresh and made-to-order food offerings in the main public-facing café, while smaller satellite cafes on each floor had only water and standard coffee. Every day, employees from multiple floors and facilities descend on that main café to get the best espresso (a major draw) and connect with colleagues.