In 1999, 20th Century Fox released the American workplace classic Office Space. The film highlighted everything that was wrong with the office culture of the day, from claustrophobic cubicles to dull common spaces featuring nothing more than a water cooler and an old coffeepot.

While the modern workplace might have evolved of its own accord, the film became something of a lightning rod for a revolution in office culture.

“Office Space was an over exaggerated example of what needed to change in the American workplace,” said Louis Molinini, JLL Mid-Atlantic project and development services market lead. “However, it was clear that it was time to re-examine the role offices were playing on employees, culture and work productivity. Today, companies like JLL have helped to revolutionize the idea of what an office can be.”

In the years since Office Space premiered, Molinini has been working with clients to help them make the modern office feel more collaborative, enhance productivity and attract top talent.

In one key scene, the main character triumphantly takes a drill to his cubicle walls and knocks them down to get a view of a window. While this scene may be a work of fiction, the benefits of giving workers access to sunlight are anything but.

A study conducted at a call center where employees regularly rotate seats found that workers with a view of the outdoors processed calls 6% to 12% faster than those with no views. Another study found that employees whose offices had windows slept an average of 46 minutes more per night than those working in a windowless space.

Today, Molinini explained, the windowless office space has mostly become a thing of the past and modern offices are built around airy, open spaces with an abundance of natural light.

JLL’s Project and Development Services now manages the process of building out spaces to create more agile environments with a variety of collaborative spaces where staff can work. Formal conference rooms, informal lounge areas, small team rooms, video conference and telepresence rooms, stand-up meeting rooms and café areas with booth seating are all examples of these types of collaborative spaces.