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Ching Huang writes about : Green Workplace Design in the Post-Pandemic Era
2021-03-19
COVID-19 presents an unprecedented challenge to human beings living in humanistic housing. Across industries, business owners will use the lessons learned from this large-scale working-from-home experiment to rethink in a more deliberate and creative way how work is done, and what role a healthy office should play. When employers around the world try to bring their employees back to the office as the pandemic eases, employee health and safety will become a top concern, with conditions for health and well-being in the workplace as a top priority. This means that office design and layout may enter a new evolutionary era after the pandemic, with the opportunity to make office spaces greener and healthier.
It is time to change.
The work culture in Taiwan is not as open and free as overseas, and the organizational structure of companies is not as flat. Many companies have adopted a hierarchical and enclosed office space with partitions that divide up employees’ working environments, so as to preserve employees’ privacy, reduce external interference, and establish a hierarchical system. It may seem to be effective in preventing the pandemic to a certain extent, but may also prevent dialogue, exchange, cooperation, and even opportunities for innovation between employees and departments. While the global corporate culture is gradually moving toward flexibility, breaking boundaries, and cross-domain integration, the pandemic has accelerated a transformation in work styles. Given demands for safety, health, comfort, dialogue, cooperation, and team innovation, the question of how to optimize green workplace design is what everyone is seeking answers to.
What kind of building space deserves to be called a healthy, comfortable green office building?
In Europe and the United States, 70% of large corporates adopt open-plan design in their office spaces. The revolutionary change from the formerly compartmentalized office and closed work mode to a new way of thinking that is guided by cooperation and dialogue allows creative energy to keep flowing within the work space at all times. In the post-pandemic era, will open-plan offices come to an end and we will return to compartmentalization in turn? Not exactly. Companies are now trying to promote a variety of healthier and more comfortable office spaces for employees to choose from, and there is no one-size-fits-all office design to cover all situations.
Using open-plan space to create adjustable spaces
A pandemic can happen very quickly, so companies must adopt an approach that is flexible and allows them to transform their offices in a flash. At the same time, companies also need to re-examine what space they need. They need to look at how satellite office space can create the ideal results in coordination, productivity, communication, and transmitting know-how, rather than just adjusting the existing office space. Furthermore, creating a sense of connectedness and collegiality is of the utmost importance. In any case, a range of space planning solutions must be proposed, including owned space, standard leasing, flexible leasing, flex space, co-working space, and other strategies.
Creating thinking space “zones”
As the world focuses on how employees can work together in large open-plan spaces, it is even more important to consider the multiple elements that allow employees to work in a shared environment, while also keeping appropriate privacy protections in place. This design is often done by retaining an overall open-plan space layout to encourage teamwork, but incorporating additional spaces for different functional purposes, such as creating office space with both open and private areas, and providing separate quiet spaces (e.g., individual offices, lounges, courtyards, and outdoor walking and phone-free areas) for employees to use when they need to focus on work or make phone calls.
Box: Lounge office
An office that combines characteristics of both home and office has become the trend in office space design. This means workspaces that can provide a pleasant office environment, workspace for colleagues, and network services; examples include cafés, hotel lobbies, and more formal, fully equipped business centers. This is an extension of the home life concept: That a cup of coffee, delicious cake, and fast Wi-Fi will allow employees to work with ease and put them in a better mood. With fewer distractions and interruptions, productivity naturally improves.
Creating a natural and green office space that contributes to both the healthier employees and the Earth
The architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “Architecture should be integrated with nature.” In the aftermath of the pandemic, there is a growing concern for indoor ventilation in office space, as well as the configuration of spacious common areas. Therefore, open-plan office environments and more down-to-earth, garden-style, low-density office spaces are more likely to win favor with employees. This is especially true of expansive, natural offices that allow natural convection of air. If employees can also go to an open-air garden for fresh air as needed, this is extremely meaningful in preventing cluster infections. Hence, the pursuit of green concepts in today’s office space and the environmental awareness of pandemic prevention and control validate the desire to return to nature and the longing for ecological office space.
1. Create comfortable and even lighting
“Lighting” is at once the most easily overlooked natural element and the most important one. Healthy and efficient lighting is crucial in every workplace; however, it is often neglected and considered only in terms of brightness. Comfortable lighting and overall atmosphere can improve employees’ feelings of well-being towards the company, and indirectly increase productivity at work. Moreover, computerized, parametric design can be used to achieve the best sun-shading designs, and intelligent building strategies for interior lighting control can also reduce a building’s overall energy consumption.
2. Improve indoor air quality
According to a Harvard University study, indoor air quality has a significant impact on cognitive ability, and cognitive performance is particularly evident in green building conditions. The key factors that affect air quality include pollution sources, HVAC systems, temperature, and humidity. Thus, the joint collaboration of architects, landscape architects, and electrical and mechanical engineers plays an important role in the design of such an office. Removing pollutants from the space and environment, diluting them through effective ventilation, and filtering the air to make it healthier, both in the selection of materials and the planning of mechanical systems, need to be taken into consideration.
3. A therapeutic green space
The office is like another home for employees, and how to create a harmonious atmosphere has become a major consideration in office planning. By integrating ecological green planting design elements, the office environment becomes greener; a therapeutic office space that encompasses a blend of comfortable sunlight, unpolluted air, and green plants is created.
Furthermore, an atmosphere of working in nature can also be presented through “dynamic and static” zone compartmentalization. For example, the entire office can be light-colored, avoiding decorative ornamental objects on the walls; simple and refreshing wall design can also play its role as a backdrop to set off the sunlight and plant growth. Although the space is made into an office, through the combination of natural elements in the office design, employees can find a corner to rest, work, chat, or relax in, so that the office space is no longer just a source of pressure, but an excellent place to heal body, mind, and soul. A work environment with comfortable lighting, natural ventilation and greenery improves employee comfort and well-being, leading to better work efficiency, reduced work stress, and increased creative energy.
Today, companies around the world are working to transform their workplaces into sustainable and environmentally friendly offices that are good for both employees and the environment. The implementation of green workplaces not only protects the Earth, but also increases productivity, reduces operating costs, and more. In short, a healthy, green office can lead to happier, healthier, more efficient employees, while a sustainable office can reduce the impact of corporate energy consumption on our planet, truly bringing benefits to everyone.