Workplace wellness programs have been widely adopted by global employers over the past few decades to promote mental and physical health, reduce healthcare costs, and improve productivity. With a lingering pandemic that has tinged social gatherings like team meetings with uncertainty and anxiety, employee wellness has never been more important.
As we face the challenge of encouraging employees to return to the office, how can we put their wellness at the forefront of workplace design? How do we optimize office environments that promote resilience, connectivity, and happiness? After all, data shows that when employees are fulfilled in all aspects of their well-being, this leads to increased employee engagement and individual performance. I researched the topic for 3form and developed these ideas about the impact of color and natural light on well-being.
Designing for Wellness
Although wellness is not a new concept in workplace design, the tactics of the past don’t measure up to the demands of today. With many employers adopting a hybrid work model where employees will potentially spend less time at the office, it’s even more critical that their time on-site is both emotionally fulfilling and valuable. The office must simultaneously provide a sense of comfort and safety, while supporting collaboration, a sense of camaraderie, and company culture. A holistic and integrated approach to design is needed to cultivate these healthy shared spaces, from the layout of an office to the furniture and fixtures used. Enlisting color and light—elements of biophilic design—allows us to positively affect the mental and physical well-being of workers for a greater sense of wellness.
Natural Colors
The impact of color on mood has long been studied in interior design and architecture. Color has the power to restore, stimulate, and even encourage creativity. (Browning, 2014) Natural tones in particular convey qualities of comfort, calmness, and grounding. They are reminiscent of natural elements and provide a connection to nature—the essence of rejuvenating design. Since 2018, leaders in color like Behr have selected soft, earthy greens and cool bluish grays as their yearly trend colors. 3form’s most popular colorways for the past few years have also been calming greens and blues. The onset of the pandemic brought forth a heightened need for the visual nourishment provided by natural colors as reflected in Behr’s 2021 Color of the Year, Canyon Dusk—a muted clay hue intended to “elevate your comfort zone.” While the pandemic amplified the prevalence of muted colors, their pre-pandemic emergence suggests a more significant movement toward comfort and wellness in workplaces.
As with exposure to natural light, creating a space with natural colors that connects us to the environment has mood-boosting benefits to improve employee wellness. A paper on the principles of biophilia found that using colors which represent the unique geography surrounding a space is important for authenticity and the variability of colors is recommended over high ratios of any one color. (Browning, 2014) 3form’s 2021 Design Collection includes colors inspired by nature that respond to the need for comfort and wellness in today’s office design. Colors from the palette complement each other and can be used together to mimic the variation in colors seen in nature when applied to translucent Varia partitions.
Natural Light
According to Gallup’s most recent edition of the State of the American Workplace, more than half of employees reported better overall well-being as “very important” to them. As we envision an office experience that creates the sense of wellness workers seek, it may be counterintuitive that something as simple as access to daylight tops the list of attributes they prize, above on-site gyms or food services. Yet, it makes perfect sense. The human workday is ruled by our natural circadian rhythm. We rise with the sun, complete productive work time in the daylight, and retreat at night when our energy levels go down with the sun. Exposure to natural light keeps us invigorated and alert, able to think creatively and problem solve—all things we need to perform our jobs well. (Browning et al., 2014) Beyond performance, natural light reinforces an employee’s mental and physical well-being. A recent study found that optimization of natural light in an office significantly improves health and wellness among workers, according to the Harvard Business Review.
On one hand, these findings indicate there is a lack of natural light available for workers, leaving them longing for this basic necessity and struggling to be productive. On the other hand, those of us in the world of office design and contract furniture are in the perfect position to improve those conditions and make a meaningful impact on workers’ wellbeing as they return to the office. With tools like 3form’s translucent Varia partitions, we’re equipped to enhance natural light in a workspace without resorting to a complete renovation to add windows.
The realities of the built environment mean that not everyone will have the ability to sit directly by a window or skylight, and maximizing natural light throughout an office is a challenge when distinct functional areas are created within. Whether it’s a conference space, lounge area, or individual workstations, defining space with Varia lets light through without sacrificing performance. The panels obscure visual distractions and passersby for a sense of balanced privacy that still meets today’s need for safe separation. Varia provides the functionality workers require to perform their jobs, while providing them with the natural light they need to stimulate their minds and improve their overall well-being.
Leveraging color and natural light are two simple ways to create an immediate impact on employee well-being by reconnecting people to the world around them. These elements provide a restorative aesthetic and will define this workplace design era as we return to the office seeking an environment that offers comfort, resilience, and connectivity. With employee health and wellness at the center of workplace design, there will be a better outlook for us all.
Sarah Welker is a marketing consultant specializing in thought leadership, product commercialization, and B2B marketing strategy, and is the former director of marketing at 3form.
References:
- Browning, William, et al. (2014) 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design
- Gallup, Inc. (2017) State of the American Workplace Report
- Hedge, Alan (2018) Study: Natural Light Is the Best Medicine for the Office, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis at Cornell
- Meister, Jeanne C. (2018) The #1 Office Perk? Natural Light, Harvard Business Review