How to Create a Healthier Office Environment

A San Diego-based architect, Douglas Austin has decades of experience incorporating human relationships into his work. As chairman and CEO of the company AVRP Skyport, Douglas Austin designs buildings that account for workers’ health and morale as strongly as functionality. Office spaces that take into account employees’ well-being can help increase productivity.

One way to create a productive office environment is to increase the presence of natural light. In a 2018 study, the human resources firm Future Workplace found that 70 percent of employees surveyed said that natural light in the workplace would improve performance. Proximity to nature and natural light not only adds visual variety to an office, but also reduces eye strain from using digital technology.

A similar step is to reorganize the office to remove distractions. Separate loud equipment, like printers, from employees, to avoid unnecessary noise. It’s also helpful to remove clutter from desks so employees not only have room to work, but are able to personalize the space with photos or other objects, so they are motivated to work there. Finally, set aside an open area for collaboration and make it visually interesting, so that teams actually want to use it.