THREE TRENDS
GOING GREEN
Floor-to-ceiling windows drench the rooms in sunlight. A garden on the ground floor offers a spot to decompress. Office air is pumped upward to the ceiling instead of circulating, helping to cut contagious worker sneezes (a welcome feature given current swine flu fears). A white roof reflects sunlight, keeping the office cool in the summer. Harvested rainwater keeps the building's bathrooms running in case a water main breaks.
Welcome to the Toronto headquarters of business software provider SAS Canada, the first commercial building in Canada to receive the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
It came with a $30-million price tag. But the investment is paying off in lower absenteeism, higher productivity and energy cost savings, says Stuart Bowden, senior vice-president of finance and operations.
Two years after SAS made the 2006 move, absenteeism was down 35 per cent from levels in its previous quarters, a drop Mr. Bowden attributes mainly to better air quality helping to reduce sickness and also to increased sunlight improving moods and lowering stress levels. And he has heard anecdotally from staff that they feel their productivity has increased.
The company's annual energy bill, meantime, is 62 per cent cheaper than that of a typical Ontario office building. More natural light and the use of energy-efficient bulbs help explain why - there's now 50 per cent more light in the building even though it's using 30 per cent less energy in lighting.
SAS figures its investment in going green will pay off in about three years.
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LIFESPACES
An airy, open-concept bistro sits at the centre of MediaCom Canada's 46,000-square-foot Toronto office space, which the communications firm had redesigned two years ago to include a "community hub."
"Instead of two people meeting in someone's office, they meet in a common area, and find that there is a natural inclusion of others that just happens from being in open space," says chief executive officer Amanda Ploughman.
Staff use the space in different ways throughout the day, she says: in the morning for coffee, breakfast and sharing of news, over lunch for catching up with co-workers who they might not have regular contact with, in the afternoon for a town hall, and in the evening for social events.
"We're a young, vibrant company and this environment helps nurture that excitement," Ms. Ploughman says.
It's part of a wider trend toward what Don Crichton calls "lifespaces" - versatile, comfortable and homey public spaces.
"We're seeing lifespaces being mimicked in workspaces now," says Mr. Crichton, practice leader of workplace solutions at architecture firm HOK Canada, who oversaw MediaCom's revamp. "So the airport lounge, the hotel lounges, the Starbucks, those types of spaces people are comfortable meeting in, we're finding ourselves now creating them in traditional office settings."
While it's hard to quantify the direct payoff, Ms. Ploughman believes the space has helped productivity by bringing together staff from different departments and promoting the exchange of ideas.
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CLOSE QUARTERS
Innovation is an obsession at the world's largest search engine. The best way to innovate is through collaboration - and that means sitting at close quarters, Google Inc. has found.
Engineers, for example, are typically clustered in small "pods" of three people. All other staff have similarly close desk designs, increasing the chance they will overhear what's happening in different projects and participate, says global benefits director Sue Wuthrich. (People wear earphones if they want alone time, she adds.)
Open-floor plans and a casual atmosphere also promote communication. "I just had a meeting the other day in somebody's pod. We ran out of chairs, so I grabbed one of the exercise balls that are spread across the offices. Someone else sat on the floor. It's a very casual environment," she says.
The informal exchanges extend to lunch. Google's Mountain View, Calif.-based headquarters offers 21 cafeterias, with free lunches served between noon and 1:30 p.m. Co-workers go to lunch together and chat with other colleagues as they stand in line.
The interactions don't happen by accident: Google has calculated the optimal time to interact in line, without it turning awkward. It's between three and five minutes.
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COOL FACTS
60
Percentage of workers who feel their office layout/design increased their stress (because of clutter, desk arrangements, lack of space).
Source: ICM Research poll of 1,857 European workers in 2007
50
Maximum distance, in metres, that workers should sit from one another to collaborate successfully on a frequent basis.
Source: MIT researcher Thomas Allen
87
Percentage of employers who said a green retrofit of their offices improved productivity.
Source: Deloitte 2008 survey of U.S. employers
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OBSTACLES
Cost
Not everyone has millions of dollars these days to spend on an office overhaul. Long-term investments may prove difficult for companies focused by necessity on short-term cash flow.
Privacy
Many companies are trying to squish people into small spaces to save on costs. They may be overdoing it: Cramped employees may not be able to manoeuvre, may be distracted by noise and feel stressed as a result.
Time
Employees are already pressed for time these days. Embarking on an office rethink necessitates many hours spent tailoring a new design - and several managers to oversee it.
Change
Many people hate it. Sure, they may eventually come to love their new digs. But any redesign should involve the people affected - and seek their input along the way, design experts say.
No one-size-fits-all
Some tech firms are introducing "non-territorial" arrangements, which have no seating plans. That loose approach might help people mingle, but can prove challenging for, say, lawyers, who need to keep files in order and cases confidential. Let staff, and the culture of the workplace, drive any changes, designers say.
Tavia Grant