Why You Should Embrace ‘The Park’ in Your Workplace.

Thanks to a greater focus on health and wellbeing over recent months, setting space aside to support physical and mental wellbeing is a growing trend. Outside space is seen as a major benefit with access to fresh air having a real and positive effect on stress levels and mood. But not all business can suddenly conjure outdoor space for their employees – for many they need to find ways to embrace this focus on wellbeing inside their walls.

We call the spaces required for relaxation and wellbeing in the new destination office ‘the park’ as it sums up the variety of amenities needed to help improve the employee experience in the most holistic sense.

As park spaces become an increasing office interior design priority for employers preparing for the return to work, we thought we’d share the six most important and desirable park facilities for the destination office:

1. Outside seating – For those lucky enough to have a roof terrace or access to a shared communal garden, the provision of deck chairs and picnic benches is one of the most cost effective and easy ways to bolster wellbeing and create park type amenity. For some businesses there’s the option to create outside space too. We recently helped the Bailie Group to repurpose part of their car park so they could maximise their canal-side setting and create a valuable outdoor area for socialising and relaxing.
2. Access to plants – Access to plants and nature can help to reduce stress and calm the mind. Whether it’s a garden on the roof terrace, adding a small ‘grow your own’ section to the office balcony or including significant planting into the office itself, incorporating aspects of biophilic design provides a useful way to nurture wellbeing, particularly in highly urbanised settings. Using the right plants within an office can minimise sound transfer too – which in turn minimises stress.
3. Bike storage – Part of the wellbeing piece is about encouraging people to use healthier and environmentally-friendly ways to get to and from the office. The provision of dedicated bike storage as well as lockers for people to keep their personal effects is high on the wish list from both employers and employees and it features in at least 40% of our office interior design briefs.
4. Gym – While there are some stand-out examples of employers offering full onsite gyms and subsided memberships it doesn’t have to be this all-encompassing. A simple space dedicated to lunchtime yoga and wellness classes, and the addition of some bookable gym equipment can have real value.  An increasing number of large city centre landlords are even adding shared gym facilities for their tenants – which means that employers can improve park provision with ease.
5. Showers – To allow park spaces to flourish you need the facilities to support their use. Employee showers and changing areas are some of the most sought after additions when it comes to office interior redesign as they help to facilitate greater uptake of onsite wellness activities and cycling to work. The ability to fresh up is conducive with wellbeing and productivity.
6. Easy access to the outdoors – Not every employer can create outdoor space, but every employer can recognise its importance and find ways to offer easy access to it. For employers considering an office move, proximity to green spaces, canals, waterways and parks should feature highly as if it’s on your doorstep there’s less need to incorporate it into the office itself. Where access to the outdoors can’t be achieved within an office floorplate – think about ways to maximise views, natural light and improved ventilation to create indoor green oases of calm.

 Calming spaces to chill out, relax and take some time away from work are beneficial to all, particularly to those with neurodiverse conditions, limited access to the outdoors at home or who have a particularly stressful role. Building a culture which recognises that taking time out is acceptable will be key to realising the full value of park facilities in the workplace.

The park is just one of the eight workplace setting that make up the destination office – to discover the other seven, as well as why you should include a carefully curated combination of spaces to build a stronger workplace, download our latest whitepaper ‘The Phoenix Effect’ here.