Office with circadian lighting boosts productivity
22 May 2019 · · All regions · Office
A STUNNING ‘biophiliac’ office on the twelfth floor of London’s Shard skyscraper boosts productivity by up to 20 per cent, according to a University College London study.
The Living Lab – part of the headquarters of energy services consultancy and outsourcing giant Mitie – is an experimental workplace which provides short-term rest and meditation functions for company employees.
The space features colour- and intensity-tuning circadian lighting which aims to match the occupants’ sleep-wake cycles.
Designed by DaeWha Kang Design it’s designed to boost worker wellness and productivity.
This project comprises two spaces, an immersive work environment with natural materials and two ‘Regeneration Pods; that provide a space for meditation and reflection.
The Living Lab has bamboo screens that wrap onto the ceiling above. The floor, desks, and task lights are also formed from different shades and textures of bamboo.
The lighting in the room is linked to an astronomical clock—cool blue in the morning, brilliant white in the afternoon, and super warm as the day winds down.
Mitie employees work at these desks for four weeks at a time, answering daily surveys about their comfort, satisfaction, and emotional response.
They then spend four weeks working in a control area on the same floor with similar environmental conditions but without biophilic design, and their responses will be compared between the two spaces.
The office is part of Mitie’s ‘Connected Workspace’ initiative that incorporates sensor technology, big data, and machine learning to revolutionize the way that their portfolio of buildings are managed and maintained.
The Living Lab, which was unveiled in November, was commissioned as part of the health, wellness, and user-experience aspect of Connected Workspace.
Dr. Marcella Ucci, head of the MSc in Health, Wellbeing and Sustainable Buildings at the University College of London, says her pilot study to measure the impact on employees in a detailed post-occupancy study shows that productivity was boosted by up to 20 per cent. Additionally, employees were 38 per cent calmer, and 10 per cent more focused than their colleagues in the rest of the office.
SOURCE: https://luxreview.com/article/2019/05/office-with-circadian-lighting-boosts-productivity