Improve your open office space with plants

4 June 2020

Dutch television show ‘de Monitor’ has found that an open office space is bad for the employee. Working in the open space with several employees is supposedly bad for concentration and could lead to various stress complaints, according to research among 90 company doctors. Fortunately, this so called ‘office garden’ can be made more bearable by placing plants or a green wall.

Acoustics

One of the most frequently mentioned problems in the television programme is the acoustics in the workplace. A ringing telephone, a call from colleagues passing by, an open space reverberates these sounds throughout the room. Research at TU Delft has shown that placing plants or a green wall has a significant effect on the reverberation time of sounds. By placing a green wall the sound was better absorbed. The LivePanel is a green wall that is easy to place in the room and thus directly improves the acoustics.

Well-being

The green room divider LiveDivider can help subdivide the large open space without losing its open look. For employees, just seeing the dividers can have a positive effect. Research from Wageningen University shows that purely being able to see greenery can already lead to an improved well-being. Besides a better humidity in the room, which is better for general health, people also experience less stress.

Less absence

Where the open office space would lead to more absenteeism, because the open space would cause more headaches, stress and concentration problems, placing different plants in the room can be able to solve this problem. Research by Renaas et al. from 2011 showed that the students had an immediate improved concentration level on a strenuous task after adding plants to the room they’re in. Research by Smith et al. also shows that employees in office spaces with plants experience less stress than employees without plants in the office. Wageningen University even found a decrease from 36% to 16% in absenteeism among employees in office spaces with plants.
Interested in greenery in the office? Please contact us for advice.