LANDSCAPE & GROUNDS MAINTENANCE MAKING THE OUTSIDE COUNT Director of leading workplace consultant,
Saracen Interiors, Michael Page advises taking a holistic approach when it comes to office facilities, recommending that facilities managers and commercial property
owners consider outside space as an asset rather than a drain on budget.
There’s been a huge emphasis recently on biophilic design in the office environment; the link between our wellbeing and nature and bringing the outside in, but not much has been said about the office exterior and its surrounds in the general conversation.
While office interior trends are embracing natural light, plants and living walls, with open space and well-ventilated interiors being an obvious preference for all, outside space, conversely, is regularly overlooked. Our focus seems to be firmly fixed on what’s going on inside, with our gaze rarely shifting to what’s happening outside the window.
Of course, it’s a huge positive that office fit out and refurbishment specialists are championing the ‘greening’ of the office interior. All such initiatives can only improve air quality (the presence of plants is known to remove some of the bad stuff from the atmosphere and oxygenate the air) and have a positive impact on the workers’ wellbeing.
However, there are great social, economic and environmental advantages to improving the grounds of a commercial property and for those lucky enough to have some outside space, it really should not be ignored.
In fact, making the most of the grounds of a commercial building should be seen as a necessity and
32 | TOMORROW’S FM
not an added luxury. It may be that it’s what is on the inside that matters most, but first impressions count and if you have visitors to your building, they should see you (and your brand) at your best in that very first instance.
How your building is presented speaks volumes about your business and reflects on its success and how well it’s doing overall. Think of it as making every moment that the outside world is in contact with your brand count.
The building, interior and exterior, is as much a brand ambassador as the website, for example. A well- tended, landscaped exterior implicitly encourages and impresses visitors, who will place more value on the visit and the time spent at this location as a result.
The grounds of your building – drive, car park, landscaping, planting etc – are both the first, and the last, thing that those visitors see. As well as looking far more inviting, well-planned and tended grounds can also convey good environmental policies, a pride in the brand and a concern for employees’ wellbeing.
Wellbeing has, of course, been a buzz phrase for some time and employers are now required to consider, and cater for, the wellbeing of their workers. However, the link between our wellbeing and nature is no new thing. The Victorians were on to it years ago when they were building
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56