Branch office: Why forests are taking over workspaces

The modern office is starting to look more like a Rainforest Cafe than a place of business. Amazon.com’s new Seattle headquarters has 40,000 plants.

Down the coast, every other floor in Samsung’s two-and-a-half-year-old San Jose office space is a garden. Alibaba Group Holding wants all employees in its Hangzhou workplace to be no more than a one-minute walk from an outdoor green space.

In a bid to keep workers happy, productive and, most important, in the office for as long as possible, companies have flocked to all sorts of design trends over the years. Last decade it was kegs and ping-pong tables; now Mother Nature is in vogue.

The trend, called “biophilia,” is based on the idea that humans have an innate connection to nature.

“We see it as returning to what our bodies and our brains need,” said Ryan Mullenix, a design partner at NBBJ, the architecture firm that worked on the new Amazon office. It’s like Paleo, for the office.

Because the wilderness is our natural habitat, biophilia advocates say, we feel more at ease there than in a sterile office.

Research has found that offices outfitted to look more like the natural world lead to happier, healthier and more productive employees.

“When you look at a tree, you’re smarter,” explained Daniel Skiffington, a senior associate at NBBJ.

Another way to look at it: If we have to be stuck inside all day without a minute to go out and get some fresh air, why not make our time in the sterile office as pleasant as possible?

Not all offices have to look like a jungle to have the intended effects. Aaptiv, a New York City-based technology company, has about 20 plants scattered across its one-floor open office.

“It makes it feel more laid-back and a little more peaceful,” said Jake Ludwig, a production co-ordinator in the audio department at Aaptiv.

“It’s New York, it’s kind of grey. It’s nice to have a lot more green around.”