Lnatural light, profusion of plants, eco solutions for mobility and, above all, a flexible organization attentive to the development of people. You feel at ease in the green office of the future. Values are shared. You breathe, and not just mechanically. Goodbye old and gray open spaces!
The bioclimatic greenhouse inside the Turin skyscraper of Intesa Sanpaolo, in Turin.
Covid has prompted us to reflect on our relationship with nature, it has changed priorities: work matters, but it matters more to feel good. As? Talk about the search for Nomisma “The new workplaces” presented together with the Welcome project, the biophilic office that will be built in via Rizzoli, in Milan. «The 500 workers interviewed ask for natural light, low or zero emission buildings, photovoltaic panels – but also small spaces for privacy and large ones for meetings, proximity to public transport, gyms and supermarkets, large internal green areas» says Roberta Gabrielli, senior project manager of Nomisma. «The common areas must be able to develop creativity».
86 percent believe tomorrow’s office will support the physical and psychological well-being of employees. Comfortable environments, according to 85 percent, will promote productivity. Today, upon joining the company, 38 percent let themselves be overcome by boredom and 30 percent by anxiety: an intervention is necessary and urgent.
On the other hand, it is convenient for companies to innovate: «If they want to retain talent, and avoid the resignation of those who leave without having another job, we need flexibility and goal-oriented programming» continues Gabrielli. «The office is no longer the only workplace but becomes the crucial space for introducing new hires, for ideas to grow. It must be an environment in which to recognize oneself».
In green offices, nature helps to recharge
Green and attention to human resources go hand in hand. «People are looking for quality and an environment where they can feel good on a psychophysical level» adds the environmental psychologist Rita Trombin. «The two years of the pandemic have helped us reflect on the relationship between us and nature, which is a source of stimuli and helps us recharge our batteries. Various researches show that a biophilic officethat is, where human beings and nature integrate, reduces absenteeism by 15 percent, improves performance by 10-25 and creativity by 15. For companies, it’s an opportunity to impact the community.”
Waiting to see Welcome built, with a revolutionary purification system, the Fabbrica dell’Aria, some companies are moving. Among the first (also in terms of numbers, it has 74,000 employees in Italy), there is Intesa Sanpaolo, which boasts a well-structured welfare system and a state-of-the-art management headquarters. As far as sustainability is concerned, «the group has brought forward the goal of zero net own emissions to 2030» he says Paola Angeletti, head of personnel and organizational structure. «The skyscraper in Turin, designed by Renzo Piano and opened in 2015, was awarded the Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, ed) Platinum, the most authoritative acknowledgment of environmental sustainability of buildings».
The organizational model provides for the possibility of smart working up to 120 days a year and a short week of 4 days of 9 working hours a day, equal pay: «These new methods are an attractive factor for young people. We are also redesigning the spaces from a more collaborative and sharing perspective, with initiatives such as book crossing to foster relationships”. After the in-house yoga sessions and the free CareLab platform, which had 700,000 accesses in 2022, with an online gym, psychologist, info on nutrition and caregiving, the first company gyms will be set up within the year.
The rendering of Welcome, the biophilic office that will be built in via Rizzoli, in Milan.
The coherence between business and daily life is important
Leed Platinum certification also for the Allianz Tower in Milan, designed by Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, which inside boasts a flying forest with trees suspended at various heights, to draw attention to the environment. «It is a certified low ecological impact building, with offices that take advantage of natural and LED light, break areas on each floor, a panoramic bar on the 23rd floor, a company restaurant and a free gym» he explains Letizia Barbi, Human Resources manager. «We provide discounts and facilities to promote mobility, including electric mobility. We aim to integrate sustainability all round, tackle climate change, contribute to society in a positive way, be transparent about business. Our Welfare is continuously enriched: to employees – with 50 percent smart working – we offer free campuses for children during the school holidays, work guidance counseling for family members, and we have intense training and upskilling programs».
The green atrium in the Allianz Tower in Milan.
For Engiea leader in carbonization and energy efficiency, «green and environmental impact are our core business» says Sara Callegari, HR manager. «The work to reduce the impact on the environment has an important value, it is a shareable objective that has a great appeal, above all on young people». The corporate mission translates into a series of virtuous initiatives in practice. «We work with a view to efficiency. The Milan office is Leed Platinum, plastic free, we only use recycled paper, our fleet is green, employees have discounts for public transport. There is coherence between business and daily life, plants, offices, people and even customers, to whom we offer a road map to improve their green footprint».
Between smart working and working smart
At Engie they were forerunners in smart working, now possible for two days a week: «The office remains central for sharing with colleagues» continues Callegari. “Our annual survey shows that 88 percent of employees have a strong sense of belonging.”
More than smart working, Fastweb prefer to talk about working smart, a more engaging and flexible approach. The new Milan office, Nexxt (also Leed Platinum), designed to promote the quality of work and relationships between colleagues, is sustainable and when fully operational it will reduce energy consumption by 43 percent compared to a traditional building. 86 percent of the space receives natural light and 97 have a view to the outside. Conditions that promote well-being and help concentration. «Today, rather than work-life balance, i.e. work-life balance, it is better to talk about work-life harmony. A challenge that companies must know how to take up» concludes Rita Trombin.
Green offices, where plants reduce pollution
Looking at it, it looks like a luxuriant greenhouse, with banana trees and philodendron, ficus, strelitzia and other carefully selected, monitored and ad hoc lit plants. In reality, it is much more: it is a Fabbrica dell’Aria, the system conceived by the neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso and by the laboratory Pnat of Florence to purify the internal air. The first creation was in Milan, in the offices of the Green Media Lab digital communication and consultancy agency: it is 16 meters long and “works” in a bright space of 500 square meters, furnished with exclusively recycled furniture.
«The idea came from our president Giovanni Storti, of the Aldo Giovanni and Giacomo trio» explains the founder and CEO Daniele Denegri. «He knows Mancuso and took him to see our offices just before we moved, at the end of 2019. And it was Giovanni himself who financed the Fabbrica». As Cristina Favretto of Pnat explains, «it is a botanical filtration system to purify the internal air thanks to fully automated glass cases which contain selected plants. The air is taken from the environment and passed through a filter. Pollutants, during the passage of the air, undergo processes of degradation and absorption, both at the level of the roots and leaves. Thanks to sensors, it is possible to measure the quality of the incoming and outgoing air».
In practice, adds Denegri, «it’s like giving a turbo to the natural filtering system. The air inside offices is always more polluted than the outside. This is how we clean it up, for the greater well-being of those who work».
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