Sustainable offices – boosting health, wellness, and productivity with landscape architecture
An office environment is so much more than chairs, desks, and large picture windows. In fact, the view from that office window, and the area surrounding the building can have as big an impact on the happiness and productivity of your employees as any of the interior fittings.
Recognising the huge impact that the broader environment has on employees’ physical and mental health, landscape architects combine passion and science to create green, urban and professional spaces where the built environment coexists with nature to create the ideal conditions for human happiness, creativity, and productivity.
An investment in landscape architecture during the planning phase of your building project could make the difference between an office where people have to be during the day and a creative inspirational work place where they absolutely want to be.
Let’s find out more about landscape architecture and how it can create business premises that attract tenants and boost occupancy rates.
Landscape architecture: so much more than stylish gardening
To those of us not in the architectural industry, landscape architecture may sound strange and when most people hear it for the first time the first thing that comes to mind is landscaping – the design and maintenance of office gardens, and surrounding areas. While plants and green spaces play an important role in landscape architecture, there’s a big difference between the two industries.
Landscape architecture is in fact a complex discipline that combines design principles, ecology, soil, science, hydrology, engineering, and a host of other fields.
The main focus, and end goal for landscape architects is to create an overall urban environment that is peaceful and intuitive for humans to inhabit through the use of natural spaces.
Green spaces and urban design have been shown to improve both physical and mental health – and that’s a key selling point for any building in the current market.
Next time you’re admiring a green urban space like the beautiful parklands around the Century Square development in Century City, it’s worth remembering that this impressive green landscape wouldn’t have been possible without the talent and intelligence of a landscape architect.
Commercial tenants and their employees are especially drawn to the beautiful green setting that landscape architects create, creating the potential for lower vacancy rates and a highly marketable building.
The benefits of using a landscape architect
Connecting office buildings and their neighbours with an attractive green space comes with a raft of benefits.
Studies have shown that buildings with attractive landscape architecture surrounding them can command a premium of up to 7% above those of an equally good building with plain concrete surroundings.
What’s more, employees will be naturally drawn to buildings that feel ‘organic’ and provide ample attractive, green spaces to unwind, enjoy their lunch or Vida coffee, or simply get away from the office for a moment to reflect and recharge.
As a Cape Town commercial property investor, maximizing your return on investment on a building with low vacancy rates and highly satisfied tenants is an excellent long-term plan.
Landscape architecture adds to the desirability of any commercial building and creates an atmosphere that attracts building users and makes them look forward to each new day at the office.
- This virtuous cycle of interest in the area surrounding the building, and the desire to spend time there can equate to higher productivity for commercial tenants, increasing the chances of lease renewals.
- Tenants may even expand their office space footprint as their businesses grow.
The green spaces surrounding a building may not seem to be directly linked to productivity, but the outside environment can have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the business processes taking place inside every office unit.
This makes landscape architecture an essential ingredient in the success of new commercial office developments.
Can existing buildings benefit from a landscape architecture makeover?
If you’re a property owner who didn’t have the opportunity to engage the services of a landscape architect when your building was first constructed, it’s not too late to benefit from some of the productivity and aesthetic advantages of having an attractive green space surrounding your premises.
Consulting with a landscape architect, and finding out whether they can create ample green spaces in and around your building could be an excellent way to add value to your Cape Town office space and make it more attractive to premier tenants, both now and in the future.
For a modest initial investment, you could transform your premises into a magnet for future-forward businesses and enjoy lower vacancy rates and superior rental income.
If you own a green building or need a green office space, we’d love to talk
The Commercial Space team has decades of collective experience matching premium office space in the Cape Peninsula with dynamic businesses that are poised for growth.
Whether you are a building owner looking to market your green building or a business owner in search of new premises in Cape Town, we’d love you to contact us today and let us learn more about your green office space requirements.
