Today’s savvy employers are beginning to understand that providing a pleasant working atmosphere can be a huge benefit to their employees. Having a green space for employees to enjoy has been shown to reduce stress and depression in the work force. But, how can office buildings improve their landscaping? Office landscaping used to mean a few well-placed benches among the flowerbeds and calling it a day. Now, landscapers are getting creative to design beautiful spaces with a purpose.
Brickman designer Alison Alvord, of Atlanta Georgia, has noticed employers are paying more attention to adding amenities that improve their quality of life, like green spaces. A current project for a large healthcare firm has Alvord designing an exercise path that winds around the circumference of the property and parking lots. “Beyond just beautifying the campus, the client is making a significant investment to promote healthy, happy employees,” says Alvord. At different points along the trail, there will be plantings and seasonal interest, directional signs and indications of distance traveled, resting benches, and self-guided fitness activities. With the landscape keeping the client’s employees health conscious, the employees get to experience all the benefits of exercising while at work!
Nature helps alleviate mental fatigue by relaxing and restoring the mind. Within built environments, parks and green spaces are settings that encourage social interaction and de-stressing through exercise or conversation, and provide calming settings. Having quality landscaping and vegetation in and around the places where people work and study is a good investment. Both visual access and being within green space helps to restore the mind’s ability to focus. This can improve job and school performance, and help alleviate mental stress and illness. All while providing a beautiful scenery for your business.
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