Goin' Underground...

[sobriquetnic]

Hi all

We are shortly planning to move our Head Office (signed contracts willing!) from the 2nd floor of an office block with those lovely 'window' things to a basement area in our flagship branch.

This will save our company an enormous amount of money annually, and believe me in the current travel trade, that is pretty vital!  However, many of my colleagues are worried about the effects of working constantly in artifical light and air conditioning.

I have spent a few hours down there today clearing an old store room and it felt ok.  I just wondered whether any of you work in similar conditions and whether you had any tips for making it a more healthy environment?  Our boss has promised to redecorate in nice light colours and to ensure that the lighting and air conditioning is adequate but I would just appreciate your thoughts.

All the best,
Nicola.

[chris68]

Colors are a definite must!  Plus if you can get some green plants that do well  in indirect light or virtually no light.  I had one in my office of no windows for 5 years.  It was wonderful going in and seeing greenery and signs of life.  I worked in an entire office space that the only window was the front door at the Reception lobby.  It was an adjustment as I always was front desk before that and always had ample light and it was never a problem.  But day in and day out of no light does have affects on you, don't get me wrong there.   We did take numerous trips up to the Receptionist desk, especially during the Winter months.  But, you do adjust.  It's not bad, trust me, give yourselves some time to adjust to it and it will work out.  Just make sure you get enough daylight time outside of the office, believe me you will appreciate it more when you are out of work and into the daylight.

Good luck!

Chris68
Peer Moderator

[andream]

AND those plants will help to recycle stagnant air and add much needed oxygen and it only takes a few to make a difference.  There are lots of varieties which do very well in the low light conditions you're describing!

A

[peana]

Good air conditioning is vital.  It's important that it is sufficient for the numbers of people working in the basement - there are HSE regs about the circulation of air required per person per hour.  It sounds like your co. is pretty big, so I'll imagine they'll know all about this, but if you have any problems once you're installed report them immediately.  We had a problem that contractors were employed to upgrade the air con, but used a filter or something that was too small (I can't remember the details).  It was assumed that everything was fine, and the problem was only identified once staff started complaining about headaches, etc.

[JessW]

I would also add it might be an idea to get those artificial natural daylight type bulbs for desk lamps and a few standard lamps.  I use them in my little hallway at home and it does make a difference, even if I am just passing through to get from one room to another.  I know Ryness sell them, but unsure where else you can get them.

Jess

[sheila3]

Yes, here they call them Full Spectrum light bulbs, there are 2 kinds ones that are Like sunshine,  and then there are the more costly ones that Mimic the sun and you can even grow plants with them.
But if you do not need them for plants from what I am told the cheaper ones will do just as well for humans.
I have found that you can get them at the hardware store or if they are out they offer to order them.

[countrigal]

If you have traditional office (flourescent) lighting there, then almost any green plant will thrive.  Get some and put one on each desk or every other desk/filing cabinet, to fill the area with color.  In my last company, all of the offices were inside offices, with all the outside rooms being used for patients.  (It's a hospital, so all windows went to patient's rooms.)  The way our building was built, there were a lot of offices/rooms off the inside of the hallway, which meant no windows, and those all went to the various offices needed to run the facility.  In the offices where plants were common, you could tell a difference in folks attitudes and health compared to those who had no plants or only 1-2 for a large office.

The biggest difference you'll find is that you'll never know what the weather is like.  You could come to work while it's sunshiny, and leave the work in a rainstorm and have no warning until you get to an outside window.  No problem really, until severe weather comes up and then it would have been nice for us to have known in advance that it was coming.  My husband got to where he'd call me and let me know that a tornado watch was in place, or that a severe snowstorm was heading my way and would hit before I left for home.  So what we started doing was listening to the weather channel as background noise.  This gave us a "window" to the weather and let us know before we left the office what we could expect when we got to the main lobby.

CountriGal
Peer Moderator

[sobriquetnic]

Many thanks to all of you for your responses.  We have quite a few office plants already and judging by your answers, these should thrive ok which will be great!

We got the initial plans from the shopfitters today and it looks pretty good!  I'm actually getting quite excited because this should technically be the last move we make!  It'll be nice to get finally settled!

Thanks again all - you're grrrreeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttt!

All the best,
Nicola.

[sobriquetnic]

Hi all

Well, we've moved!  In fact, we moved on the 17th May, but my partner and I happened to be in Cyprus at the time!  

We had a first day back in the office today and I have to say that I am really impressed with the way the place looks.  Nice light wallpaper and great lighting makes it a very bearable place to work!

The funniest thing was though, and bearing in mind that I did not get to pack up from the last place or unpack at this one, everyone was still asking me where stuff was today!  Bless 'em!  Old habits die hard!

All the best,
Nicola.

[sobriquetnic]

Having now worked in the basement for a couple of weeks, I have to say that I am really enjoying it!  

The artificial lighting and lack of windows does not appear to be causing any adverse effects.  The office itself is kept a lot tidier because all of our storage cabinets are now kept in a store (also in the basement but behind another door!) and the desks are well spaced out with plenty of room to walk around.  The decor, as previously mentioned, is very good and bossie recently hung our pictures back up so the place is looking really great!  Also, on a plus side for the gents, my lovely other half put their toilet roll holders in yesterday! lol! The ladies had made sure that the shopfitters put theirs back in!  You can tell who dominates that office!  He's putting the towel rails in on Monday so no more towels everywhere!

The paragraph above makes me realise in a way though how much you miss 'managed' offices.  We're now kind of looking after ourselves with respect to toilets etc and of course in our previous office block that was all looked after by the company who managed the centre.

The other good thing is being on the same site as our Travel Agency.  We're the Head Office of an independent chain so it's great to see what's going on and to keep up with the industry as much as possible.  Plus they always have the copies of brochures that you need!  Not sure how much they like us being down there though.....at least they got a dishwasher into the bargain!

All the best,
Nicola.

[beaintheuk]

I work in an open plan office and the windows are behind me and way up so unless I turn round, I don't see daylight and anyway there is only the sky to look at through these windows.  In my previous job, I had big windows just opposite me and the office was only for 2 of us so that was a change.

I am glad you enjoy.  I too adapted to a noisier and unnatural bright lighting and except for the effect of the air con on my contact lenses and my skin every now and then, I reasonably enjoy it.

Glad you're okay with it!

Bea