Joining the illuminati

The owners had probably originally planned to have adequate lighting for the entire area, but over time more and more people had to be crammed into that space, including an ever-increasing number of managers – and what’s worse, each of them required their own office. These offices were positioned next to a glass façade, thus cutting off the access to light for another row of desks. Of course, these offices had glass walls, but they also had venetian blinds, and every manager would sooner or later be tempted to close them. Since I was aware that there was some corporate office where the CEO and the rest of the management sat in a glass box far, far away from the windows, it seemed to me as though I was existing in some alternative reality.

At least these days, here and there you can see some change. Access to light is one of the criteria required for the certification of buildings, while the interiors and the wellbeing of the users are important to their overall quality. No one is surprised anymore by efforts to install skylights or transparent panelling in the walls of big box warehouses (at least until warehouses are entirely populated by robots that can see in the dark).

Providing adequate lighting for offices and people was – somewhat paradoxically – ushered in by the switch to remote working. Ordering people to return to their company offices proved not to be enough, so they needed to be enticed back in. During the recent Eurobuild investment conference in April, we discovered that in the corner of one of Warsaw’s top office buildings a glass room had been set aside as a social area, even though most employees had originally assumed it would be the CEO’s office. Having personally never held the position of CEO, even though I have held that of an office worker, I can see the advantages of such a solution. Many more people can make use of the corner room, including the CEO, who might (since this can’t be ruled out) nonetheless have a superb view from their own office window.

I very much want to believe that those people stuck at the reception desks, which are often still located deep inside the office next to the toilets or the wardrobes, can also benefit from this trend. Just lately, I’ve had the chance to see a few receptions, and the worst of them was a glass box in a dark lobby between the lifts and the stairs in an office tower built in the 90s. One rather young, sad- looking person was stuffed into this box. She also seemed totally unconcerned about whether I was supposed to be there or not. The reception in a new Warsaw hospital I know of is also quite depressing, as it keeps those working on the front line of the medical world far away from the windows. The architects of the building, however, had not failed in their duty to ensure access to light in the stairwell, despite the fact that no one is going to spend eight hours of their day on it.

Tower blocks, unfortunately, tend to steal sunlight from the smaller buildings they overlook and sometimes from each other. Occasionally, employees in expensive, prestigious office towers can even look from their high storeys at others in neighbouring buildings directly in the eye. It’s only then that they realise what a pity it is that trees don’t grow tall enough here in Poland to block the view of neighbouring glass façades. Maybe one day corporate employees will spontaneously start building footbridges between such buildings and then these crossings will become overgrown with wild climbing plants making a home for birds and small wild creatures while also insulating the buildings from excessive heat.

I’m sure that some of my readers work best on the night shift under a flickering fluorescent tube (remember those?) or in the darkness illuminated only by their monitors. I’m not among them – I much prefer the light from the window and looking out at the clouds and things that photosynthesise.

A few years ago, I visited an institution in Warsaw called the Solatorium. Inside, the building is illuminated by small lamps that mimic the daylight and, together with all the pot plants, improve your sense of well-being. I can see no reason at all why such things couldn’t be installed in every area that lacks sunlight. After all, aren’t people happier when something lights up their day?