Design Firm's Austin Office Showcases Workplace Wellness

Long before the pandemic catapulted employee health and safety in the office to the top of employers’ priority lists, Austin-based design firm Britt Design Group was creating spaces with comfort, wellness and productivity as the core tenet of its projects.

The residential and commercial design firm, which has led projects including Austin PBS, Indeed Tower, and high-end luxury homes, recently moved in to a new office of its own that is built to WELL standards, a certification from the International WELL Building Institute that promotes occupant health through building design.

The 3,000-foot space puts the health of its occupants at the center of the design with large windows that allow natural light to pour into the space and provide views of the back patio, connecting employees to nature during the work day. Sunlight is controlled by an internal shading system to reduce screen glare.

Local architecture firm Mark Odom Studio, which has designed other Austin projects such as the adaptive reuse of a midcentury Austin icon and the recent W4 creative office in Austin’s Domain Northside mixed-use development, was behind the design of the recently completed building, which intentionally prioritized natural light for its occupants.

“The building was intended to have a single user per floor so that the users could experience the continuous run of window from all angles of the building,” said the firm’s Mark Odom.

The furnished outdoor space encourages breaks with the benefits of sunshine and fresh air, and even features WiFi access and a large conference table outside that employees can make use of for meetings.

“I strongly believe that [connection to the outdoors] is a fundamentally good design principle, and now there are many studies on the benefits of biophilia and the connection to nature on our human health,” said Laura Britt, founding principal of Britt Design Group. “That aspect was core to us in the design of this office both inside and outside.”

Live indoor plants also serve as biophilic elements and purify the air. Natural materials such as wood cabinetry, a warm color palate and wave-pattern carpet bring a touch of the outdoors to the interior.

Numerous places to work throughout the office support a wide range of activities and provide an opportunity for movement between spaces throughout the workday. The team thoughtfully created pockets of space with acoustical separation as informal “touchdown points” for workers to have quick conversations or get work done, which Britt noted will serve the employees well while social distancing is necessary.

A library space with large islands allow people to stand and work, have meetings, or lay out material samples.

“There is quite a large space from one side to the other, so I think this will be really helpful for social distancing and still allow us to lay out materials and give presentations to clients with enough space for everyone to feel comfortable,” said Britt.

The space also has sliding doors that can be opened or closed to either separate or increase the size of the space to allow more people to safely distance while in the office. Other areas throughout the office include large and small conference rooms (the smaller of which will now be used as private offices for the time being) and counters with bar stool seating in the hallways to either get work done or eat lunch.

The different workspace options bring a dynamic element to employees throughout the day, but also encourage movement in a way that’s beneficial to employee well-being.

“We really tried to create spaces where people get up and move, not only at their sit-to-stand desks, but throughout the office,” said Britt. “The light-filled collaborative library space brings people together away from their desks and is a neutral zone.”

Another example is the centralization of trash—employees don’t have individual bins at their desks, which Britt said prompts employees to get up and walk to throw something away and also be conscious of the waste they’re creating.

A “wellness” room provides a quiet respite for relaxing and meditating. It is also complete with a sink and refrigerator for nursing mothers. Britt noted that the wellness room was incorporated into the design from the beginning and not just an afterthought.

“We didn’t just tuck it into an unused space or closet, we really created specific space for people to have a moment to regroup,” she said. “It has this beautiful light that to me emulates the shadow play of tree leaves as if you have sunlight dappled through the leaves,” she added, further enhancing the theme of connecting to nature throughout the office.

For Britt, designing in line with the WELL standard was the right route because “it connects the dots to understand that what we are putting into our environments directly impacts human health. [WELL] clearly shows you those pathways, and how toxic products effect different systems of your body,” she said.

For their own office and those of its clients, the firm regularly focuses on reducing toxic load in its spaces by avoiding products and materials containing “Red List” chemicals and making sure that indoor air quality is as clean as possible. Red List building materials and products are those containing chemicals that have been proven to pollute the environment, contain toxic elements and be hazardous to health.

The firm also wanted to create a living showroom of concepts and materials. “We wanted to create a space that would not only be functional for us but that would also serve as a role model for other offices and educate clients about incorporating the WELL Building Standard into their projects,” said Britt.

Beyond just practicing what they preach, the firm is able to show clients specific products they can use in their own spaces, like plumbing fixtures, countertop materials, flooring and more. It also shows how a small space can still incorporate multipurpose areas and uses.

Britt’s team has mostly been working from home since the coronavirus lockdown went into effect in March, with some employees making use of their private offices for quiet concentration or for holding small, socially-distanced meetings (with masks) to go over material samples or presentations.

Britt Design Group’s office is thankfully one that already supports the health and well-being of its employees, something that Britt speculates will become a major component for office design moving forward amid the pandemic.

For many years, indoor air quality levels have been shown to impact employee health. But ensuring fresh air intake has become especially important today, as more data emerges about the airborne transmission possibilities of coronavirus.

“We are going to have to start thinking about air filtration and how to utilize UV protection in our air systems in a whole new way since the particulate matter seems to stay in the air for longer than assumed,” said Britt.

For employees, knowing the building environment they’re working in is one that makes them feel safe is a critical condition for returning to work—and a key retention measure for employers.

“People often question why they should make an investment in these features. But if you look at how much employers spend on human capital—salaries, health insurance, retirement matches, etc.—that’s where the majority of your operating costs are going, so your employees are your biggest investment in a successful business. It’s also where you’ll take the biggest hit if your employees become sick, so shouldn’t you want to protect your most important asset?" said Britt. "In the longer term due to COVID, everyone really has to start thinking about how we will design spaces for our new normal, and I am hopeful that tenants, building owners and other various types of stakeholders will start to take health and wellness in our environments more seriously.”