Paris (AFP)

Will office life after the health crisis be greener? Aspiration for healthy and nature-friendly work spaces could accelerate, according to professionals interviewed by AFP.

"People want to reconnect with nature" after two months of confinement, notes Pierre Darmet, director of marketing and business development at Les Jardins de Gally.

Small plant walls, small wooden partitions, high tubs to install on terraces: this company specializing in landscaping offers solutions to meet the distances imposed by the health crisis.

There is "a need to be in a much more soothing natural environment", confirms Romain Balmary, co-founder of Ciel mon radis, a company that creates company vegetable gardens in particular.

"The health crisis can be an opportunity for these companies which offer solutions to green indoor and outdoor work environments," said Odile Duchenne, general manager of Actineo, observatory of the quality of life at work.

Demand is strong and already anchored among employees. According to a 2015 study by the Human Spaces Report International, conducted by organizational psychologist Cary Cooper with 7,600 office workers in 16 countries, the five elements most sought after at work are natural lighting (44%), indoor plants (20%), a quiet workspace (19%), the sea view (17%) and the bright colors (15%).

Among employees who work in environments with greenery or natural lighting, the American researcher notes a 15% increase in the feeling of well-being, 15% in that of creativity and 6% in the feeling of better productivity.

The concept of "biophilia", defined in 1984 by the American biologist Edward Osborne Wilson as contact with nature essential for well-being, is on the rise among architects, who speak of "biophilic design".

- Breathe the outside air -

It has not always been so. The architect and town planner Élisabeth Pèlegrin-Genel published in 1994 "The anxiety of the green plant on the corner of the office" (ESF edition). Plants weren't very trendy at the time, and they didn't mix well with computers and air conditioning. The fashion was more for white laminate, not for natural materials.

Now, "there is a new relationship with nature. People want green, wood, water, plants, breathe the outside air," says the architect.

For Odile Duchenne, new constructions should avoid air conditioning, which spreads viruses, in favor of natural ventilation. "Some Defense towers are starting to have windows that open," she notes. The roofed terraces with trees develop, sometimes with vegetable plots or apiaries.

"Even if plants have depollution properties, even if they humidify the air and prevent drying out, the most important thing is to open the windows, to let the outside air in twice a day," insists Pierre Darmet who , at the Jardins de Gally, proposes to set up outdoor workspaces when possible, called "fertile offices".

"It will always be more pleasant to have plant partitions than Plexiglas. But work remains work and what counts is the atmosphere," recalls Élisabeth Pèlegrin-Genel.

© 2020 AFP