New York Times: The Next Frontier in Office Space? The Outdoors

Jane Margolies – The New York Times

“Fueling this trend is growing awareness of the health and wellness benefits from contact with nature, a concept known as biophilia. Exposure to nature has been shown to lower levels of cortisol, the human stress hormone, as well as stimulate creativity. Employers competing for the best workers are using outdoor amenities to show they care about their staff’s well-being.

CookFox Architects, a firm in Manhattan that focuses on sustainability, makes green outdoor space a prerequisite when agreeing to design a building. The firm, which grows kale and tends an apiary on the terraces of its own office, recently completed 512W22, an office building in Chelsea, for Vornado Realty Trust and the Albanese Organization. The 172,700-square-foot building has an additional 16,920 square feet of terraces and a common roof, all planted with native grasses and trees selected by MKM Landscape Architecture.”

Read more in full article, The Next Frontier in Office Space? The Outdoors, here.