It is often the case that office design is firmly at the back of employers’ minds. A desk, chair and acomputer are provided and that is often it.

What surrounds workers are often bare walls, blinds placed across windows to hide the sun and a ban on music just in case it doesn’t suit the tastes of the majority.

Studies have found that far from keeping workers focused, bare quiet offices are likely to result in reduced productivity and a moody workforce. So when it comes to office interior design it may be wise to at least consult workers on how they want the place where they spend most of their waking lives to look.

The new buzzword in office design is ‘biophilic’ design or the architecture of life. In other words workers want to see more of nature so that they can feel at home.

The survey of 3,600 office workers by Human Spaces found that the five things staff most wanted in their office interior design were Natural light (42%) Quiet work spaces (22%) A view of the sea (20%) Live indoor plants (18%) Bright and natural colours (15%).

So letting in natural light should be the number one priority followed by peace and quiet as anyone who has the misfortune to work next to a noisy co-worker will testify. A view of the sea may be a little tricky to achieve for most business owners but a potential solution is artwork or bringing focusing office interior design on more natural shapes and colours.