When staff at Genzyme, a US biotechnology company, feel the need to clear their heads, they look for a secluded garden to sit in. They don't have far to go - a few steps along a corridor or down a flight of stairs.
Genzyme's indoor gardens, which decorate the atrium, roof and most of the floors of its headquarters in Massachusetts, are, admittedly, quite small. The largest, a tropical waterfall in the reception, is perhaps 200 sq m; the smallest is about 20 sq m. But what the plots lack in space they make up for in convenience.
Not only are the gardens close to hand, they are also in biodiverse styles.
"It creates a sense of freedom," says Bo Piela, a senior corporate communications director. "After a day in meeting rooms, talking with colleagues in a space surrounded by trees feels more relaxed."
Mr Piela's colleagues share his taste for green surroundings. In a 2005 survey, 88 per cent of staff said the interior gardens improved their sense of wellbeing. Another popular feature (which 72 per cent of employees said made them more productive) was access to natural light. The building's exterior is made of glass, and roof-mounted mirrors rotate to catch the sun's rays.
Evolutionary psychology may explain why Genzyme's employees like their light-filled surroundings and gardens. Judith Heerwagen, a behavioural ecologist, says we favour environments that resemble the landscapes our species learnt to prefer during the critical hunter-gatherer phase in human evolution.
Ms Heerwagen discerns atavistic traits in corporate life: for example, the habitof executives ensconcing themselves in windowed offices. This parallels our early ancestors' preference for sheltered vantage points, she believes. The downside is that when senior managers commandeer views, they restrict the natural light available to junior staff clustered within.
Other workplace habits that Ms Heerwagen attributes to evolutionary impulses include our liking for pot plants (indicative of plentiful food sources) and a dislike for workspaces that are visually monotonous, enclosed or totally open. "A lot of organisations still put people in grey cubicles that are like zoo cages. It's as though they think people don't have colour vision."
Accommodating our instincts demands some thought. As a start, she recommends interspersing rows of workstations with a mixture of communal and secluded areas to give people places to socialise or be private. Furnishings should not all be of the same texture. Colourful walls are conducive to wellbeing. And people should be able to adjust light levels for themselves.
Many employers, of course, strive to appeal to the senses.
One example in the UK is the headquarters of Hydrogen Energy, a joint venture between BP and Rio Tinto, which opened in June. The offices, situated by theRiver Wey in the south-east of England, are inspired by nature. There is a pebble-clad corridor and an inside wall that displays encapsulated leaves.
Best of all is the building's leafy location, says Adrian Norman of designers Morgan Lovell. "There's evidence that if you give people a view, they vary their focal lengths, which reduces eyestrain."
But what of companies that lack lovely outlooks? When Valtech moved into offices near London's Barbican in 2001, the directors of the information technology consultancy used colour and gigantic murals to create a workspace that would inspire staff. One mural, on a bare brick wall overlooked by a conference room, depicts a woodland waterfall.
Another mural, in a lavatory, transports the visitor to an Alpine valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Does the view suit the setting? Gazing at the frosty panorama in this most private of refuges, one feels suddenly vulnerable. An evolutionary psychologist, no doubt, could explain why.
