VIEW FROM WITHIN: Taking a Nap at Work

Relaxation Soviet-style

It is not only doctors that know people need a break from work every once in a while. Soviet-era workers found relaxation in canteens and smoking rooms. Non-smokers and gastritis sufferers had nothing to do but stay at their desks. Big bosses who, of course, could not mix with ordinary workers usually had small rooms available next to their offices where they could find a chair, darkness and quiet. What else could a person need for a good break after lunch?

Incidentally, people remember some funny stories about those small rooms. A department director at a research institute who did not have such a facility available and dreamt of having one found a way out.

At the end of a corridor he found a small niche where the cleaner kept her mops. It was there that the ingenious director arranged a relaxation zone for himself. The room remained his little secret for a long time until eventually he was summoned to his superior at the end of the day. His colleagues had found him sleeping among the mops and buckets.

The concept of relaxation for employees was effectively abolished with the advent of perestroika. The acute shortage of quality office space ruled out the possibility of any relaxation zones in office premises. A few offices had small rooms scantily furnished with a couple of sofas and a small table where employees could rest.

“The unwillingness to furnish relaxation zones can be partially put down to [companies’] desire to use the available office space for workplaces and partially to the fact that most employers believe that breaks are appropriate only for lunch, a cup of coffee or a cigarette,” says Natalia Solovyova, a leading commercial real estate expert at ZAO Russky Dom Nedvizhimosti (Russian Realty House). These days, however, the pleasant tradition of giving people the chance to take a break from work is being restored.

Hanging Piano

It would be erroneous to say that nowadays office employees have places to go during the day to ease stress. Some 40% of employees in Russia still have lunch at their desks, Swiss Realty Group reports. Needless to say, they can hardly hope for more. Office landlords and tenants rarely agree to reduce office space in favor of the so-called soft zones.

All the Moscow business centers have virtually no relaxation areas, says Andrei Petrov, head of the office real estate department at Knight Frank. An office center is viewed by many companies as a venue for the company’s economic activity which implies the availability of conference rooms for business meetings and executive areas for the company’s management.

“As for relaxation zones or stress relief facilities for personnel, it should be noted that company executives do not show any interest (in allotting space for the purpose),” Andrei Petrov adds.

The place most often viewed as an area to relax in Moscow offices is the reception at the main entrance used by employees mostly for meeting business partners.

Those lobbies are usually furnished with leather sofas and small tables, where you can find popular business magazines mostly corresponding to the company’s profile. Finding a proper place to relax in the business-like atmosphere of that area is impossible.

“It is difficult to imagine an employee of some leading Russian firm or an international company with business interests in the Russian capital, quietly drinking a cup of coffee or reading the latest press in the lobby, on the ground floor of one of Moscow’s numerous business centers,” says Andrei Petrov.

Real estate analysts admit that some class A office centers do actually offer interesting interior design solutions. For example, the lobby of the business center on Bolshaya Ordynka features a glass podium with a piano hanging over it, Knight Frank experts say.

In their opinion, the interior of the entrance area is crucial for the property’s image, its positioning for would-be tenants. Tenants evaluate the functionality of the elements in the lobby design.

These days, major companies employing highly-skilled workforces and seeking to create a favorable atmosphere for them are installing more comfortable soft zones. Availability of such zones, says Mikhail Gets, head of commercial real estate at Blackwood, emphasizes the friendly atmosphere in the company where the employer takes care of his employees.

The size, design and location of the relaxation zones depends on the company’s policy. “If the zone is meant solely for the relaxation of employees it is better to equip it at the intersection of vertical and horizontal flows of people, for example, in central halls or atriums,” says Mikhail Gets. “If it is also used for business meetings it seems more appropriate to have it somewhere at the end of a corridor, in a quiet place away from office noise. The interior design of such rooms is more austere, in a particular style.”

Most companies content themselves with equipping a canteen or a caf? for their staff, according to Swiss Realty Group. Sometimes, those facilities even feature a TV set to create a cozy home-like atmosphere. Sometimes, smoking rooms are furnished with sofas, paper stands, aquariums or even tiny winter gardens with small fountains.

Small caf?s or restaurants where business partners can meet for an informal talk usually occupy the ground floors of business centers. Even if there is a canteen in an office center a caf? on the premises can prove to be quite effective.

“Apart from being a source of additional revenue for the landlord, it also creates a pleasant advantage for the tenants,” Gets believes. In his opinion, a massage parlor on the premises would be the best place for relaxation for office staff. “After all, most of them spend their day in front of a computer,” he says.

Some companies incorporate non-traditional approached towards the issue. The NEFA design studio reported that they were once invited to develop the design for a stress relief parlor on the premises of a gold-mining company. Another example is the office building at 7 Maly Afanasyevsky Pereulok with a swimming pool and a sauna in the basement designed with a military feel – the previous landlord was fond of fishing and military equipment.

The development plan for the office mansion at 7/2 Ordynka featured a relaxation zone with a pink and green Jacuzzi bath to create an enjoyable atmosphere.

Another stress relief option was proposed by a company boss whose favorite game was Mafia. From time to time he would insist that all his subordinates gather in a special room where he suggested that they “kill” one of their colleagues because of “that sly look in his eyes”. The boss was convinced that such fights between police, gangsters and law-abiding citizens contributed to team building and helped settle conflicts.

Be that as it may, smoking rooms still remain the most popular relaxation areas in Moscow’s offices. Of course, they have to be equipped with a high quality ventilation system and be situated well away from the work area so that non-smokers are not disturbed.

But orders for smoking rooms are increasingly rare, NEFA designers admit, as many large firms discourage their employees from smoking. Altogether, orders for relaxation zones in general are quite rare, too, they say.

“As a rule, such amenities usually occupy non-liquid properties,” Maksim Zhulikov, leading commercial real estate expert at Penny Lane Realty, adds. “For example, large business centers may have large basements that can house a fitness club or a caf?. Vacant first floor properties are also often used for the same thing.”

Relaxed Employees Work Longer Hours

Certain business centers expand their relaxation zones by opening fitness centers, gyms, and massage parlors. Those facilities are popular with the other tenants because the prices are considerably lower than elsewhere in the city. Employees come here before, during or after working hours.

“The availability of such recreation facilities constitutes a considerable competitive advantage for companies who care for their employees’ stamina,” says Andrei Petrov. “In the long run, all that has a positive impact on the efficiency of the company’s work.”

Maksim Zhulikov notes that given the sufficient supply of such amenities in downtown Moscow there is little or no need to create special recreation facilities within business centers.

“At the same time, potential tenants do not want their employees to waste time searching for a place to eat or meet a partner or a client in an informal atmosphere. A fitness club on the premises is a great advantage as healthy living has become quite important in recent years,” he says.

However, recreation facilities are not always popular with staff. For example, a fitness center for office employees built in the courtyard of 2, Obydensky Pereulok closed shortly afterwards because it failed to attract enough visitors, says Mikhail Gets. Later the building was sold for office use.

Office projects developed today in line with international standards offer a wider choice of auxiliary amenities. “Those may include restaurants, a bank office, a newspaper stand, travel agents, fitness facilities, shops,” says Regina Lochmele, office real estate analyst at Colliers International. "Those amenities are oriented not only towards tenants." Examples of such business centers currently under construction are the Avrora Business Park II, Capital Plaza on Lesnaya, Ermitazh Plaza and Business Park Krylatskiye Kholmy, she says.

Maksim Zhulikov cites Chaika Plaza 2 as a vivid example of a business center with a highly developed recreation infrastructure. The center features caf?s, restaurants, a bank office, an ATM, a beauty parlor, and a canteen. “That business center is the exception to the unwritten rule that the better the infrastructure within a business center, the further it is from the city center,” he adds.

The Citydel business center is the most interesting project in terms of the choice of recreation facilities, in the opinion of Knight Frank experts. It features a swimming pool, a SPA zone, a restaurant, a cozy coffee house, and a glazed atrium with a relaxation area. The Usadba business center (22, Voznesensky Pereulok) has a beautiful relaxation zone with columns and sculptures.

With new business centers growing along the Third Ring Road, developers are placing more emphasis on relaxation zones.

“Unlike downtown Moscow the areas along the middle belt of Moscow have fewer public amenities like cafes and restaurants, leisure and shopping centers,” says Lochmele. “Given these circumstances, a competently developed concept of auxiliary amenities is of strategic importance when designing a business center that meets international standards and offers serious competitive advantages.”

Ironically, more recreation facilities on the premises mean longer working hours. “Large business centers offer a wide range of recreational facilities such as cafes, restaurants, gyms. This came to us from the West, and this is not just done out of a sense of selfless care for the employees,” maintain Natalia Solovyova. “It has been noticed that a person who has satisfied his personal needs, be it a meal, shopping or a workout, does not rush home and tends to stay longer at his desk.”

Piranhas as Shrinks

Relaxation zones are more often than not equipped for executives. Many executive offices have an aquarium with piranhas so that an employee can feast his eyes upon them while listening to a dressing down from his boss. A more comfortable solution is a personal relaxation room that may also be used as a negotiation room.

Sometimes, those zones house a sauna, a massage parlor or a small gym, NEFA designers say. Large companies equip such zones for their top managers; in smaller, successful forms the privilege of a personal relaxation room is enjoyed by its director who is at the same time the owner of the business. For example, a relaxation zone with a VIP sauna, a swimming pool and a small gym on the premises of the office mansion at 79 Nizhegorodskaya Ulitsa caters for company executives only.

Availability and choice of relaxation facilities depend completely on the tenant’s requirements and his financial situation. The cost of equipping a soft zone can cost thousands of dollars. According to Blackwood, ordinary chairs and tables can cost up to $500, while designer furniture items, i.e. leather sofas, aquariums, etc, will require additional spending of up to $5,000 to $10,000…

One Man’s Meat Is a Russian’s…

An after-lunch nap has long ceased to be viewed as something indecent in many countries. In December 2004 Vedomosti wrote about a recently-established New York-based company, Metronaps, offering special relaxation chairs.

Christopher Lindholst, one of the founders of Metronaps, said the goal was to provide a place for a nap during office hours. The demand for the chair proved quite high. A survey held by a Washington-based sleep research foundation shows that insomnia and lack of sleep result in the loss of $18 billion for the U.S. economy.

Japan, known as a nation of workaholics, has had the practice of daytime nap for years. Research shows that employees who take a nap during the day are more efficient than those who stay awake. The nap, however, does not have to be long – 10-15 minutes is enough. If a worker sleeps longer, in a deep sleep, then when he wakes up he still feels tired.