I am standing in a glass-enclosed conference room on the ground floor of an office building in Amsterdam, looking a carpet made of grass. At the other end of the rug is a rectangular desk, a long wooden table with four steel legs and a touch screen embedded in its surface. The button on the screen is pressed and suddenly the mat will begin to slide, moving the entire room underfoot while forcing the person to walk.
This contraption is the world’s first “walking room”. think of it as treadmills under a deskbut instead of a narrow ribbon, it is a 10×12-foot room-sized moving mat that can fit at least eight to 10 people (there is room left over for employees who want to stand still). This walking room is located inside EDGE Stadium, a new office building looking to attract new tenants.
But Walking Room It’s not just a unique service in a unique building – it’s a company founded by a physical therapist and former tennis pro who are on a mission to empower people to live healthier lives by bringing movement to the workplace. As such, this pilot project is the first of what is expected to be many “walk-through rooms” in offices around the world.
The premise is quite simple: instead of sitting around a conference table, you can set aside time in a room to hang out and ride a giant treadmill during your meeting. The Ward has three speeds, with the most commonly chosen being either 1.5 or 2.0 mph, with the less popular option being “fast ride” mode, clocking in at just over 3 mph.
The founders of Walking RoomGuido Boumann y Matthijs Verdam, explican que the slower speed is ideal for taking phone calls and performing focused taskswhile medium speed is perfect for group and individual meetings.
For safety, there are two emergency buttons located at each end of the table. The system also features two guardrails for added support and sensors that will automatically shut the machine off if you get too close to the trailing edge. At EDGE Stadium, the walking room is elevated on a pedestal, regarding 25 centimeters from the ground, which can be accessed via a few steps or a zigzag ramp. The treadmill is embedded within that plinth, so it’s flush with the rest of the floor, and getting on and off is seamless.
Like the myriad of treadmill desk companies that have proselytized the benefits of working while walking over the past 15 years, the founders rightly believe that training is the new habit of smoking and? Walking can improve your overall health, increase your energy, reduce your stress levels, increase your productivity, and make your creativity flow more easily.. “We discovered that [podemos ayudar] help people achieve their health goals by creating something they can do during work hours and together,” says Boumann. “So we came up with the idea of a treadmill to draw people onto it and get them moving.”
Working with a researcher from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the founders conducted a six-month study involving 170 office workers, men and women, with an average age of 40 years. Some participants tried individual treadmills, like you’d see at a gym, while others were grouped together so they might work on their own treadmills, but close to each other. The results were promising: 65% said they felt more productive, 62% said they felt less stressed, and 60% said they felt more creative.
But here’s where it gets interesting: In that same study, the team found that people were much more excited when they were on treadmills and grouped together. “When we split them up once more, no one used them,” says Verdam.
It’s worth noting that studies on individual treadmill desks are a bit more confusing. Since the first treadmill desk was introduced in the late 2000s, studies have shown mixed results: some reported negative impacts on learning, processing speed, and attention; others found positive impacts on attention and short-term memory. A more recent study found that treadmill desks increase your overall energy, but found no evidence of statistically significant changes in other metabolic outcomes, such as blood pressure.
The Walking RoomHowever, it’s regarding more than energy and productivity: it’s regarding team spirit. In the wake of COVID-19, building team spirit in the workplace is now on everyone’s mind as companies continue to find creative ways to entice people back to the office.
When I visited the building in mid-March, no tenants had yet been confirmed, but Florjin Vriend, EDGE’s director of wellness and social impact, is enthusiastic regarding the value of Walking Room for the building. she found out regarding Walking Room by a friend and went to test a prototype in a warehouse on the outskirts of Amsterdam. “[Al principio] It looked a bit like an experiment, but as we worked on it, enthusiasm really grew from all sides,” she says.
Para Friend, Walking Room it’s just a tool in your company’s toolbox to get workers back to the office. And it’s also a pretty modern implementation. She mentions famous CEOs, like Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs, who are known to walk to meetings to brainstorm new ideas or attract potential employees. “Given the weather outside, I think this is a good option, at least in the Netherlands,” he says with a laugh.
