‘Walking Rooms’ Replace Your Standing Desk To Help You Go The Extra Mile At Work
Do you ever feel unsettled about sitting on your tushy all day—from your time on the commute to the hours at the office? While such sentiments may have been less common a few years ago, the pandemic seems to have kickstarted new, healthier mindsets, leading to a demand for standing desks, and even treadmill desks, in recent times.
That’s why one new office building in Amsterdam, called the EDGE Stadium, is adopting a giant, walk-in treadmill—it’s hoping to draw new tenants in with the appeal of clocking in both work hours and steps via what is said to be the world’s largest walking meeting room.
View this post on Instagram
The building has tapped the technology of Walking Room, a startup that plans to set up more of its treadmill floors in workplaces around the world, as first reported by Fast Company. Walking Room was founded by Guido Boumann and Matthijs Verdam, a physiotherapist and a former professional tennis player who wanted to help people reach their health goals even when they can’t commit extra time after work.
While customizable, a walking room generally measures 14 to 24 square meters (150 to 258 square feet) and can accommodate eight to 15 people on its moving carpet. Its casual speeds are ideal for slipping a little physical activity into focused work and team meetings.
Like a regular treadmill, each walking space features support for your hands at the front—a long table, in this case—which includes a touchscreen to start and stop a session. Railings at the side offer additional support.
Teams who are tired of sitting around can book a time slot to have a stroll during their meetings. Users normally gravitate toward the more relaxed speeds of 1.5 or 2 mph, which are great for finding momentum at work, taking phone calls, and powering the mind and body at meetings. There’s also a ‘power walk’ mode, which moves at over 3 mph.
View this post on Instagram
For safety, the oversized treadmill is equipped with emergency buttons at both sides of the table, as well as sensors that immediately turn off the mechanism if a walker is too close to the edge.
The walking room has already picked up some momentum among users. In a six-month study that the startup conducted with researchers at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, 65% of the 170 male and female workers who tested the product reported feeling more productive, with 62% noting that their stress levels went down and 60% relating that they felt more creative.
However, the founders observed that users were keener on using the facility when they knew they were walking together. Workers did not volunteer to use the treadmill individually.
Perhaps this is one way to ease workers into the motion of interacting with one another again after returning to the workplace.
[via Fast Company and Walking Room, images via various sources]
