Kothari tells Harper's Bazaar about the importance of a well-designed work space.

As Downtown Design, and indeed the whole Art Dubai Group prepare to move to new offices in Dubai Design District, we are left pondering on the virtues of a healthy, well-designed working environment – one that encourages productivity, connectivity and doesn’t leave you with a bad case of ‘sick building syndrome’. For those of you who’ve found themselves dropping off under the evil yellow glare of a strip fluorescent bulb, or frozen solid at your desk by overenthusiastic AC vents overhead, you’ll be only too aware of the physical effect your workspace can have on you. And as we plunge headlong into the sizzling summer months and spend more time indoors, we increase our exposure to indoor toxins emitted by pollutants inherent in furniture, and a lack of natural sunlight and fresh air.

Cue innovation. Ergonomically designed furniture, like Todd Bracher’s Red Dot-winning Trea Chair designed for Humanscale, not only possesses a slick silhouette but has been sustainably engineered from recycled materials ,involves no moving parts, is exceptionally lightweight and, most importantly of all, is designed to fit your body perfectly. And while sitting pretty is undoubtedly the preferred option, the sedentary life has been usurped by the idea that you think more creatively when you’re standing up, or even walking while you work. This has been put to the test by Italian designer Michele de Lucchi, who created a futuristic workplace during this year’s Salone del Mobile, populated by computers affixed to treadmills. If just reading this has expended too much energy, then sit back down. German brand Wilkahan’s ON chair uses kinematic principles to stimulate the body’s core muscle groups and joints while you’re seated to simulate the effect of walking while you sit.

So, while your sophisticated office chair does its part to keep you fit, how can you boost your body with oxygen to keep those neurons firing? An inexpensive green fix is to subvert science and rely on the bounty of nature instead. There are certain plants that can purify up to 90% of the air around you, ridding it of harmful Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) like Formaldahyde and Xylene that are omitted by some furniture. And don’t just take my word for it, either; these plants have been tested by Nasa. Try filling your office with Aloe Vera, Spider Plants, Mother in Law’s Tongue and Chinese Evergreens – all available at your local plant souk, or even IKEA, for that matter.

Of course, a healthy relationship with your colleagues can contribute heavily to your happiness, ergo your productivity quotient, on a daily basis. If you bring to mind the office of the 1950s, that relationship once had to vault the barriers of decidedly depressing pigeonholes, where workers were doomed to sit, in their little boxes, dreaming of the end of the day. Some of you won’t be surprised to note that in many companies this format hasn’t changed, but with design solutions like Herman Miller’s Metaform Portfolio, a collaboration with Berlin-based Studio 7.5, the idea of how we work best together has evolved. The Metaform is a beautifully crafted modular system that allows each worker to configure their space in a way that suits them best. It’s empowerment, sociability and connectedness that makes employees feel comfortable, valued and, above all, happy to come to work every day; a design made in sync with Herman Miller’s philosophy: “The most important thing in the room is not the furniture – it’s the people.”

Of course, if you subscribe to the modern method of the ‘anywhere office’ and you run a business that can be serviced equally as well from a poolside sunbed, iced tea in hand, then you’ve cracked it. The ultimate solution for most of us is a working environment that offers complete freedom from the confines of ‘the box’ – where technology and ideas combine to give us the ideal equation: connectivity + creativity = success.