This company wants to turn your office into a giant treadmill

Move over treadmill desks. Entire walking rooms are now a thing thanks to a company in Amsterdam that’s looking to improve the health of office workers.

The company behind the idea is rather conveniently named The Walking Room. According to Fast Company, which first reported on the company, it was founded by Guido Boumann and Matthijs Verdam, a physiotherapist and former pro tennis player, respectively. Their aim is to bring the health benefits of movement into the workplace.

“We help companies create a healthy and active working environment. Creativity, productivity and health come together in this workplace,” the Walking Room website reads.

And it kind of makes sense. There are studies that have shown that there are benefits such as productivity and critical thinking when it comes to things like taking walking meetings during the workday.

But that can prove slightly more difficult if you have a larger group of people, or if you live somewhere where this isn’t comfortably possible. Think Canadian winters, for example.

The solution that Walking Room has come up with is moving Astroturf between 14 and 25 square meters. This allows for 8 – 15 employees to all walk together during a meeting or presentation. There is also an option for single treadmills for individuals.

There are three speeds — 1.5, 2 and 3mph, with the latter being considered a ‘power walk’ mode. There are also safety features such as emergency stop buttons, railings and sensors at the rear of the treadmill to warn users if they’re close to the edge.

It’s certainly an interesting concept, and some companies are already getting on board. I respect any organisation that is trying to bring more movement into people’s work lives. It’s important.

But I wonder whether the time for this kind of large-scale office integration has passed. While well-intentioned — and with science to back it up — it does seem somewhat like a startup gimmick circa 2015 when the money was flowing and wild office add-ons were all the rage.

2023 is different. While there is a push to return to the office, many office works are still working at least partially from home. Less cash is being splashed in general. The cost of everything is up. Office space is expensive and some companies, even ones as big as Microsoft, are finding themselves downsizing their space as well as their workforce.

As an avid daily walker, I’ll gladly be proven wrong here — but I just don’t know how many companies will be able to justify this if remote work continues to be the norm in some form or other.