Peter Ferrari Many of us will have spent more time outside over the past year than ever before. Those who did will have felt the benefit: Anglia Ruskin University research showed that spending time outdoors was linked to higher levels of happiness during lockdown. But while we’ve never valued outdoor space more, our approach to valuing outside space in commercial buildings lags well behind. The idea that Covid-19 has accelerated existing trends is relevant here: even before the pandemic, people were attaching more importance to health and wellness, including being outside, connecting with nature, taking more exercise and breathing in fresh air. These concepts have received an extra push from lockdown restrictions; recent University of Cumbria research found that 72% of women and 60% of men said they were likely to spend more time in nature in future.