Offices are increasingly being designed with collaboration in mind, as the lines between corporate meetings, private work sessions, and coffee dates with clients blur. While furniture and layout are often discussed, experts say there is a new frontier of workplace design they are just now tapping into: color.

Color — specifically, colored lighting — can affect productivity, according to an extensive body of research by Mariana Figueiro, a professor at the Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a private research university in Troy, N.Y.

Measuring “biomarkers” including brain activity, performance type and reaction times, as well as alertness and self-reported sleepiness, they found saturated blue colors are ideal for increasing alertness, especially for those who work a night shift. Light is denoted in nanometers, which measures its wavelength range and saturation of color. The blue they used, a 460 nanometer, affected the circadian system by simulating light from a daytime sky.

This is as close to 460-nanometer blue as you can get in the office without looking at the sky. Lighting Research Center/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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They have also found saturated red colors, specifically 640 nanometers of red, have a strong alerting effect without decreasing the hormone melatonin, which the blue light is known to do. “We have found having red light is like drinking a cup of coffee — it gives you alert effect without suppressing the melatonin.” “It’s novel and people are starting to think about these kinds of solutions,” she said.

An office wall close to 640 nanometers of red could help foster excitement and build energy. Lighting Research Center/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Colors are also very important for office productivity, said Linda Sharkey, a human resources expert and co-author of “The Future-Proof Workplace,” a book that discusses office configurations and corporate strategies. She suggested engaging employees in the selection of the color scheme, even without considering a 460-nanometer blue. “Colors like red foster excitement and build energy,” she said. “Bright colors often help people spark ideas, while soothing colors like green and lighter blues help them relax.”

“ The researchers used a ‘460 nanometer’ blue, which affected the circadian system by simulating light from a daytime sky. It’s ideal for increasing alertness, especially during the night shift. ”

She has toured offices of major companies around the world, including Unilever’s UN, -0.39% headquarters in London and Facebook’s FB, -3.26% campus in Menlo Park, Calif. In her travels, she has often noted that common areas are painted with bright colors, lending themselves to shared ideas, whereas spots for individual work and reflection are softer. This may help mitigate some of the perceived negative effects of open plan offices. Painting shared spaces with colors that lend themselves well to collaboration and private spaces with more subdued, individualized colors could help separate the environment mentally as well as physically.

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Many workers could benefit from this kind of corporate color therapy. One recent study found 50% of people with open-office floor plans were unsatisfied with their sound privacy compared with only 16% of people in private offices. Meetings in those environments can exacerbate such frustrations, creating distractions for workers. Sharkey said most workers spend a large bulk of their time in the office, and the modern workplace is evolving to meet needs that were little-known in the past.

“A human is much more complex than people gave them credit for in the 20th century workplace,” she said. “We are just now starting to pay attention to that.”