The most depressing office environment I have ever witnessed was in a large London bank. Having passed through so many levels of security that Fort Knox would have been envious, I finally reached the nerve centre of the organisation. Open plan. Rows upon rows of forlorn faces. A dull, putrid green decor that was, perhaps, briefly fashionable in 1986. But only briefly. It was rumoured that some staff facing each other had never exchanged words. Studying the suicide-grey workstations, I could kind of understand why. The sad lament in the 1999 film Office Space summed it up: “We don’t have a lot of time on this Earth. We weren’t meant to spend it this way!”

Are the offices in Britain worse than those of other countries? Yes, according to a recent survey. Ipsos polled 12,000 employees across 12 countries and found that British offices are easily the ugliest and coldest: 30% of British respondents found their work environment very impersonal; 13% said their workspace was plain ugly, which is double the global average; 45% were unhappy with the temperature – too cold.

The open plan layout was also criticised by British workers. It is hard to get your job done with all the noise, interruptions and distractions. This layout was developed in the 1950s in an effort to create freer and more human work environments. But the utopian dream appears to have become a dystopian reality. Compelled to listen to a co-worker munching through yet another bag of crisps, it’s easy to conclude that sometimes too much humanity is just as bad.

It was the lack of choice and autonomy over their work environments that caused such worry among British respondents. When grown adults have no control over their most basic physiological needs, including temperature, light and posture, they soon begin to suffer. It’s not just the corporate hierarchy that can feel undemocratic, but the geographical space itself.

The quality of our workspace might seem a trivial thing, one of those indulgent “first-world problems” that doesn’t really matter in the larger scheme of things. However, the research says otherwise. Cooler temperatures can trigger a matching mood of “social coldness”, making us feel lonely and isolated, even in a room full of people. Another study suggests that ugly workspaces might be linked to mood disorders and suicide. This is serious given how much time we spend in the workplace.

So why are British offices worse than all the rest? One reason might be a lack of investment. British businesses are notorious for low capital investment, and infrastructure appears to have especially suffered. And when times are tough, sprucing up the decor or renovating the heating system can easily slip down the list of priorities.

There are other reasons why UK firms underinvest in their own organisations. According to Andy Haldane, the Bank of England chief economist, greedy shareholder capitalism plays a big part. In 1970 for every £100 of profit earned, £10 was paid out as dividends. Now shareholders demand closer to £70 per £100 of profit. As a result the infrastructure slowly wears out. Firms driven only by shareholder value not only put profits before people, but also end up “eating themselves”, as Haldane put it.

Governments too have fallen behind in this regard. In the US, for example, some have argued that America is falling down. As one report states: “Our roads and bridges are crumbling, our airports are out of date and the vast majority of our seaports are in danger of becoming obsolete. All the result of decades of neglect.”

The UK isn’t far behind. Perhaps all of these ultra-drab work environments are connected to austerity. We typically understand austerity as an economic policy – low public spending and high taxes. But it’s more than just economics. According to a 2013 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, austerity has deeply affected the emotional outlook of the British public. Even if the economy improves, there is “a continuing downbeat mood among the general public. Over two-thirds of our respondents (72%) expect the economy to get worse.” With ominous news about “storm clouds gathering” and yet more cuts on the way, our eyes naturally darken.

It is for that reason that a happy and relaxing office environment might seem completely out of place in these austere times. We are not meant to be having fun, but tightening our belts and getting on with the job with grim determination. The architecture of austerity is fundamentally about neglect. Cold and ugly offices are the perfect backdrop to the cultural narrative that austerity politics bombards us with every day. The gloomy workstation. The disappointing decor. That weird, suspicious smell. These might indicate real economic neglect, but also a state of mind that we recognise in the built environment around us.

An online forum dedicated to crappy offices is interesting in this respect. Some comments are predictable, like “I miss delivering pizzas”. But my favourite is this one: “Ah the sterile corporate environment. No amount of foosball or happy hours will make the dying go away. Better get used to dying inside and learn to enjoy it.”

Isn’t this a perfect example of how neoliberal capitalism functions today? The ideology of austerity certainly demands we tighten our belts and accept a miserable future. But we must also find some kind of pleasure in it. This is what gives the current phase of capitalism such a self-destructive tone. It is clear that we need to relearn the enriching pleasures of democratic spaces. And the workplace might be a good place to start.