Light: The Design Decision Most People Never Think About

If there’s one single factor that shapes how people experience a working day, it’s light — not furniture, not technology, not even location.

The body reacts to light before the mind catches up

Research from Cornell University, cited by Harvard Business Review, found employees working in optimised natural light reported a 51% drop in eyestrain, a 63% drop in headaches, and a 56% reduction in drowsiness compared to those working under artificial light alone. A separate study from the University of Illinois and SUNY Upstate Medical University found employees with greater natural light exposure slept an average of 37 minutes longer per night, and scored 42% higher on cognitive decision-making tests.

This isn’t decorative detail. Natural light triggers serotonin production — the neurotransmitter directly linked to alertness, mood stability, and the ability to concentrate. A Future Workplace survey found employees rank natural light and outdoor views above most other office perks, including on-site cafeterias and gyms.

At Dreamplex, light is designed zone by zone

The wavy ceiling at Dreamplex Le Hien Mai uses Vietnamese Melaleuca timber — a choice that wasn’t made for looks alone. Timber diffuses and warms light in a way standard gypsum board or metal ceiling grids simply don’t. Light passing through the wood surface becomes softer, easier on the eyes across a full working day.

The rooftop area goes a step further: a multi-purpose room that opens completely onto the surrounding tropical garden, letting natural light and outdoor air in directly — not filtered through the tinted glass most high-rise offices rely on.

Five years earlier, this same instinct was already present at Dreamplex Ngo Quang Huy, under its original design tagline: “Light. Open. Green.” The five-storey building was designed around natural light, air circulation, and greenery as core structural principles — not amenities bolted on after the floor plan was finalised.

Natural Materials: When What You Touch Affects How Stressed You Feel

Research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that people exposed to natural light and natural materials showed significantly lower cortisol levels — the body’s primary stress hormone — compared to those working in fully synthetic, artificially lit environments.

The clay-toned palette at Dreamplex Le Hien Mai was chosen for a specific reason: to create a sense of intimacy and maturity, while keeping the space relaxed rather than formal. That’s a harder balance than it sounds — too much neutral tone reads as cold, too much colour becomes distracting. Minimally processed materials like natural timber also reduce the chemical off-gassing and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) common in industrial finishes — a factor that directly affects indoor air quality, even though it rarely comes up in conversations about office design.

Recovery Space: Why a Good Office Needs Somewhere to Switch Off

Environmental psychology has a term for this: Attention Restoration Theory. The core idea is that sustained focus depletes cognitive resources, and exposure to nature — even briefly — restores those resources far faster than resting in an artificial environment does.

That’s precisely why the rooftop area at Dreamplex Le Hien Mai wasn’t designed as an overflow meeting room. The VMARK jury’s own description of the space calls it a place offering “a sense of privacy and tranquility, perfect for informal meetings or moments of restoration.” That’s deliberate design language, not marketing copy.

Most offices in Vietnam still treat recovery space as “wasted” square footage — the first thing cut when optimising for rentable area per square metre. Dreamplex bets the opposite way: an employee with somewhere to recover mid-day returns to their desk with meaningfully better focus than someone pushing through eight straight hours.

Designing for Multiple Generations, Not One Type of Worker

One of the most common wrong assumptions in office design: that every employee works the same way.

Dreamplex Le Hien Mai was explicitly designed for a multigenerational workforce — combining traditional work settings with flexible coworking zones inside the same building. Older employees may be used to fixed desks, quiet space, and clear boundaries. Younger employees may need flexible, movable areas suited to informal, fast-shifting group work.

At Dreamplex Ngo Quang Huy, this principle showed up as 12 distinct working styles inside a single five-storey building — from private offices for four people to a full dedicated floor, alongside shared community space open to everyone. There’s no single “correct” answer for how people should work. There are multiple correct answers, coexisting in the same space.