The Nature of Work

The wellness-centered spaces of Hilary Catterall, Interior Design ’06

Let’s face it: We’re living in fractious, distracting times, and anything that makes our workspace more like a spa (or at least less like a conventional office) would be welcome. The director of interiors and styling at the architecture firm Cookfox, Hilary Catterall thinks a lot about what makes employees happier and healthier. With her steady voice and patient demeanor, she embodies the soothing, empathic qualities of a wellness-centered environment.

“The key to being a good designer,” she says, “is thinking of every kind of person who walks into a space, how it impacts their life, and how they can thrive.”

Catterall’s team helped create the cozy yet spacious workspace in the Cookfox-designed Ruby residential building on 28th Street, just north of FIT. Image courtesy of Cookfox Architects.

Cookfox made its name with biophilic design—architecture that embraces the natural world. In 2024, for the newest Google headquarters at St. John’s Terminal in lower Manhattan, the firm sliced off part of an existing structure to connect the building to the waterfront, and added an acre and a half of green spaces, incorporating 95% native plant species. 

Catterall started as a consultant in 2014 and became full-time in 2016; she manages a team of interior designers with expertise in furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E). Working within the wider office of about 80 people, her team of three focuses on space planning and layouts, furniture, lighting, fixtures, fittings, equipment, and artwork and accessories curation. Cookfox projects begin with the architects, and Catterall’s team makes sure that the firm’s vision, always rooted in history, is realized even in the smallest details of the interiors. Cookfox’s design for the Ruby building in the Garment District references the industry; Catterall made sure even the books on shelves in the common areas were fashion titles.

The relationship to nature is central to Catterall’s approach. “I don’t think people realize how much the outdoors are associated with a sense of wellness and stability,” she says. There’s science to back it up: A University of Michigan study, for example, found that a 20-minute nature walk significantly reduces stress hormone levels.  

A patio at the Ruby. Image courtesy of Cookfox Architects.

“Wellness started gaining traction before Covid, but now it’s tripled,” Catterall says. Cookfox’s Midtown office, much of which was designed by Catterall, is considered exemplary. The New York Times called the space, with its companionable and plentiful plants and biomorphic light fixtures, “a greener, more healthful place to work.” Transformable wooden tables (designed by Cookfox and fabricated by noted furniture craftsman Tod Von Mertens) anchor the “harvest gathering” space, so named because it’s adjacent to the firm’s rooftop vegetable garden. Plants sway in the breeze on the terrace, and there’s even an apiary—yes, right on 57th Street—complete with buzzing honeybees.  

A table featuring terrariums at Cookfox. Photos by Eric Laignel.

The Cookfox offices are full of light and greenery.

Among healthy materials, wood and fabrics particularly please Catterall because they balance out the hardness of stone and metal. A wooden desk with an elegant grain offers a tactile connection to the natural world. “I’m a very touchy-feely person,” she admits, but she’s also mindful of sensory details because making spaces better for neurodivergence is important to her. “The more senses you’re connected to, the less stress you have.” One known technique for calming anxiety, she says, is finding three things you can see, hear, touch, or smell. 

Sustainability concerns also matter. According to the Carbon Leadership Forum, interiors can account for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions produced over the lifetime of a building. Cookfox’s own office space achieved both LEED Platinum and WELL Gold certification, with Catterall’s team reusing furniture from their original office and incorporating vintage pieces. When possible, they avoid vinyl, polyurethane, and PFAs—materials that can’t be recycled and therefore lack “sustainable circularity.”

The Cookfox offices. Photo by Eric Laignel.

Lighting receives special attention. “The amount of light you’re getting can affect your stress levels,” she explains. Cookfox’s office features lighting that adjusts throughout the day—blue light in the morning becomes “warmer and softer” as the day progresses, helping the transition into after-hours life. “It helps your body shut down and unwind,” she says.

With Catterall’s guidance, it’s easy to imagine a fantastic future for the office: A place people no longer avoid, but seek out as a sanctuary.