I spend most of my time working in the sunny, yellow side of the Atlas building. At the very back, with a view of the “Egbert the Fish pond” and the Limbopad. And with floor-to-ceiling windows. On a sunny day, the sun shines on them all day long. The result? The greenhouse effect.

On a sunny day in winter, it’s at least 23 degrees Celsius; on a summer day, it’s even warmer. We have two options to cool off: lower the sunshades so we can keep the sun out a little and no light falls on our screens, or open the windows for some much-needed fresh air. We can’t do both at the same time, unfortunately, but negotiations between Team Open Window and Team Sunshade Down are usually amicable.

Stuffy indoor climate

But when the sun is shining and it’s also very cold outside, then we have a real problem: we have to work in our greenhouse wearing our winter clothes. Lowering the thermostat by two degrees barely makes any difference, and we can’t open a window. So the decision we make in front of our closets each morning is: wear layers. A T-shirt or blouse, cardigan or sweater, scarves – so we can brave the cold outside while shielding ourselves from the tropical temperatures inside the office.

What this doesn’t solve, however, is the stuffy indoor climate. We know this is being worked on, but in the meantime, we’ve been stuck for years in this highly sustainable office that’s far too hot, where we can’t open a window when we need to and where colleagues complain of headaches.

I have suggested to my fellow office dwellers that we should draw serious attention to our problem with a protest: we all come into the office in our swimwear for a day. I haven’t been able to get many people on board so far, but frustration is mounting. Maybe it will be a one-woman protest. Believe me, colleagues, you don’t want to witness that! So please, just allow us some fresh air.