DESIGN:Using works of art to add to the aesthetics of a workplace is a notion that is gaining pace around the world . And it might even make your employees more creative, writes Haydn Shaughnessy.

IN THE heart of the Rockefellar Centre in New York, the world's prime real estate, the property developer Tishman Speyer sits on one of the world's most prestigious art collections. From Koons to Warhol to Barovsky, Tishman Speyer incorporate art into any and every development they initiate.

Although, Tishman Speyer take a love of art a little further than your average collector. Michael Spies, who heads up Tishman Speyer in London, explains: "For a couple of years, we installed a series of school desks complete with graffiti in our boardroom and replaced the boardroom furniture.

"It clearly had the effect of provoking you. It shocked and troubled people."

In case this sounds a little, well, irrational, it needs to be taken in mind that Tishman Speyer has conveyed over $75 billion (€47.7 billion) of property in the past 25 years.

They are serious players in the class-A property market globally and are responsible for landmark developments in New York, London, Berlin and Frankfurt, each one complete with serious art installations. "Art is ethical and innovative, controversial too," says Spies. And does surrounding your employees and colleagues with such art make it easier to propagate those values through the organisation?

"It certainly does," he confirms quickly.

In fact, Tishman Speyer claim to achieve market advantage not through the value of the art they buy or install, but through the creative thought processes that their unique approach generates in their workforce.

Does it add dollars to the rental value of a building, or does it make buildings easier to rent out? Spies is non-committal on both, offering only a general view that you can't say and you never know. But having an executive board that sits behind school desks certainly makes people think. The issue of using art and design, over and above contemporary architecture, to advance a property project, is timely. The sudden decline in property prices in Ireland begs imaginative responses.

But when you hear one of the world's most successful developers say art has an immeasurable effect, then it's not exactly an endorsement. Is there a place for a little more flair as times get tough?

In October 2007, Minister for the Environment John Gormley announced a new Government policy on architecture. "Architecture must give practical expression to the needs of individuals and communities," his public briefing document said.

Of course, the use of art as opposed to architecture is a step further into the aesthetics of everyday life.

In the Dublin dockland offices of solicitors McCann Fitzgerald, art is used in precisely that way, to advance the aesthetics of the work environment. The company established an art collection to compliment its office space.

"The art is intended as a counterfoil to the building," says Tim Boucher Hayes, partner responsible for art. "The building has lots of wood on the walls, but has no vibrant colours and has a lot of open space."

In addition to hiring a curator/advisor, Gerry Watson, to help acquire a collection, McCann Fitzgerald also hired seven Irish designers to customise the furniture for different parts of the building, resulting in a range of bespoke environments within the office.

According to Watson, who advised the company on the art works: "The collection overall, between the open spaces and meeting rooms, is reasonably representative, as representative as possible in a collection of this size, of our current art practice in Ireland." Each floor of the McCann Fitzgerald office has a large wall in a semi-circular atrium. These open-plan work spaces are now hung with works by artists such as Patrick Hall and John Cronin. In between, Watson has woven a half dozen responses to the Irish landscape by Irish women painters.

While Hayes emphasises the aesthetics of an environment full of art, Watson believes he has gone further.

"People in a building like this are using their intellects all day and are not going to be talked down to. I want some people to come up to me and say I hate that work, as much as I want people to say I love that work. It is important to be challenging."

In London, developers Argent have pledged to utilise art in every phase of the redevelopment of 65 acres of Kings Cross."We have 20 new streets and 10 new squares to build," says Roger Madelin, chief executive of Argent, a company that works with leading UK companies and cities. "We're debating now what kind of art to put in there, where and why, but also what art should we be supporting from day one. What about designer benches that become art?"

Madelin also wants to see construction equipment become part of the story of Kings Cross redevelopment. He plans to use cranes and other objects as art installations.

Previously, Argent has used art in buildings and developments in Birmingham and Manchester. Has it increased revenue, either in higher rental values or additional lettings?

"We've never truly analysed returns and it would be very difficult to do a black and white accountant's analysis," says Madelin.

"What is the value of a great place? What is the value of someone smiling before they go into a meeting?"

Over the past five years in Ireland, a higher standard of architecture, design and the use of art in buildings has undoubtedly spread. The interior of the G hotel, the new Elysian development in Cork city centre and smaller projects such as the Glass House in Sligo are all testament to that. However, the onset of a temporary economic decline could trigger retrenchment by developers.

"The big problem with funds drying up is the knock on effect on design," says Vincent Haddon, principle at Vincent Haddon and Associates - architects responsible for the Glass House hotel in Sligo.

"People look to save on design. In the good years, when budgets were not so tight, we could be more expressive, but to date with our current projects, we haven't yet been told to cut back."

"Some of this relates to the business model in a development," says Spies. "If a building is already sold, then less attention is likely to be paid to what it looks like. What matters is the relevant business model. A building is bricks and mortar, but it is also living over decades so when you look at that and understand its real functions over many years, it's important to do whatever you can to make it function. And art can make a place richer."

The idea that a developer has a long-term interest in how a building functions is a debatable point. It is not cut and dried. And neither Spies nor Madelin will stake much on an audit of art's bottom-line contribution.Between the idea of a long-term point of view and the contribution of art to profit these highly successful developers have a hunch. They are both adamant about that art is an important and perhaps central part of their own corporate cultures, defining their approach to the built environment and playing a role in their success.

In the case of Tishman Speyer, art has helped consolidate their reputation for creating landmark buildings that help define major cities. In the case of Argent, art is a key differentiator for the developments they undertake.

The next few years could say a lot about Ireland's ability to continue to enrich people's lives. As the economic news becomes gloomier, perhaps art becomes an even wiser investment.

"Anything that gets people to a place and puts a smile on their face has to be good," says Madelin, summing up his own view of the road ahead. "Now is a very good time to raise the spirits," he says.