Natural light. The holy grail of office features. Ask any occupier what they want, and somewhere near the top of the list, right next to ‘collaboration zones’ and ‘great coffee’, you’ll hear it: “lots of natural light.”

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: no one actually likes natural light. They just think they’re supposed to.

Because when you strip back the buzzwords and actually watch how people use space, you start to see the reality. Blinds down. Desks pushed away from windows. Half the team wearing sunglasses indoors. That south-facing wall everyone fought over on the viewing? It’s now the most avoided corner of the office by 2 p.m.

Don’t believe me? Walk through any top-spec office around 3 o’clock on a sunny afternoon. Half the rooms look like cave dwellings. People are squinting at their screens, trying to angle their laptops away from glare. Meeting rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows? Empty. Everyone’s huddled in the core, chasing shade like Victorian poets.

We’ve turned natural light into this untouchable design goal without ever asking: does it actually work for the people using the space?

Light is good, yes. But unfiltered, uncontrolled, blazing sunlight isn’t. Especially not in a city where buildings were never designed for it. Especially not when it cooks your HVAC system and gives your team a daily squint induced migraine.

But no one wants to admit it.

Why? Because saying “we want loads of light” makes you sound aspirational. Healthy. Progressive. Saying “actually, we prefer a balanced, controllable environment with proper dimming and layered lighting options” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

So instead, everyone keeps parroting the same line, while quietly drawing the blackout blinds and setting their brightness to 10%.

There’s a deeper point here. Too much of the office market is driven by received wisdom – features we’re told we should want, not the ones we actually use. We all nod along about biophilia, sit-stand desks, dog-friendly policies… but how much of it holds up in practice?

It’s the same with light.

You know what people really want? Comfort. Control. A workspace that doesn’t fry their face for four hours a day or make them sweat through Zoom calls in July. Something that works, not just something that sounds good on a brochure.

So maybe it’s time we rethink the obsession with glass and glare. Maybe the best offices aren’t the ones with panoramic skylines and floor-to-ceiling exposure, but the ones that understand how people actually work.

Design for reality, not reputation.

And if you’re a landlord planning a spec refurb: ask yourself if all that sun is really a selling point, or just another reason for your tenants to buy branded blinds.

Because in the real world? Mood lighting beats migraine lighting every time.