When Cushman & Wakefield’s employees in Boston stepped inside their new office for the first time in August, they were hit with a carefully designed optical illusion. Many workers said it looked bigger than their old workplace.

But that’s not the case, said Gable Clarke, president of interior design at architecture firm SGA. The design reduces the number of private offices as compared to its previous office in a different building, and it adds more areas for group gatherings. The result is a layout that makes better use of available space that's actually smaller than the firm's previous office.

“It’s not a drastic reduction in space,” Clarke told CoStar News. “It’s a more thoughtful use of the environment.”

SGA and Dream Collaborative renovated Cushman’s Boston office before the brokerage moved in last year. Designers referred to dozens of comments solicited from employees about what they wanted from a workspace, Kelly Mann, director of the Total Workplace group at Cushman, told CoStar News.

The Boston office is one of more than 400 for Cushman and is staffed by about 170 employees. It's also the firm's newest office, so it may provide a glimpse at how Cushman may redesign other locations, according to Mann. No decisions have been made on the renovation of additional offices, she said.

Window views of Boston Harbor aren’t restricted to executives’ offices but are spread throughout the office and can be accessed by anyone regardless of their position with the company. All workstations have sit-stand desks. Places to “recharge” are spread throughout the 27,000 square feet.

Cushman’s Boston brokers are already using the space in their work as commercial real estate professionals to advise clients searching for their own offices, Mann said.

“Brokers have started inviting clients to come in and see what we’re talking about,” Mann said. “They never did that before.”

Cushman vacated 35,000 square feet at 225 Franklin St., cutting back to 27,000 square feet at 125 High St. Guidelines for the Boston staff call for in-office attendance two or three days per week, though Mann said it isn't mandatory for employees to come into the office a set number of days.

The firm declined to say how much it received in tenant improvement allowances from landlord Tishman Speyer, though it said the funds covered 80% of the renovation cost. The brokerage doesn’t have immediate plans to renovate all its U.S. offices but intends to gradually redesign its spaces.

A design theme used throughout the new Boston space is the concept of serving workers with differing preferences, Clarke said.

Some employees want to be where the action is, surrounded by people talking, Mann said. Others would like to see workmates and be near conversations, but to be separated either by space or windows and not be amid the clamor themselves.

“You’re able to control your surroundings,” Clarke said.

Brain health in the workplace, with changes to accommodate different comfort levels with light and sound to reduce stress, is an emerging trend in interior design. The interactive media track at this year’s South by Southwest tech conference in Austin, Texas, features a panel titled “Kicking Our Workstation Habit to Improve Brain Health.”

The extensive windows in Cushman’s Boston office, accessible to all staff members, is one effort to address brain health, Mann said.

“We have found that for folks who have migraines, natural light really helps,” Mann said.

At the old office, Cushman’s red logo was prominently displayed throughout the space. During employee feedback sessions, workers said they hoped the new office would de-emphasize the color red.

“People told us the red felt so aggressive,” Mann said. “They asked, ‘Can we bring it down a little bit? We’re so stressed already.'”

The new office instead deploys a mix of white and off-white shades, green, gray and light brown as the primary color scheme.

Cushman replaced its old desks, chairs and tables with new furniture designed and manufactured by Muscatine, Iowa-based Allsteel. The new furniture is largely minimalist in design with a hint of mid-century modern touches.

Cushman and SGA also decided to relocate what was previously confined to a hidden part of the office — the break room. It’s now the first thing you see when walking through the front door. The idea is to make the office more welcoming.

“When you walk in, you see the coffee area,” Mann told CoStar News. “We do have a front desk, but it’s set to the side. It’s not meant to be the focal point. It’s more like a concierge approach.”

“The fact is that, now, people want to come in,” she said. “They didn’t want to come into the office before.”