> The office had a smell. I can’t say what it was, it was businesslike, and not unpleasant

Timber that was very expensive when it was fitted, and carpet tiles that have repeatedly got damp and not dried out properly. Very old cigarette smoke from when people were allowed to smoke in the office that is now embedded in the blinds and suspended ceiling tiles.

I was recently in a large suite of government offices, fitted out in the 1970s and largely unchanged since, and that was the exact smell. We're imagining the same smell right now.