indoor live plants displayed in large building

Best project win for UP South Yorkshire

16 September 2022

We are very proud to announce that Urban Planters South Yorkshire’s planting for Sheffield Hallam University has been awarded Best Project 2022 in the Plants@Work Awards!

Our planting scheme for Sheffield Hallam’s revamped City Campus atrium also won a Gold Leaf Award, and is testament to the way universities are embracing planting as part of creating welcoming and nurturing learning environments.

Two years in the planning, Urban Planters South Yorkshire worked alongside architects BDP and BAM Construction to design a sweeping planting scheme for the university’s vast atrium and the cafeteria.

Linear and curved troughs line the sides of the atrium across all the floors, densely planted with a selection of species such as Dracaena, Sansevierias, Kentias and Araucarias.

The troughs work with the wooden panels and natural light from the glass ceiling to create a biophilic learning environment.

In giving the award, Judge Nicola Bristow commented that the scheme created ‘a very warm and welcoming environment.’

Studies have shown that attentiveness in classrooms can increase by up to 70% when indoor plants are present. They are also proven to lower stress, increase productivity and, of course, provide fresher air. No wonder, then, that educational establishments are increasingly keen to introduce planting in their buildings.

We also scooped two Gold Leaf awards, one for Urban Planters Birmingham’s planting scheme for the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority and Urban Planters Nottinghamshire’s project for The Dryden Enterprise Centre at Nottingham Trent University.

Plants@Work is the association which represents UK interior landscapers, promoting the uses and benefits of interior plants and the industry as a whole.