As building design becomes ever-more focussed on wellbeing, it makes perfect sense to bring interior planting designers to the table with architects as the concept of new building is formed.
The evolution of interior design from its humble ‘office plant in a pot’ beginnings to the rich offerings now available (towering indoor trees, sculptural bonsais, living walls, green roofs and still the failsafe tropical plant in a container) has come about in part thanks to the realisation that indoor planting is vital in our ever-urbanising world.
And the most effective schemes are the ones designed with thought and consideration for their environs.
Lighting, position, air-cleaning properties and simple good looks all work together in a good plant scheme to create a thing of beauty which elevates our spirits and nurtures our health.
By integrating the interior landscaping scheme design into the design of a new building we can create schemes which use plants to their full potential.
What’s more, making plants integral to a building’s design can inform its overall look for the better: a living wall, a towering central tree, long rows of in-built troughs dense with ferns – these can bring new ideas to the table for architects for the building’s surrounding features.
Around, and even on top of the building, landscaped plants can bring nature to forgotten and unused corners, like rooftops, islands and central barriers, walkways, even columns and pillars – anywhere you have a square metre of space can be made all the better by being green, and by considering landscaping as the building is designed, you can create, say, an enticing driveway, a tranquil rooftop terrace, or a pleasant walkway connecting two buildings.
As well as looking great, plants can play a practical role in buildings. They can absorb noise in wide open spaces, or create a barrier to stop people from walking under staircases. In buildings where the climate is controlled, they generate fresh air where it can’t be let in through windows.
Above all this, there is the need to build healthy buildings. Architects and employers now recognise that buildings can affect the wellbeing of those working, visiting or living inside them. By cleaning the air of toxins and calming and nurturing our health through reconnecting us with nature, plants can be part of the drive to make all new buildings healthy.
So, bring interior landscapers to the table when you start to plan your new building and take the design to a fresh new level.