HSBC

Urban Planters South Yorkshire’s recent scheme at HSBC’s new, purpose-built offices at Grosvenor House in Sheffield is so wide-ranging in its scope, you could almost call it a catalogue of what we offer in the way of interior planting, taking in free-standing live displays, bespoke planters, artificial plants and all sizes of living and artificial green walls.

Paul Rogers, who worked with the architects from the design stage through the two years to the project’s completion, describes his team’s scheme as ‘a perfect example of what is possible with interior office plants.

‘While there is a great deal of variety in the planting used here, we have worked hard to ensure that there is a cohesive feel to the scheme, and that it ties in with the different design features around the building.’

The design features various nods to the natural world, with grass-like carpets and planting motifs on the walls, underpinning the overall biophilic feel throughout the building.

‘The architects needed no convincing that weaving natural elements into the building design was an important factor,’ Paul explains. ‘They already knew the benefits providing a connection to nature in the workplace and were keen to work with us to ensure there was plenty of planting throughout the building to enhance wellbeing and productivity.’

Products Used

Reception: Making full use of the vast wall, and ensuring other design features still stand out, we installed GSky Living Walls systems featuring various textures and colours of foliage to draw the eye upwards.

Underneath, preserved moss was positioned amongst the tiling to create the effect of planting growing through the walls.

On the welcome desk, we installed a bespoke integrated planter, designed with a local joinery business, which boasts a mixture of foliage in the form of Chlorophytum comosum, Chamaedorea elegans, Rhipsalis baccifera and Scindapsus aureus.

Around the office: Each floor has a single specimen of plant throughout the level, and a single colour of planter. This serves to orientate people moving from floor to floor and gives each level its own look and feel. The plants used are: Dracaena fragrans ‘Dorado’, Kentia palm, Clusia rosea and Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’.

Breakout area: Working with a local Sheffield steel company, we designed lettering frames which we filled with preserved Reindeer moss to decorate the walls of the staff breakout area.

This adds some character and brightness to the space and breaks up long stretches of white wall, too.

Meeting booths: In meeting booths, we used trailing artificial hanging ferns, mixed grasses and trailing leaves overhead to soften the look and feel of the space and increase the sense of privacy.

Outdoor terrace: This space boasts sweeping views over Sheffield which can be enjoyed while protected from the worst of the elements behind encompassing glass screens. The planting here has different character, with angular, geometric planters contrasting with the soft foliage of Phormium tenax, Phyllostachys aurea formosana (Fish-pole bamboo), Vinca major, Phormium tenax ‘Purpureum’, Heuchera villosa ‘Palace Purple’ and Sedum Autumn Joy.