Return of the green office plant
Danielsen Urban Landscape and Danielsen Spaceplanning present their visions for bringing nature into the workplace.
Plants are an increasingly common element of interior design for offices – and not just because of the proven positive impact they have on our well-being. Using plants in interiors can help improve acoustics, add beautiful spatial effects, and promote a healthy indoor climate.
The journey from the open-plan office to progressive working culture
It is safe to say that workplaces with respect for themselves and their employees desire a well-functioning working environment. Carefully selected elements and a clear design concept set the stage for how employees and visitors utilise the physical framework of your office or building. Using plants as a component of interior design is a common and well-known practice. However, the popularity of plants has varied through the years.
The weeping fig, yucca plant and snake plant were long mainstays in Danish interiors because of the positive impact that surrounding ourselves with plants has on our well-being. Over time, however, these favourites of the 1980s waned in popularity and gradually disappeared from most office environments in Denmark. But after a number of years without much focus on plants, we at Danielsen have seen an explosive rise in the use of plants in offices, including a huge comeback for Monstera species.
Alongside this re-emergence of plants, the popular open-plan office has also undergone a makeover. In the past, problems relating to office landscapes, including poor indoor climate, noise and obstacles to concentration were widely discussed. Meanwhile, the furniture industry has evolved far beyond simply offering a desk, chair and accompanying shelving unit. Advances in computing technology have also altered the conditions of today’s work life, as employees are no longer tethered to a workstation with a flat screen and a behemoth computer tower rising up from the floor underneath the desk.
Thanks to the space planning of modern and visionary workplaces, open-plan offices no longer struggle with the same challenges. Progressive corporate culture is driving the demand for conceptual and customised workplaces with an interior design that promotes versatile collaboration.
And this is where the modern workplace and green interior landscapes are converging. The focus of recent years has been on adding greenery to office landscapes and meeting facilities, elevating plants to a status on par with the furniture. As a result, greenery is now a consideration from the very outset of office design processes. These trends are also placing new demands on landscape architects, who must increasingly consider the choice of plants, ease of care, watering, fertilisation, lighting conditions and mobility in connection with cleaning of the indoor landscapes.
Furthermore, landscape architects must consider the aesthetics of plants, including colours and foliage types, and how they integrate into a design context, just like the interior designer considers colours, shapes, functions and textures in all design choices.
Erasing the boundaries between indoors and out
A conceptual and customised design in the exhibition container aims to inspire users to contribute to and develop their own spaces and workstations. The space defines the principles for a platform with the innovative power to combine business, education, showroom, events and exhibitions, serving as the basis for research and development, etc.
Informal meetings are the foundation for good business development, giving rise to unexpected synergies and innovative processes to supplement the more conventional working culture. Digital media is an integral component of the container design, including special interactive rooms defined by sound and light. The plants previously located in open landscapes are increasingly moving into the interior spaces, adding aesthetic elements that are ever-changing, and which tell and contribute new stories.
The team behind the design concept
Danielsen Spaceplanning takes a holistic analysis approach to map out needs and wishes, paving the way for the creation of spaces that reflect the identity, strategy and visions of companies.
We create value through a process rooted in an understanding of how a given working environment will be used. In our comprehensive consultancy processes, we collaborate with companies to establish a clear coherence between the organisation and its physical surroundings.
Danielsen Urban Landscape works with the design of landscapes in urban contexts. The elements we use are based on a strong relationship with nature and its ability to create variation, transformation and impermanence through time and space. The strength of a natural landscape lies in its eternal process of growth and change. We draw on this strength and unique ability to create experiences when designing and developing projects.
Meet us at Trends&Traditions the 2nd of may 2019.
read more about here: https://www.trendstraditions.dk/en/return-of-the-green-office-plant/