Indoor Garden Design Case Studies

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018

Following on from the success of ‘At Home with Plants’ an installation for RHS Chelsea Flower Show co-created with IKEA in 2017 and inspired by Creative Director Ian Drummond’s eponymous book, we again joined forces with IKEA to create #PlantsWork, for the show in 2018.

#PlantsWork, an innovative, open-plan home office installation, was designed to demonstrate the beauty of plants in the home and working environment, and highlight their scientifically proven health benefits.

The open-plan home office comprised a working and meeting area, showcasing plants as an essential and highly versatile part of the design – harnessing the green power of nature to provide screening, focal points, visual interest and a healthier working environment.

The installation incorporated current trends in house plants, showing how to use the right plant for the right place, and contained a host of information on the science behind our love of plants and the ways in which they boost wellbeing, health and productivity.

#PlantsWork, a celebration of the beauty of horticulture within the workplace was awarded a Silver-Gilt Medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018. In the same year, it was also awarded a Gold Leaf in the Special Events category at the Plants@Work Awards.

Adtrak

Adtrak are a full-service marketing agency based in Nottingham, East Midlands, and came to Indoor Garden Design through their reputation within the landscape industry.

Adtrak’s offices accommodate over 120 members of staff and are based over two large floors with workstations, break areas and training rooms. They needed a solution for office plants that not only matched the modern working environment, but which also helped boost healthy productivity and well-being.

IGD gave Adtrak a full office survey and carefully selected plants and stands to suit the style and needs of the office. Consideration for which plants suited the doorways, walkways, draughts and lighting were all considered. The recommendation was given professionally in a PDF proposal and, although a trial was offered, Adtrak agreed to the recommendations.

The day of the planting arrived and all the feedback from the staff has been excellent. The delivery and installation was carried out during a workday with minimal disruption or fuss.

Kobalt Music

An exciting series of planting installations were created for the offices of Kobalt Music, a dynamic and talented group of young music producer millennials. Adverse to anything obviously ‘corporate’ they favoured a homely vibe within their working environment, to create a connectedness with nature, and a stylish and contemporary design was fundamental.

The interior of the building comprises many contrasting elements including pristine white walls, polished concrete floors and exposed ventilation pipes alongside softer natural wood elements, and as such provided the perfect backdrop for dramatic planting.

The scale was impressive too, so boldness was important, with equal emphasis placed on the choice of plants and planters in the right materials, to work within the meticulous creative design of the building interior.

A total of 61 faux-stone planters were selected in a series of sensual, curved forms to work alongside the sharp angularity of the interior. A palette of matt black, cream and grey reflected the interior tones. General proportional rules of planting scales were reversed with a series of tall planters with smaller Sansevieria plants to create dramatic focal points – the leaves appearing to flicker outwards from the top – plant and planter working in visual harmony with one another.

In other areas, vast Monstera, bearing huge, perforated leaves, were installed within simple matt black bowl planters. Positioned in areas flanked by stark white walls, spot lighting was utilized to great effect, creating ever-changing shadows and an environment where creativity can thrive.

Sky Central

Indoor Garden Design was chosen to design an interior planting scheme for Sky Central’s 45,000m2 flagship building on its 13-hectare headquarters campus in west London.

The building includes a triple height atrium and houses over 3,500 employees working over three levels – as a whole, it was designed as an inclusive, holistic environment in which to work and live.

With the prevalence of biophilia gaining awareness and recognition, the interior planting scheme was created to provide an all-important sense of connection with the natural world, with ‘home zones’ designed for each floor to help shape quiet areas for individual working, but without breaking the connection to the more vibrant active spaces.

We used creative mixed planting to define ‘neighbourhoods’ and act as waypoints. This more relaxed style of planting is far removed from the traditional corporate look, with emphasis on texture and colour within each display.

While the majority of plants were grown in Holland, the planting also incorporates native species from six continents. Some 65 different varieties of plants are maintained on site, including a double stemmed Ficus panda which is over 35 years old.

In order to maintain optimal plant health alongside pristine appearance, maintenance requires the equivalent of two permanent full-time staff every week.  Technicians work overnight and at weekends in order to meet the high standard for what has now become an award-winning scheme.

The Connaught Hotel

We were appointed in 2013 to undertake a complete redesign of the exterior planting for this iconic five-star hotel in the heart of Mayfair.

We began by replacing what had previously been traditional wooden containers with contemporary GRP window boxes and planters, creating a bespoke finish to complement the exterior scheme of the hotel.

Giant round buxus stand in angular planters on the forecourt of the hotel, creating a sense of formality near the entrance. Structural evergreens such as smaller buxus and olive trees provide a classic green backdrop to seasonal planting which can include bulbs, annuals and English roses, themed by colour and season. These exterior displays at the front of the hotel are also continued within the suite balconies at the rear of the hotel.

At Christmas, everything changes again with abundant festive displays incorporating small Nordic Firs and Christmas lighting.

Our designs for The Connaught hotel were awarded the highest accolade at the Efig Awards in 2015.

St Pancras Renaissance Hotel

We have worked with St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, a five star luxury hotel of unique architectural stature, since it opened in 2011.

Each year, we create Christmas planting and displays for both the interior and exterior of this iconic building. Planning for this starts in the spring when a theme, including colours and lighting, is agreed for the planting outside the hotel, at the entrance, and continuing inside the building into the foyer, grand staircase, bar and restaurant.

In the approach to the installation, we ensure the quality of the Christmas trees, two of which stand 18 feet in height, by handpicking them while still growing from a Christmas tree farm in Hertfordshire where they are later cut and delivered as quickly as possible.

The Christmas planting takes place over two days, starting very early in the morning, in order to minimise disruption to the guests.

Day one begins at 4.00am with the secure installation of the large exterior Christmas trees and positioning of soft white lights to create a spectacular highlight for the hotel. We then move inside to decorate the famous Chambers Grand Staircase with two 16 foot trees, complete with lights and full decorations, finishing just as the first guests are waking up. The second day starts similarly early, this time we move through the lobby, where we install a central display of Christmas trees, then onto the hanging decorations within the bar area.

Our Christmas design in 2017 for St Pancras Renaissance Hotel was awarded a Gold Leaf in the Christmas Projects category at the Plants@Work Awards in 2018.

RANA

We were asked to create an instagrammable space for a five-week residency of La Famiglia Rana Grocer, to celebrate a new range of organic pasta, in London’s fashionable Marylebone. Our brief was to create an exterior to draw people in, provide social media photo opportunities, and create interior zones to harmonise with the different colours of the pasta.

We created an exterior that people wanted to stop and look at, a representation of wild nature, woodland, a mixture of textures and colours, comprising skimmia, policarpa, ivies and ferns.

Inside we sourced plants and foliage to work in the different ‘colour stations’, but the colours had to be subtle and natural, giving a wild and organic vibe to the interior. These included mosses, bark, living plants such as callicarpa, pampas grass, craspedias, hydrangeas, heathers, herbs as well as cut flowers and cut branches. Tonal oak leaves were sprinkled on the floor to demonstrate the beginning of winter.

A team of 8 worked on the installation for four days which was then maintained three times a week for the whole period.

UBS

We have worked with this prestigious Swiss bank since the building opened in 2016. Spread over 12 floors this architecturally acclaimed building comprises big open plan floors and clean lines. Our brief was to create planting that harmonised with the building’s modern, clean aesthetic.

Our solution was to incorporate planting into the tops of office furniture and planted over 100 linear metres of three types of Sanseveria throughout the building to provide a continuous effect. This planting style is not only aesthetically beautiful but practical too, providing effective screening, noise reduction and privacy. Perhaps even more importantly, it provides a connection with nature and sense of wellbeing.

Two atrium spaces in the building are planted with enormous ficus microcarpa and podocarpus, bursting out of copper leaf clad planters, providing a verdant green jungle amid the corporate metal and glass.

As always, immaculate maintenance is of equal important to the initial installation, and comprises keeping the plants in pristine condition, replacing them where necessary, painstaking removal of dead leaves, mulching and keeping all containers clean and tidy.

Our project at UBS, 5 Broadgate was awarded Best Project 2018 for Maintenance in the Plants@Work Awards 2018

Bespoke Exterior Green Wall System

Our client had long wanted a living wall to brighten up their un-exciting basement courtyard but worries about costs had put them off – until they got in touch with us. The challenge was to deliver a living wall that could be prominently seen from their 1st floor living areas, while remaining in budget. A wall spanning the height between basement and 1st floor levels would put the project over-budget for our client. So, to make the project financially viable, we proposed a smaller ‘postage stamp’ installation that began halfway up the courtyard opposing wall, making it clearly observable from the desired living areas of the house. The raised positioning of the wall into a brighter spot also allowed us to use sun-loving herbs like Rosemary, as requested by our client. 

A smaller wall meant that we had to choose species carefully, to deliver maximum effect within the reduced space. Our client wanted bright colour and scented plants throughout the wall, with year-round interest. Heuchera ‘Lime Marmalade’, ‘Berry Smoothie’ were used most, to give a base of dark reds and bright greens. Salvia nemorosa provides vibrant purples in summer, attracting bees and other pollinators.  Jasmine and Rosemary will give scent in the summer, while the Rosemary can also be clipped and used in cooking. Ferns and Muehlenbeckia deliver textural evergreen appeal. Our maintenance team regularly attend the site and an automatic irrigation and drip/drainage systems were installed to keep the wall looking at its best, ensuring that any excess water does not leak into the courtyard below. The Jasmine and Muehlenbeckia was planted on the right and bottom edges of the wall, so the irrigation and drainage pipework will eventually be concealed naturally as the plants flourish.