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Plantscape Biz

Highlights from the Silverado Roundtable White Paper :

The Nature of the Post-Pandemic Workplace

BY Shane Pliska

In January, me and six interior plantscape companies
joined forces to co-author and release. The Nature of
the Post Pandemic Workplace a white paper offering
designers and employers insight on the future of office
and workplace environments.

It was fun to collaborate with peers on authoring the chance to redesign. The plexiglass dividers feel like a sand-
paper. Along with my company Planterra, the co-au- bag solution. The floodwaters are coming in; we throw the
thors are from familiar companies in the industry, sandbags down. They are never meant to be permanent.
including Jim Mumford of Good Earth Plants in San Di- Forcing everyone to work from home has been a boon in
ego, Edward McDonnell of Botanical Designs in Seattle, productivity. Now we’re trying to find a way to get them
Rich Bronstein of CityLeaf in San Francisco, Scott Pynes to work less and find work-life balance. If we imagine the
of Cactus and Tropicals in Salt Lake City, David Lemel of office as a respite from home, it will be a relief to go in one
Texas Tropical Plants in Houston, and Kevin Maloney of or two days a week… plus it has that cool living wall and
the Hoffman Design Group in Philadelphia. better coffee. For many firms, a cool office was there to
impress clients and attract talent.
As a group we know each other well from participating
in the Silverado Roundtable, an industry peer group Now that’s not the priority anymore. The priority is to make
that gets together a few times a year to share best a place where people can connect safely and get work
practices and talks plantscaping business. Due to done,” explained Freed. Besides speaking with designers,
the pandemic, we moved our meetings to Zoom calls we analyzed recent research from several reputable sources
and of course, the subject of the impact of COVID on (Morning Consult, Stanford University, Nielsen and others)
interior plantscaping came-up frequently. That’s what to determine what impact the pandemic has had on the
sparked the idea from Jim Mumford for us to pool workplace and what expectations employees have for the
resources and release the report which is published by future. The paper concludes that this is not the end of the
the Silverado Roundtable. office. In fact, many of the trends in work from home—
Naturally, the paper provides information relating to Zoom meetings and flex spaces—were already in motion
plants in the workplace and biophilia in the context before the pandemic. The pandemic did change the way
of COVID. Can you think of a better time in modern people work and their expectations for the workplace.
history than to rethink the office, transportation, Highlights include:
commuting, and work life balance than right now?”
says Architect Eric Corey Freed of CannonDesign The -During the pandemic, 40% of office workers spent more
pandemic has thrust this upon us, but it’s giving us the time outdoors and liked it. Of those who worked from

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MAKING THE NEW NORMAL BETTER