Page 10 - I-Plants Magazine special 2021 Biophilic Design Awards issue - regular res

Judges Diamond Award

Free-Standing Container Plantings, Interior & Exterior
Project Value $500,001-$999,999
Project:

Société Générale

The story behind this
design and installation:

The initial brief from our cli- Congatulations to:
ent required hundreds of plant
displays, in which it was specified Plant Designs,
that around 80% should be rep-
lica and 20% living plants. Upon London, England, U.K.
award of the contract, we asked
the client the burning question;
why go replica when you could
go live? After much discussion
and time spent educating the What makes this
client on the power of live plants, design biophilic?
they ended up revising the speci-
fication and the site now boasts The planting is across all
around 90% live planting and 10% areas of this large build-
replica. Following a mammoth ing, both built in and in
installation, the Societe Generale free standing containers.
office is now home to approxi-
mately 10,000 living plants spread The fact that the client
across 8 floors, including 4 beau- decided to take our
tiful Ficus Trees that adorn the advice and go for a large
reception area, handpicked by proportion of living
the client from specialist growers planting over replica
in Holland. Other displays include has made this space feel
specialist joinery planters filled even more like a bio-
with numerous plant species, in- philic haven in the city.
Grouped planting in atrium, outside glass fronted meeting spaces. These grouped
tegrated within furniture and fab- planters make for a lush and textured mix of plants. While softening the atrium’s balconies,
ric of the building, free standing We worked with Lewis the planting can also be seen from the glass fronted meeting spaces. This means the
biophilicbenefits of natural green views can be enjoyed from inside and out.
displays of many sizes, impressive Huff of TP Bennett on
wall mounted displays, a beauti- the design concept
ful living wall and 180 square
metres of replica living wall.
Café area with
living wall strip
around all the
walls. This touch
of greenery
around the walls
adds a natural
biophilic ele-
ment to the
café, without
the need to
take up any
floor space. The
industrial feel
of the fixtures
is softened by
the addition of
planting that
can be seen
from all around
the space.