How to Incorporate Plants into the Workplace

If you haven’t heard of the term biophilic design yet, it’ll soon be tripping off your tongue. It is fast becoming a popular concept in the building industry that focuses on connecting physical spaces to nature.

It’s no secret that incorporating plants into our built environments can improve our health and wellbeing.

Currently, millions of working days are lost to sickness absence every year in the UK and working-age ill health costs the economy billions every year.

Biophilic design in the workplace has been shown to increase productivity, fosters creativity and performance, improves staff retention and crucially reduce absenteeism – potentially saving businesses thousands of pounds. Some of the biggest names in business swear by biophilic design, including Amazon, who built their own rainforest-inspired office.

Incorporating greenery into your office design is an important step for any company looking to create a positive and welcoming environment whilst simultaneously communicating their ethos in a beautiful way.

In this article we’ll be take you through some of our favourite ideas to help you introduce greenery into your workplace.

Low Maintenanace Plants in Containers

There’s no doubt that bringing potted plants in the office both inspires and energizes the building’s occupants. What is likely less energizing, however, is the idea of caring for hundreds of office plants.

Opt for low maintenance plants, requiring minimal light and watering so no green thumb is required. Our favourites include Kentia Palms, Monstera Deliciosa, Bromeliads, Ficus lyrate (Fiddle leaf Fig), Araucaria heterophylla Norfolk Island Pine and Dracaena Anita Dragon Tree.

When working in an office, it's vital to be mindful of times you're not there, like weekends and holidays. Unlike houseplants that can be tended to daily, office plants should be able to survive without care for several days. This is where worry-free, self-watering planters offer a practical solution, drastically reducing the frequency between waterings.

We love Lechuza self-watering planters, not only are they sleek and stylish, they can take care of your plants' watering needs for up to six weeks. It's simplicity itself.

Botanical Wall Art

Not ready for a full living wall? Living wall art is a simple and effective way of bringing greenery into your business, creating a visually striking and space-saving approach to bringing nature indoors.

We really love the way they hang on the wall as easily as a painting and evoke a sensory experience of nature, enhancing wellbeing and promoting creativity to support the best version of your workforce.

Office rooms with limited space for plants in containers will benefit from their wall-mounted placement.

Freestanding Living Wall Room Dividers

With more workplace places adopting a more open plan layout, free standing living walls are an exceptional agile, biophilic solution to achieving natural privacy or creating an appealing partition between shared work or public spaces.

We love the way they create visually stunning plant displays, even in the smallest of spaces, while reaping the benefits of living plants, providing ambient noise reduction and creating that 'wow' factor for staff and visitors alike.

Living Walls

While living walls tend to be larger-scale features, they can certainly create a lasting impression no matter the size. A living wall is a statement trend that has begun to gain promenance and continues to impress both clients, visitors and staff alike.

Living walls can serve as both an aesthetically pleasing pieces and a striking focal point, they have the potential to attract employees who view it as a sign that you care about your workplace.

There are plenty of options and styles for those looking to create their own living wall. Whether you prefer larger jungle plants, alpines, a floral look or even a simple moss moment, this feature is extremely versatile and can be adapted to your personal taste.