Enhancing the image of a building

Perhaps the most obvious reason for installing plants and one that applies to the majority of commercial buildings. A postgraduate study carried out in a London hospital in 1995 provided clear evidence that people do react more favourably to a building when it contains plants than when it does not. Hospital visitors were asked to respond to a descriptive choice test using twenty pairs of bipolar adjectives (quiet v noisy, cheerful v gloomy etc.). The results showed that when plants were present in the reception area of the hospital, users perceived it to be:

17% more ornate 17% more interesting 17% more cheerful 16% more welcoming 15% more relaxing 11% less stressful 11% more expensive 11% tidier  8% quieter

There were no negative findings and all the results were independently verified as being statistically significant. (Ref: “Human Responses to Interior Planting”, J.V. Stiles, PhD, Oxford Brookes University, 1995).

One of the most obvious places to look for image enhancement from plants is in retail environments. One such study was carried out in Norway. The management of a shopping centre in Oslo decided to install new plants and water features. After installation, visitors to the shopping centre were questioned about their attitudes to the plants. 94% of respondents disagreed with the statement ‘Plants make no contribution to the quality of the stores.’ This response was despite the fact that the stores themselves were the same as those present before the plants were installed. Another interesting finding was that visitors to the shopping centre spent 30 - 35 minutes longer in the building than before and individual shopkeepers reported increased takings.

These findings are interesting, but as they did not form part of a controlled experiment, we cannot be sure that such changes in behaviour would not have happened anyway. However, as most new shopping centres in the UK have extensive planting schemes, the property developers responsible must believe that plants serve a useful purpose. The following two extracts from papers written by an American researcher and a British shopping centre manager are certainly evidence of this:

"Retailers have long understood the importance of store environment in enhancing the shopping experience. The outdoor landscape can be a seamless extension of shop interiors, providing indoor/outdoor continuity for a positive shopping experience. Urban forestry can play an important role in business districts. Interior plants and landscape may create store interiors more favourable for retail activity." (Ref: "Retail and Urban Nature: Creating a Consumer Habitat", K.L.Wolf, at the People/Plant Symposium, Amsterdam, 2002).

" The annual cost of maintaining the planting of the centre is just under £ 1/4 million, or 4.3% of the annual service charge. The fact that this massive sum of money has never been queried is of vital importance. It implies a complete acceptance of the existence of plants within and around the centre as a fundamental factor in the success of the centre; a subjective ingredient of the centre too important to touch. Through the medium of plants the centre successfully translates outside to inside, relaxes almost everybody and all ages and types of people relate to the atmosphere. The result for the public is a perfect environment for the purposes of shopping and leisure. The result for the tenant is the second highest net profit per square foot in Britain." (Ref: “Am I Running a Greenhouse or a Shopping Centre?”, J Bryson, Centre Manager, Metrocentre, Gateshead, England at the BALI seminar, London, 1992).

Although much of the evidence is still subjective, it is clear that professional retailers firmly believe that plants are an integral part of the selling environment and are prepared to allocate the space and resources to accommodate them.