Why plants-in-buildings.com?

You may be surprised to learn that Ambius, a division of Rentokil Initial, is the largest interior landscaping company in the world. It rents and maintains plants in commercial premises (plus a few of the larger domestic houses) in seventeen countries in Europe, North America, Africa and Australasia.

At its headquarters in London (above) and in our offices around the world, our team of experts works on a whole range of indoor plant-related issues. These include the testing of new species for indoor use, improved maintenance regimes, better understanding of plant benefits and the design of new and innovative displays. Now they have written this interior landscape web site, with free and unregistered access.

The idea behind the web site is to provide architects, interior designers, related professionals - or indeed anyone with an interest in the subject - with a credible source of information on all aspects of interior landscaping. This includes new design ideas, a photo-gallery of innovative/award winning schemes, new products, forthcoming seminars/publications and advice on how to include plant-friendly light, temperature and water systems in a building specification.

plants-in-buildings.com is different from other interior landscape web sites in that its focus is more on design and the environmental impact of plants in buildings than on horticulture. It recognises that interior landscaping is a fashion business, in which the plant species, planting style, container shape, material and colour must move in line with changing tastes in building design and decor, or risk being left out of the specification altogether.

As well as providing users with a valuable source of technical information, it is hoped that the web site as a whole – and the picture gallery in particular – will help to provide a spark of inspiration when designing the interior of a building. It should also help the user to avoid inappropriate plants being specified by someone who knows the “look” required but not which plants will serve it best.

Continuous professional development (CPD) is a “buzzword” in many industries and professions and nowhere more so than amongst architects, facilities managers and interior designers. Typically, CPD for these and similar building-related professions will cover topics such as lighting, heating, new materials, furnishings and so on. Rentokil Initial has added interior landscaping to the list of options by adding on-line learning to this web site and a programme of on-site seminars for members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (as a RIBA-assessed CPD provider), the American Institute of Architects (as an approved AIA/CES provder) and graduates of the BOMI Institute (as an approved CPD provider).

Acknowledgements and credits.