The use of plants in building design

In the early days of interior landscaping, the tendency was to go for lots of foliage in plain, purely functional containers. The “jungle” effect was in vogue and there was little design element in the limited range of containers available.

The situation is very different today, with much more emphasis on single, high quality plants in striking containers, to produce displays that have a “wow” factor. An ever-expanding range of plant varieties and container designs is now available and a great deal of imagination is being applied to their use. This is illustrated in the examples below.

Columns have jumped in popularity because they take up little floor space, lift the foliage above head height and can be striking when grouped.
The same applies to this Ficus benjamina, with a trunk braided into a lattice tube that keeps the foliage above the diners’ heads.
Coloured plants, such as these crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) and containers can be used to striking effect …
	… such as here where container and foliage colour are matched …
	… or here where the flower spike of the bromeliad makes a link with the picture and the metallic container matches the table …
… or here where the “industrial” grey of the window frames is mirrored in the containers and grey-green foliage of the olive trees.
Plants are very useful for “softening” the sometimes harsh lines of modern buildings, as in the examples below …
… or for making an apparently seamless link with the exterior landscape.
Solitary plants can “humanise” otherwise impersonal surroundings …
	… the Ficus binnendijkii makes you feel less exposed when sitting in the chair …
	… and this Dracaena marginata and its supplementary lighting brightens up an otherwise dull corner …
… and dotted around a very sparsely furnished office these succulents provide a minimalistic plant look.
Even replica plants are now being used imaginatively, such as below in this “grass” bed.
In short, with flair, imagination and an understanding of the environmental conditions required by plants there is no limit to the ways they can be used in building design.

Author: Mike Lothian