design:retail - August 2018 - 24

the visual eye

024

Plantscaping
Retail

PETER-TOLIN BAKER
VISUAL MERCHANDISING SPECIALIST
P-T B DESIGN SERVICES

ptb@ptbdesignservices.com

INCLUSION

plantscaping, or interior
landscaping, in a majority
of today's commercial interior design projects reflects
a healthy public interest in the benefits
of live plants-be it a corporate campus,
hospitality project or, in many cases, a
retail store. Even Amazon is involved
with its recently completed botanical
wonderland "The Seattle Spheres," part
of its new $4 billion headquarters with a reportedly
two-year wait list to reserve use of the private spaces.
Americans spend nearly 90 percent of their time
indoors-and that's not including more than 5 percent
inside cars and transport. With indoor air oftentimes
more polluted than outdoor air, it's no wonder people
are hungry for some nature in their indoor lives.
The benefits of indoor plants are many. They help
to remove toxins, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde from the air. They provide oxygen. The
effects on people are increasingly well documented, including improved focus, memory, creativity
and attentiveness. Research indicates that indoor
plants help reduce stress and make one happier
and healthier-acting as visual cues that provide
connectivity with nature's ideal. For business settings, indoor plants have proven to have a positive
impact on productivity, occupancy rates and
tenant retention.
In addition to the health and wellbeing benefits
that plants provide humans, they act as additional
tools for interior designers. Visually, they provide
solutions for creating privacy and screening, or
controlling traffic. They can enhance the architectural space by improving acoustics and providing
additional structure and form, texture and shape.
Retail environments represent a full range of indoor landscaping opportunities, be it a potted orchid
in customer service, the landscaped corridors in your
local mall or Macy's Flower Show. More recently,

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living walls-vertical walls planted with a textural
array of arid or semi-tropical plants-appear with
greater frequency in retail locations, creating memorable and visually dynamic photo-op moments.
Since ancient times, humans have been tinkering with indoor plants. Potted plants for aesthetic
purposes, rather than for food or medicine, came
into favor with the rise of cities and their wealthy inhabitants' use for more exotic, decorative purposes.
The Renaissance revived interest in ornamental container gardens after medieval times during
which religious orders kept plants more for study,
food and medicine. Exploration and global trade
route expansion during the 1400s led to an increased
public interest in exotic plants. New technology,
building materials and architecture in the 1600s
supported advanced developments in greenhouses
and orangeries, which were soon the craze for the
wealthy elite from London to Versailles.
The Victorian era's obsession with botany and
flowers took on a new level of interest that gave rise
to the cut flower industry. Interiors in the 1800s
were oftentimes fume-heavy, gas-lit interiors made
dark with heavy draperies over drafty windows-
environments not prone to growing indoor plants.
Cut flowers and elaborate floral arranging emerged
as an alternative option-as was the ubiquitous
Victorian interior touch, the potted palm, one of the
few plants that could survive such settings.
With 20th-century modern architecture came

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air conditioning and florescent lighting.
And while the expanded use of windows
and more open floorplans allowed more
light, the extremely dry atmosphere due
to central air made for a new plantscaping challenge. The 1970s ushered in the
biggest change and expansion of interior
landscaping, as studies that advanced the
knowledge of the benefits of plants dovetailed with an increased public interest in
nature and natural products.
The 1980s brought increased plantscaping opportunities via new shopping arcades, atriums
and expanded airport retail. And after a reduced
use of live plants in the '90s attributed to active retail brand mergers, acquisitions and budget cuts
inherent to the times, the new century ushered in
a renewed interest in plantscaping-which shows
no sign of abating as the benefits of plants continue
to be better understood and incorporated into the
planning and design process.
Thankfully, horticulture and plantscaping
services abound to help commercial and retail
environments thrive. This includes the obvious
services associated with keeping a plant alive,
including watering, fertilizing and pruning. But
somewhat unique to indoor plantscaping is the
additional services of cleaning the plants.
How might you add a living plant to your workspace or next project and start benefitting from
all that nature has to offer through plants? Let us
know how it "grows."
AS OWNER OF PTB DESIGN SERVICES, PETER-TOLIN BAKER IS ACTIVELY
INVOLVED WITH DESIGN AND CONTENT SOLUTIONS FOR A RANGE OF
RETAILERS, BRANDED EVENTS AND EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS,
INCLUDING STELLA ARTOIS, MATTEL, ASPREY AND CALVIN KLEIN.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE INCLUDES SCENIC DESIGN FOR MORE THAN
50 THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS, OVERSEEING VISUAL MERCHANDISING
FOR TIFFANY & CO. AND HENRI BENDEL NEW YORK, AS WELL AS
TEACHING AT THE FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY/SUNY.

Photo by RATTANAMANEE PATPONG/SHUTTERSTOCK

http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

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