The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the world and one of the most affected sectors of society is the economy and businesses. In fact, working from home had become the norm for safety’s sake for most of 2020. While the world is in the process of recovering, businesses and organisations are slowly opening with the expectation that life in 2021 will return to almost normal.
Business continuity will always be a top priority, and while remote work has done its job of being a flexible work option, offices will be slowly opening. The modern office experience has inevitably changed to include safety measures in line with COVID-19 health protocols.
With that said, organisations with employees coming back to work in the office are looking to revamp their spaces to be safe, with health and wellness in mind. Apart from the usual flower arrangements for office receptions and hallways, offices will be looking to incorporate more natural elements like office plants in workspaces.
Here are the emerging office plant trends and designs for offices post-COVID in 2021:
Green Spaces Are In – There’s a reason Biophilic design is gaining popularity in office space designs and trends. This type of concept is more than just putting a plant or two in a room or a floral arrangement on a desk. It focuses on the inherent human connection to nature by bringing living walls and landscape features, into man-made spaces.
As employees spend most of their time working indoors, bringing the elements of the outdoors inside helps provide a multisensory and enriching environment. The clean and green feel of being surrounded by plants is meant to entice staff to work back in the office as well. Additionally, indoor plants help improve indoor air quality.
Eclectic Pots are a Stylish Choice – As opposed to having a singular look of potted plants in the office where they are of the same variety in one type of pot and color, using planters in different shapes, sizes, and textures is also a trending style.
Uniformity is now regarded as a thing of the past as plants in metal pots in gloss and matte textures are matched with those in glass pots with different sizes and other interesting containers.
They don’t necessarily have to be the same plant variety either as small and medium plants are grouped in clusters to decorate the floor and corner spaces. Big plants that need a lot of sunlight are being used as a statement décor in some offices while hanging and trailing plants line shelves and desks.
There is no hard and fast rule for mixing indoor plants as they all work together regardless if they are in pots or in raised planter boxes. The topsy turvy look of greens also provides a nice contrast to the bright and impressive display of corporate floral arrangements in the office.
Plant Maximalism – The direct opposite of minimalism, maximalism is all about a busier visual aesthetic. It’s about going with bold colors and patterns in art and general exaggeration without necessarily being excessive. In plants, maximalism means the more plants the better.
The goal is to create a plant paradise in the office using various types of plants. Creating an urban jungle indoors is utilising the existing space and sometimes, create staging points to best display plants.
Layering is also key as you want to use part of the ceiling for hanging plants and the trailing variety on shelves. Bigger plants that take up the most space are focal points in the jungle, so use medium-sized plants of different textures and forms to create harmony.
Plant maximalism is more labor-intensive than others so it is recommended for offices with dedicated personnel or plant-enthusiast employees to care for them. Another idea is to use low-maintenance plants instead.
As plants and indoor gardens are becoming a must-have in offices in Sydney, The Plant Man offers an expert range of services and solutions to transform the work environment into the space that you want! For plant design, installation, maintenance, and flower arrangements, please call (02) 9565 4440.
