Benefits of living plants

The benefits of being around living plants have been well-documented – plants purify the air that we breathe, and research has shown that being close to plants can improve mental wellbeing and productivity, having an extraordinarily restorative effect on the brain. We just love being around nature – plants make us happy. So, it makes sense to incorporate living plants wherever possible in a workspace. We are very practiced at weaving biophilic design into a variety of spaces, and knowing which plants will thrive in certain spots, and those that won’t!

Living plants do of course have certain requirements. For example, our living walls require a minimum of 1000 lux (a measurement of light intensity) to remain healthy. This can be achieved with specialist LED lighting in some cases, or clients can choose to incorporate living plants where they can, and then mix in replica and preserved planting where practical, to maintain biophilia throughout the entire workspace. This ensures that everyone can benefit from biophilia, not just those that happen to be sitting in a certain spot. With replica and preserved plants, you can adorn your space with greenery, all while enjoying the cost-saving benefit of zero ongoing expenses.

The hero of the dark corner

Let’s begin by dispelling a myth: the days of badly dyed, fake plastic plants are behind us. It was once relatively easy to spot whether a plant was real or not, but manufacturing techniques have improved vastly since then, and we only use the highest quality materials at Vantage. Replica plants can be cleverly woven into a design alongside living plants, so that you can hardly tell what is real and what is not.   

A replica tree combined with living planting underneath, creates a striking focal point in this entrance space. Preserved nature walls either side complete the effect. Photography by Thierry Cardineau

  

A low maintenance star performer

For clients who really want a living wall, but are unsure about the lighting and drainage required, replica planting and preserved moss options are easily installed, low maintenance options. Replica and preserved moss walls have no minimum light requirements or watering needs and are structurally lighter than living walls, so they're ideal for extending biophilia into trickier spots. They'll light up an area with a striking focal point, whilst only requiring an occasional dust to keep them looking good.

Design flexibility

We know that interior designers like to soften angles and hide less attractive spots in an environment, provide privacy with screens and create effects with hanging planting. These spots are often hard to reach and awkward to water, they may also be near air conditioning which isn’t a great position for living plants. Replica and preserved planting are incredibly versatile design tools because they can be used without worrying about lighting or other requirements. And when suspended from the ceiling using our EnviroGrid, it creates a pleasing tropical effect without anyone being alive to the fact that there are no real plants involved. 

EnviroGrid allows the easy incorporation of hanging replica and preserved planting from the ceiling, saving on floorspace and softening an area.  

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Replica and preserved nature planting can be used to soften angles and bare walls whilst retaining a clean uncluttered look. Photography by Thierry Cardineau


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In an ideal world, every spot would be a suitable environment for living plants to thrive, but sadly this is not the case. We don’t believe in creating complicated designs that are difficult to look after or which cause plants to fail after a short time; replica and preserved planting  offer design options that are guaranteed to keep their good looks indefinitely with minimal maintenance.  Clever design can combine living plants with preserved nature and replica planting to create an overall scheme that is both pleasing to the eye and good for the soul – for everyone in the office.