Interview: Biophilic Design in the office

13 April 2021

The office market is on the move. Since working from home in combination with working at the office has become the new normal, plenty of companies are preparing for the office of the future. An important aspect here is the health of the staff and users of the building. Therefore, the demand for Biophilic Design in the office is increasing. Mobilane asked experts Pascal ten Brinke and Esther Weikamp about the trends and developments around biophilic design in the office space.

More than 25 years ago, Pascal ten Brinke established his company Ten Brinke Interieurbeplanting. What started as a proprietorship selling and maintaining planters has now become a company which operates on a national level of interior landscaping for offices and healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes. Their ultimate goal is to optimize the living environment where people feel more comfortable and function better.

Together with colleague Esther Weikamp, Pascal tells about Biophilic Design in offices. Esther is commercial director at Ten Brinke and with her background and expertise in home and lifestyle, she is up to date with the latest trends and developments.

A healthy living environment

Plants have a lot of benefits. This is one of the reasons why companies and institutions go to Ten Brinke. “Not only because of the aesthetic advantages, but especially because of all the other advantages that plants have, we see the demand for plants in the office increasing more and more. We often see that employees suffer from headaches and dry eyes. Employers want to create healthy and comfortable work places where employees can meet each other. With Biophilic design you invite the nature indoor and create an attractive and comfortable work space” said Esther. “Due to this, we see that the demand for plants is increasing”.

Green is an investment in a healthy company and healthy employees. Next to the fact that absenteeism due to illness decreases with 1.6 day per employee per year after having plants in the office, there are more benefits. Employees feel more comfortable in a green environment. Green contributes to less stress, better concentration, more creativity and a higher work productivity. Green has a positive influence on job satisfaction, health and well-being. Plants in the work space contribute to a higher satisfaction of the work space. Read more about benefits of plants in the office.

Space-saving solution: green walls and hanging plants

In the office of the future, the amount of square meters is becoming more important. Big companies such as banks are preparing for the low costs because of having less companies since employees are going to work partly from home and partly in the office. “The biggest change we see in having green in the office are hanging plants and vertical plantwalls” said Pascal and Esther. This is not surprising since hanging plants and vertical plant walls take little or no space and can be used in different spaces.

Ten Brinke Biophilic design op kantoor

Plants trend: Urban Jungle

With regard to different types of plants we see a big trend in “Urban Jungle” plants. These are hanging plants with bigger leaves. Combining different types of this plants you can create an Urban Jungle effect.

Shown plants

Philodendron scandens
Phlebodium Blue star
Schefflera arboricola
Philodendron Monstera Deliciosa
Dracaena Lemon Surprise
Calathea Amabilis

 

Ten Brinke Interieurbeplanting BV
www.ten-brinke.nl

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