NURTURE
Ian Drummond takes us through Indoor Garden Design’s award-winning design and installation for Kobalt Music
I
t’s been a busy time over the past few months, so it was good to attend the plants@work Awards (formerly efig), which gave me the chance to meet up with colleagues, review trends, have an opportunity to look back over the previous year’s projects, and make a mental stock-take of what’s been achieved.
We were fortunate at Indoor Garden Design to win two of the three biggest awards for Best Project 2018, one of which was for the design and installation of Kobalt Music, the offices of a dynamic and talented group of young millennial music producers. It was an interesting project because they didn’t want anything obviously ‘corporate’, and they instinctively understood the science and concept of biophilia and how a connectedness with nature was vital to the homely vibe they wanted for their offices. On top of this, stylish and contemporary design was fundamental. The interior of Kobalt Music is gleaming white, with polished concrete floors, natural wood elements, exposed industrial ventilation pipes, and blackest grey window and door frames; as such, it is the perfect canvas for dramatic planting. The scale was impressive, so boldness was key, but because there wasn’t an opportunity for permanent planting to be built 98
Pro Landscaper / June 2018
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SCALE AND HARMONY Ian Drummond
into the project, we had to focus on interesting and visually striking single/groupings of planters to provide as much focal interest as the plants within them, and this became a key part of the design. We sourced stone-look planters in matte black, grey and cream to reflect the interior palette, but chose a series of elongated, sensual curved shapes to contrast with the straight lines and sharp angularity of the building. Playing with proportions is a current trend, and flouting traditional rules on plant-toplanter scale can work to great effect – if carefully chosen, it is often the smaller plant that has the greatest impact. Sansevieria is a key plant for this look (left). Planted on a one third plant/two thirds planter scale, its pointed, rigid leaves appear to twist
and flicker outwards from the top of the planters, like a burning green torch – the plant and planter working in dramatic harmony with one another.
PLAYING WITH PROPORTIONS IS A CURRENT TREND, AND FLOUTING TRADITIONAL RULES ON PLANTTO-PLANTER SCALE CAN WORK TO GREAT EFFECT In other parts of the building, we reversed this scale, choosing Monstera with huge, perforated leaves to billow out from the confinement of simple matte-black bowl planters. We positioned them in areas flanked by stark white walls, and took advantage of spotlighting to create grey shadows that play on floors and walls around them – which, in turn, adds another monochrome dimension to the scale. The shadows, like the plant itself, are constantly changing. As each bright new leaf emerges and begins to unfurl, the shadows alter and the scale shifts afresh – creating a sense of biophilic harmony in which creativity can flourish.
ABOUT IAN DRUMMOND Established in 1975, Indoor Garden Design is a multi-award winning company at the forefront of contemporary interior and exterior horticultural design, transforming workspaces, offices, hotels and restaurants, and bringing events to life.
www.indoorgardendesign.com
www.prolandscapermagazine.com
16/05/2018 08:53