LEGAL & GENERAL

Attracting staff back to the office with healthy spaceS

Our project at Legal & General’s headquarters in the City of London is a perfect example of how a workplace can be transformed through well-designed and thoughtful planting.

Like many companies, Legal & General wanted to attract its workforce back into the office after Covid and the resulting ‘work from home’ revolution.

There’s been a permanent shift towards hybrid working, with employees wanting more from their workplaces than just a place to do business. More and more people now recognise the difference between healthy and unhealthy offices and the importance of wellbeing at work.

Getting ahead of this change was particularly important for Legal & General with its flagship building, so the company decided to incorporate an extensive indoor planting scheme as part of an overall refurbishment.

Covid also revolutionised something else, and that’s people’s attitudes to nature. As a way of coping with stress or poor health, and to pass the time when we had to distance ourselves socially, many of us went out into nature and discovered how restorative it is for our minds and bodies to surround ourselves with plants and trees. People discovered the value of biophilia (love of natural life), some for the first time.

Again, L&G recognised that and wanted to give their workforce and visitors an environment that would make a lasting difference to their health and happiness, and help them feel connected with the natural world.

How Planteria created a healthy workplace for L&G

L&G asked us to design a scheme reflecting their company values and their motto of “creating a better tomorrow together.” These values are about bringing people together and about environmental sustainability. The project gave us a fantastic opportunity to showcase not only our plant and design knowledge, but also our understanding of branding and branded spaces, and the importance of using physical space to tell people who you are.

To begin with, there were almost no plants in the building. So L&G asked us to design and plant up displays throughout – both on the refurbished floors and in those where refurbishment wasn’t required.

PLANTS THAT ENHANCE THE L&G BRAND

We used an exciting selection of plants to echo the company’s branding and interiors, one of the major ones being Schefflera arboricola or ‘the umbrella tree’ in different varieties. This evokes the famous L&G umbrella logo in a clever yet subtle way.

We created a palette of plant colours inspired by the red, yellow, blue, and green in the L&G umbrella.

Varieties such as the reds of the Aglaonema ‘Cherry’ and Aglaonema ‘Crimson Love’, the yellows of the Dracaena ‘Lemon Lime’ and Aglaonema ‘Key Lime’, the blue-green of Polyscias ‘Fabian’, and the true greens of Monstera deliciosa or Howeria forsteriana (kentia palm).

Our containers, a combination of free-standing plant pots and wall-mounted displays, are made from natural materials or recycled plastic. We used some in a fresh white to allow the plants to speak for themselves, while others picked out the brand colours and blended with the interior joinery, furniture, and carpets. Using different shapes like this elevates plants to features in the space, drawing the eye and adding interest as well as a sense of calm.

In a further push for sustainability, we planted all our displays in ecoponic substrate, a 100% peat-free soil substitute. Ecoponic substrate helps protect our vulnerable peatlands and wildlife, and reduces carbon emissions. It also uses less water and reduces flies and pests.

Legal & General: a place where people want to be

The effect of this project was to create a captivating plant haven in an otherwise functional workplace – a place staff genuinely wanted to return to. Not only does the scheme bring the workforce back together in an attractive, healthy environment – but it also demonstrates the company’s drive towards nature connection and sustainability, showing they mean what they say with “creating a better tomorrow together.”

DISTINCT. BY DESIGN

Project Details

Contact: Marcus Norman
Project Manager: Luke Pilcher

Gallery

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