Tranquillity – a state of calm – can be difficult to achieve, especially when it comes to your office or corporate landscape. At work, we tend to be busy, efficient, and often economical with time, attention, and design. And this shows in the world we’ve created around us.
However, no matter how busy we are, it’s important to carve out time for calm and peace. Studies show that individuals who take the time to rest, meditate, or just take a small break are happier, healthier, more creative, and more productive than their counterparts who never stop and smell the proverbial roses.
From fountains to pause areas, there are several ways that you can bring tranquillity to your corporate landscape, and we’re all about green living, beautiful outdoor spaces, and indigenous design.
Here are two tips for bringing tranquillity to your landscape the EcoBalance way – one inside, one out:
1. Bring the garden indoors
The inside of your office space will most likely to be dedicated to working areas and even open plan offices tend to have a premium on space with every area being used for some form of productivity. Break rooms or pause zones are often small and/or are not linked to an outdoor space. The answer to your indoor landscape needs? A vertical garden. Visually appealing, space-efficient, a natural sound barrier, and with the possibility to be self-watering, vertical gardens are the ultimate in indoor landscaping. They bring the outdoors indoors in an easy-to-maintain but still striking way. When it comes to calm, a vertical garden has the health benefits of office plants – they promote better concentration and remove toxins for the air – and it gives passers-by a chance to pause and look – to be still for a moment. The result? Instant calm.
2. Water, path, pause
Large or small, when it comes to your office’s outside space, the best way to create a feeling of calm is to have the space landscaped with water features, pathways, and seating areas. Overall, a landscaped garden will have a structured but not overly-controlled feel – good landscaping is about working in harmony with nature to create pleasant, well balanced spaces that encourage visitors to enter and linger. Find a professional landscaper who can help you realise a beautiful but calm vision for your outside space – one that responds to the high-pressure state of the employees and visitors who will be using it. Once you have a plan in place, you can work with the landscaper to incorporate elements like lighting, water features, and paving. Running water is known to calm emotions, still the mind, and stimulate creative thinking – essential for happiness and wellbeing. Pathways that encourage the visitor to wander around a garden (even a small one) are a great addition to any office landscape. Not only do they add something extra, walking a path has known health benefits (especially for sedentary office employees). The choice of plants in this space is also important – the right plants for the environment, grouped in attractive formations, can create zones of peace and tranquillity.
Helping your employees and guests to engage with nature and have ‘green experiences’ while in a corporate environment has many benefits, not least an increase in feelings of wellbeing and happiness, and productivity.
Need help designing a corporate garden or refreshing a corporate landscape that lacks a sense of calm?